A manufacturer comparing Odoo and Katana is, in an important sense, comparing two different kinds of thing: a focused manufacturing tool and a full business suite.
What each one is
Katana is a manufacturing-focused software tool, aimed specifically at manufacturing management for smaller manufacturers. Odoo is a full business suite: it has genuine manufacturing capability, but it also runs sales, inventory, purchasing, accounting, and more, as one connected system.
The comparison is about scope
This is the crux. Katana is focused on manufacturing, the production side. Odoo runs manufacturing as one part of a whole connected business. So the comparison is not simply which does manufacturing better; it is whether the manufacturer wants a focused manufacturing tool or a connected system that runs the whole business and includes manufacturing.
Where a focused tool has appeal
A focused manufacturing tool like Katana has the appeal of focus: it is aimed squarely at manufacturing management, and for a smaller manufacturer whose need is principally manufacturing management, and whose other operations are light or handled elsewhere, a focused tool can be straightforward and suited to that one job.
Where Odoo is stronger
Odoo's strength is that manufacturing is part of one connected business. With Odoo, manufacturing is not a separate tool that then has to be connected to whatever runs sales, purchasing, inventory, and accounting; it is part of the same system. A sale can drive production, production draws on inventory and triggers purchasing, the cost reaches the accounts, all in one system. For a manufacturer that does more than manufacture, and most do, and that wants the manufacturing joined to the rest of the operation, Odoo's connected design is a real advantage. A manufacturer running a focused tool alongside separate systems for the rest faces the disconnection that a connected suite removes.
Which suits which manufacturer
A focused manufacturing tool suits a smaller manufacturer whose need is principally manufacturing management, with light other operations, content to handle the rest elsewhere. Odoo suits a manufacturer that wants its manufacturing connected to the whole operation, sales, purchasing, inventory, accounting, in one system, rather than as a focused tool standing apart from the rest.
The honest verdict
Odoo and Katana answer different questions: a focused manufacturing tool, or a connected suite that runs the whole business including manufacturing. A manufacturer whose need is genuinely just manufacturing management, with light other operations, may find a focused tool fits. A manufacturer that wants manufacturing joined to the rest of its operation in one connected system, which is most manufacturers as they grow, finds Odoo the stronger fit. Decide on whether you want a focused tool or a connected operation. For how we approach Odoo for manufacturers, see our manufacturing work.