Manufacturing businesses have the most to gain from a proper ERP and the most to lose from a bad one, because the software has to reflect a physical process. If the system says a job is finished when it is not, or costs a product at the wrong material price, the numbers that come out are worse than no numbers. Here is what a small UK manufacturer should actually look for.
The essentials
Bills of materials (BoM). The recipe for each product: components, quantities, and the operations to assemble them. The system must support multi-level BoMs (an assembly that contains sub-assemblies), variants (the same product in different sizes or colours), and versions (so a change does not corrupt history).
Work orders. Instructions to make a quantity of a product, showing what to pick, which operations to perform, and where. Progress should be visible from the office.
Stock at every stage. Raw materials, work in progress and finished goods, in defined locations, with movements recorded as they happen, not at the end of the week.
Costing. The true cost of a product, including materials at the price you paid, labour at a realistic rate and overhead. Without this you do not know your margin, and you will price wrongly.
Purchasing tied to demand. What to buy, and when, based on orders, stock and supplier lead times. This is what MRP does.
The nice-to-haves
- Quality checks at defined points, with records for traceability.
- Lot and serial number tracking, essential in food, medical and anything with recalls.
- Maintenance schedules for machines.
- Capacity planning for work centres.
- Shop floor tablets so operators record progress without paper.
Most small manufacturers should start with the essentials and add these as they need them. A system that does everything on day one is a system nobody has time to learn.
How Odoo handles manufacturing
Odoo's Manufacturing app covers BoMs, work orders, work centres and routings, with MRP, Quality, Maintenance and PLM (product lifecycle management) as separate apps you can switch on. It supports make-to-stock, make-to-order, batch production and subcontracting. Costing can be standard, average or FIFO, and landed costs can be added to purchases.
Because it sits in the same system as sales, stock, purchasing and accounts, a customer order can trigger a work order, which drives purchase orders for missing components, and the finished product's cost flows into the accounts without anyone re-keying. That single flow is the main reason manufacturers move from separate systems.
What the project looks like
Manufacturing implementations take longer than a services or wholesale project because of BoMs and costing. Expect 10 to 16 weeks for a small manufacturer, with the extra time spent getting bills of materials accurate and validating costs against what you know from experience. Our implementation steps and timeline guide apply, with data migration of BoMs added.
The single most important preparation you can do is to get your bills of materials written down and accurate before the project starts. If they exist only in the heads of two experienced staff, that is the first job.
The payoff
Manufacturers who get this right can quote with confidence because they know their costs, promise delivery dates they can keep because they can see capacity and stock, and spot a job going over budget while there is still time to act. Those three things are what customers remember.
If you make things and run the business on spreadsheets and a whiteboard, a free discovery call with someone who has done this before is a good first step. Read about our ERP service or request a quote.
Key takeaways
- A manufacturing ERP needs bills of materials, work orders, stock at each stage, and costing that reflects what things actually cost to make.
- Small manufacturers usually need the basics done well, not the features designed for a car plant.
- Odoo handles discrete, batch and made-to-order manufacturing, with MRP, quality and maintenance as optional modules.
- The payoff is accurate costing and reliable delivery dates, which is what wins repeat customers.
Frequently asked questions
Need help with ERP?
eSolution Hub is a UK company with its own engineering team in Lahore. Every project starts with a free 30 minute discovery call and a written quote. Read about our ERP service or request a quote.
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