How to Manage Bills of Materials (BOMs) in Odoo for Complex Manufacturing Requirements

What Is a Bill of Materials in Odoo?

A Bill of Materials in Odoo defines which components make up a product. It can include both simple assemblies and multi-level Odoo BOMs—meaning bills of materials that contain other BOMs. This is particularly important for complex products with many subassemblies.

Odoo supports different BOM types, tailored to various manufacturing scenarios:

• Manufacturing: The classic bill of materials used for production processes.
• Assembly: Used for simple Odoo product assembly, for example when combining multiple parts without creating a separate manufacturing order.
• Kit: When components are sold individually but delivered as a set — especially useful for stock items or modular products.

How Does a Bill of Materials Work in Odoo?

An Odoo Bill of Materials is more than just a simple list of components—it is deeply integrated into the entire manufacturing workflow. As soon as a manufacturing order is created, Odoo automatically references the appropriate BOM.

The system calculates material requirements, checks inventory availability, and triggers automated procurement processes if needed. For multi-level BOMs, Odoo identifies whether intermediate products must also be manufactured or purchased and creates separate work orders accordingly.

Thanks to this intelligent linkage, Odoo supports dynamic and transparent manufacturing—from individual components to the finished product. This creates a seamless manufacturing structure that covers all phases of production planning and can be accessed at the click of a button.

How to Create a Bill of Materials in Odoo

Creating an Odoo Bill of Materials is intuitive:

1. Navigate to the Manufacturing module.
2. Select Create Bill of Materials.
3. Define the finished product, for example a completed device.
4. Add all required components, including quantities and units of measure.
5. Optional: Link routings (work plans) to improve production planning in Odoo.

If required, you can also create multi-level BOMs. This means that a component within a bill of materials can itself have its own BOM. This results in a flexible Odoo manufacturing structure that accurately reflects real-world production processes.

Understanding Different BOM Types in Odoo

Many manufacturing companies initially ask: Which types of Bills of Materials are available in Odoo, and when should each be used? Odoo distinguishes between different BOM types depending on the manufacturing scenario—classic manufacturing BOMs, assembly kits, and product sets. This differentiation is essential for accurately mapping production processes, from simple assembly to fully automated manufacturing.

While the Manufacturing type is the classic option for production orders, the Assembly type is suitable for simple product assembly directly in the warehouse. Kit BOMs allow products to be sold as sets of individual items without physically assembling them.

This differentiation enables companies to optimally structure their manufacturing and warehouse processes — especially when both simple and complex workflows must be managed within a single system.

Multi-Level BOMs (Odoo Multi-Level BOM)

As product structures become more complex, simple bills of materials quickly reach their limits. This is where multi-level Odoo BOMs come into play.

They allow nested assemblies to be represented—for example, when a product consists of multiple pre-assembled components. Odoo automatically detects which intermediate products need to be manufactured or purchased and generates the appropriate production orders. This results in a transparent and scalable manufacturing structure.

Example:

You manufacture a technical device that includes a display module. This module itself consists of glass, electronics, and a housing and is produced separately. In Odoo, you can create a dedicated bill of materials for the display module and include it in the higher-level BOM of the finished product.

The advantage: Odoo automatically determines which subassemblies need to be produced or procured and when. It creates the corresponding manufacturing orders, aligns them in time, and enables end-to-end production planning—from raw materials to final delivery.

Especially for complex products, multi-level BOMs are a key advantage for creating transparent, scalable, and reusable manufacturing processes.

Benefits of BOM Management in Odoo

Odoo offers numerous advantages, particularly for manufacturing companies in the USA:

• Full transparency across the entire supply chain and production process
• Automated material requirements planning based on existing Odoo Bills of Materials
• Integration with inventory, purchasing, sales, and quality management
• Flexible production planning through the combined use of BOMs and routings
• Representation of complex product structures using multi-level BOMs
• Seamless Odoo product assembly in the warehouse or as part of manufacturing
• Use of real-time data for improved production control

Practical Implementation Tips

• Use product variants to efficiently manage similar products with different attributes.
• Link routings to bills of materials to plan production times and resources more accurately.
• Use multi-level BOMs if your product consists of modular subassemblies.
• Rely on the production planning module to avoid bottlenecks and optimize capacity utilization.