Managing BoMs for product variants¶
Odoo allows one bill of materials (BoM) to be used for multiple variants of the same product. Having a consolidated BoM for a product with variants saves time by preventing the need to manage multiple BoMs.
Activate product variants¶
To activate the product variants feature, navigate to , and scroll down to the Products section. Then, click the checkbox to enable the Variants option. After that, click Save to apply the setting.
For more information on configuring product variants, refer to the product variants documentation.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings
- shows
- The Settings page scrolled to "Products"; the "Variants" checkbox ticked.
- highlight
- The "Variants" checkbox.
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the setting block.
Create custom product attributes¶
Once the product variants feature is activated, create and edit product attributes on the Attributes page.
The Attributes page is accessible either from by clicking the Attributes button, or by clicking .
Once on the Attributes page, either click into an existing attribute to edit it, or click New to create a new one, which opens a blank form for customizing an attribute.
Assign an Attribute Name, and choose a category from the Category field’s drop-down menu. Then, select the desired options next to the Display Type and Variants Creation Mode fields. Once the desired options are selected, click Add a line under the Attribute Values tab to add a new value.
Tip
Included on the Value row is a Is custom value checkbox. If selected, this value will be recognized as a custom value, which allows customers to type special customization requests upon ordering a custom variant of a product.
Example
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Attributes ‣ (attribute)
- shows
- An attribute form named "Color", Display Type "Color", with three Attribute Values: "Red", "Blue", "Green".
- data
- Attribute "Color"; values "Red", "Blue", "Green".
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width.
Once all desired Values have been added, click Save to save the new attribute.
Add product variants on the product form¶
Created attributes can be applied on specific variants for particular products. To add product variants to a product, navigate to the product form by going to , then click the Variants tab.
Under the Attribute header, click Add a line to add a new attribute, and select one to add from the drop-down menu.
Then, under the Values header, click the drop-down menu to choose from the list of existing values. Click on each desired value to add them, and repeat this process for any additional attributes that should be added to the product.
Once finished, click Save to save changes.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Products ‣ Products ‣ (product) ‣ Variants tab
- shows
- The Variants tab of a product form with an "Color" attribute line and its values "Red" and "Blue" selected.
- data
- Product "T-Shirt"; attribute "Color" with values "Red", "Blue".
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the tab.
Tip
BoM products with multiple variants that are manufactured in-house should either have a 0,0 reordering rule set up, or have their replenishment routes set to Replenish on Order (MTO).
Apply BoM components to product variants¶
Next, create a new BoM, or edit an existing one, by going to . Then, click New to open a blank Bills of Materials form to configure from scratch.
Add a product to the BoM by clicking the drop-down menu in the Product field and selecting the desired product.
Then, add components by clicking Add a line under the Component section of the Components tab, and choosing the desired components from the drop-down menu.
Choose the desired values in the Quantity and Product Unit of Measure columns. Then, choose the desired values in the Apply on Variants column.
Note
The Apply on Variants option to assign components to specific product variants on the BoM is available once the Variants setting is activated from the application. If the Apply on Variants field is not immediately visible, activate it from the additional options menu (three-dots icon, to the right of the header row).
- menu
- Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials ‣ (BoM) ‣ Components tab ‣ settings
- shows
- The Components tab with the "Apply on Variants" column enabled, a component line restricted to the "Red" variant.
- highlight
- The "Apply on Variants" column.
- data
- BoM for "T-Shirt"; component "Red Fabric" applied on variant "Red".
- module
- mrp
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the tab.
Each component can be assigned to multiple variants. Components with no variants specified are used in every variant of the product. The same principle applies when configuring operations and by-products.
When defining variant BoMs by component assignment, the Product Variant field in the main section of the BoM should be left blank. This field is only used when creating a BoM specifically for one product variant.
When all desired configurations have been made to the BoM, click Save at the top of the form to save changes.
Tip
For components that only apply for specific variants, choose which operations the components should be consumed in. If the Consumed in Operation column is not immediately visible, activate it from the additional options menu (three-dots icon, to the right of the header row).
Sell and manufacture variants of BoM products¶
To sell and manufacture variants of BoM products to order, navigate to and click New to create a new quotation.
Sell variant of BoM product¶
Once on the blank Quotation form, click the drop-down next to the Customer field to add a customer.
Then, under the Order Lines tab, click Add a product, and select the previously-created BoM product with variants from the drop-down menu. Doing so reveals a Configure a product pop-up.
From the pop-up window, click the desired attribute options to configure the correct variant of the
product to manufacture. Then, click the green + or - icons next to the 1
to change the quantity to sell and manufacture, if desired.
- menu
- Sales ‣ Orders ‣ Quotations ‣ New ‣ Order Lines ‣ Add a product
- shows
- The "Configure a product" pop-up with attribute options selected (e.g. Color: Red) and a quantity of 1.
- data
- Product "T-Shirt"; variant "Red".
- module
- sale, product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the dialog.
Once all the specifications have been chosen, click Add. This will change the pop-up to a second Configure pop-up, where available optional products will appear, if they have been created previously.
Once ready, click Confirm to close the pop-up.
Then, click Save to save all changes, and click Confirm at the top of the Quotation form to create and confirm a new sales order (SO).
Manufacture variant of BoM product¶
Once the SO is confirmed, a Manufacturing smart button appears at the top of the SO form. Click the Manufacturing smart button to open the Manufacturing Order form.
On this form, under the Components tab, the appropriate components for the chosen variant are listed. And, depending on the variant, different components will be listed. To see any mandatory or optional operations, click the Work Orders tab.
Process each work order by clicking its Start button, then its Done button once finished (see the basic manufacturing workflow for details). Once every work order is done, click Produce All at the top of the manufacturing order form to complete the order.
- menu
- Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Manufacturing Orders ‣ (MO)
- shows
- A manufacturing order for a specific variant, Components tab listing the variant-specific components.
- data
- MO for "T-Shirt" variant "Red".
- module
- mrp
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width.
Then, navigate back to the SO via the breadcrumbs at the top of the page.
Now that the product has been manufactured, click the Delivery smart button to deliver the product to the customer. From the Delivery Order form, click Validate, then click Apply to deliver the product.
To finish the sale, click back to the SO via the breadcrumbs at the top of the page again. Then, click Create Invoice followed by Create Invoice again to invoice the customer for the order.