Not all of a manufacturer's production necessarily happens in its own plant. Some may be outsourced to a subcontractor. Odoo can manage that. This piece is about setting up subcontracting in Odoo manufacturing.
What subcontracting is
Subcontracting, in manufacturing, is having production, or a stage of it, carried out by an external party, a subcontractor, rather than in the manufacturer's own plant. A manufacturer might subcontract the production of a whole product, or a particular component or sub-assembly, or a particular operation. The subcontractor does the work; the manufacturer manages the arrangement. Subcontracting is common, and a manufacturer that subcontracts needs its system to handle it properly rather than treating outsourced production as an untracked gap.
Why subcontracting needs to be managed in the system
When production is subcontracted, there is a real flow to manage. Often the manufacturer provides the components, which have to be sent to the subcontractor. The subcontractor carries out the production. The finished goods, or the finished sub-assembly, come back. There is a cost for the subcontractor's work. And, importantly, the manufacturer needs visibility: where is the subcontracted production, what has been sent, what has come back. If subcontracting is handled outside the system, informally, all of this becomes a set of untracked, manually managed gaps, and the manufacturer loses sight of inventory and of the production. Setting subcontracting up in Odoo brings outsourced production into the connected system.
Subcontracting in Odoo
Odoo supports subcontracting in manufacturing. A product can be set up as subcontracted: produced by a subcontractor rather than in the manufacturer's own plant. Odoo then manages the subcontracting flow: it handles sending components to the subcontractor where the manufacturer provides them, and receiving the finished goods back, with the inventory tracked through the whole flow. The subcontracted production is part of the connected system rather than a gap outside it.
Setting it up
Setting up subcontracting in Odoo involves a few things. The product that is subcontracted is set up as a subcontracted product, with the subcontracting arrangement defined: which subcontractor, and a bill of materials for the subcontracted production, so Odoo knows what components the product is made from and therefore what has to be provided. With that in place, when the subcontracted product is needed, Odoo manages the flow: the components going to the subcontractor, the finished goods coming back, the inventory correct on both ends. The manufacturer gets the subcontracted production handled within the system, with the stock tracked, rather than managed by hand.
What setting it up properly gives
Setting subcontracting up properly in Odoo gives a manufacturer the things informal handling loses. The inventory is tracked: the manufacturer knows what components were sent to the subcontractor and what finished goods came back, and the stock figures stay correct. The subcontracted production is visible: it is part of the production picture, not an untracked gap. And the subcontracting connects to the rest of the system, to planning, so the need for subcontracted production is recognised, and to costing, so the subcontractor's work can be part of the product cost. Subcontracting set up in Odoo is outsourced production that the manufacturer can still see and manage.
Subcontracting and planning
A point worth noting. Because subcontracted production is part of the connected system, it works with planning. When a subcontracted product is needed, that need can flow through, and the components the subcontractor requires can be planned for, just as components for in-house production are. So setting up subcontracting is not only about the immediate flow of sending and receiving; it is about making the subcontracted part of production a planned, managed part of the whole operation.
The takeaway
Setting up subcontracting in Odoo manufacturing brings outsourced production into the connected system. A subcontracted product is set up with its subcontractor and a bill of materials, and Odoo then manages the flow: sending components to the subcontractor, receiving finished goods back, with inventory tracked throughout. Setting it up properly gives a manufacturer tracked inventory, visible subcontracted production, and connection to planning and costing, rather than the untracked gaps that informal handling creates. For how we approach Odoo for manufacturers, see our manufacturing work.