Work order dependencies

When manufacturing certain products, specific operations may need to be completed before others can begin. In order to ensure operations are carried out in the correct order, Odoo Manufacturing features a work order dependencies setting. Enabling this setting allows for operations on a Bill of Materials (BoM) to be blocked by other operations that should occur first.

Configuration

The work order dependencies setting is not enabled by default. To enable it, begin by navigating to Manufacturing ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings. Then, enable the Work Orders setting, if it is not already active.

After enabling the Work Orders setting, the Work Order Dependencies setting appears below it. Enable Work Order Dependencies, then click Save to confirm the changes.

Add dependencies to BoM

Work order dependencies are configured on a product’s BoM. To do so, navigate to Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials, then select a BoM, or create a new one by clicking New.

Learn more

For a complete guide on how to properly configure a new BoM, see the documentation on creating a bill of materials.

On the BoM, click on the Miscellaneous tab, then enable the Operation Dependencies checkbox. This makes a new Blocked By option available in the settings of the Operations tab.

screenshot: manufacturing-work-order-deps-operation-dependencies
menu
Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials ‣ (BoM) ‣ Miscellaneous tab
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The Miscellaneous tab of a BoM with the "Operation Dependencies" checkbox ticked.
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The "Operation Dependencies" checkbox.
data
BoM for product "Product A".
module
mrp
notes
English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the tab.

Next, click on the Operations tab. On the top-right of the tab, click on the tab’s settings button, then enable the Blocked By checkbox. This makes a Blocked By field appear for each operation on the Operations tab.

screenshot: manufacturing-work-order-deps-operations-settings
menu
Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials ‣ (BoM) ‣ Operations tab ‣ settings
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The optional-columns menu of the Operations tab list with the "Blocked By" checkbox ticked.
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The "Blocked By" checkbox.
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mrp
notes
English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the dropdown.

In the line of the operation that should be blocked by another operation, click the Blocked By field, and an Open: Operations pop-up window appears. In the Blocked By drop-down field on the pop-up window, select the blocking operation that must be completed before the operation that is blocked.

screenshot: manufacturing-work-order-deps-blocked-by
menu
Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials ‣ (BoM) ‣ Operations tab ‣ Blocked By
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The "Open: Operations" pop-up window with the "Blocked By" drop-down field open, listing the other operations of the BoM.
data
BoM operations "Cut" and "Assemble"; "Assemble" blocked by "Cut".
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mrp
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English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the dialog.

Finally, save the BoM by clicking Save.

Plan work orders using dependencies

Once work order dependencies have been configured on a BoM, Odoo Manufacturing is able to plan when work orders are scheduled, based on their dependencies. To plan the work orders for a manufacturing order, begin by navigating to Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Manufacturing Orders.

Next, select a manufacturing order for a product with work order dependencies set on its BoM, or create a new manufacturing order by clicking New. If a new manufacturing order is created, select a BoM configured with work order dependencies from the Bill of Material drop-down field, then click Confirm.

After confirming the manufacturing order, select the Work Orders tab to view the work orders required to complete it. Any work orders that are not blocked by a different work order display a Ready tag in the Status section.

Work orders that are blocked by one or more work orders display a Waiting for another WO tag instead. Once the blocking work order(s) are completed, the tag updates to Ready.

screenshot: manufacturing-work-order-deps-status-tags
menu
Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Manufacturing Orders ‣ (MO) ‣ Work Orders tab
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The Work Orders tab with a "Ready" tag on the "Cut" operation and a "Waiting for another WO" tag on the "Assemble" operation.
data
MO for product "Product A"; operations "Cut" and "Assemble".
module
mrp
notes
English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the tab.

To schedule the manufacturing order’s work orders, click the Plan button at the top of the page. After doing so, the Start field for each work order on the Work Orders tab auto-fills with the scheduled start date and time (enable the column from the (settings adjust) icon if it is not shown). A blocked work order is scheduled at the end of the time period specified in the Expected Duration field of the work order that precedes it.

screenshot: manufacturing-work-order-deps-start-field
menu
Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Manufacturing Orders ‣ (MO) ‣ Work Orders tab
shows
The Work Orders tab, "Start" column enabled, showing the scheduled start date and time for both operations.
data
MO for product "Product A"; "Cut" starting at 1:30 PM, "Assemble" starting at 2:30 PM.
module
mrp
notes
English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the tab.

Example

A manufacturing order is created for Product A. The manufacturing order has two operations: Cut and Assemble. Each operation has an expected duration of 60 minutes, and the Assemble operation is blocked by the Cut operation.

The Plan button for the manufacturing order is clicked at 1:30 pm, and the Cut operation is scheduled to begin immediately. Since the Cut operation has an expected duration of 60 minutes, the Assemble operation is scheduled to begin at 2:30 pm.