Custom Engineering / Nimex Solutions
Industrial Production & Procurement Planning
A process plant plans one bulk product in kg, fills it into packed variants and buys what the approved plans still need. A seven-step planner turns sales demand into batches and manufacturing orders; a separate procurement planner turns shortages into draft purchase orders that the buyer controls.
Architecture: batch process manufacturing · bulk batches filled into packs
The problem
One bulk product, many packs, two places that drifted apart.
Standard Odoo Manufacturing has no notion of "one bulk product, one colour, N batches, M filling orders". Planners kept the same split in two places, which drifted apart.
Demand arrives as packed pieces on sales orders while production happens in kg; free bulk already in stock should be used first, and nothing may be filled that was not produced.
Reordering rules and buy routes then create purchase orders silently, product by product, which the plant did not want.
What we engineered
A planner for kg batches and a buyer's screen fed by it.
Demand into one plan
- Each packed sales line that stock cannot serve becomes a demand row (missing pieces × kg per piece) on the draft plan of its bulk product; several orders consolidate.
- Free bulk in the semi-finished location is netted off: target = need − from stock + extra.
- Full production, filling-only from existing bulk, partial production or nothing to plan; make-to-stock plans are opened by hand.
Seven guided steps
- Paint and quantity, recipe, operations, quality, filling, batches and dates, approval, each with readiness checks and a one-line blocker.
- A planning manager sends the request; the assigned planner must take it over before the later steps unlock.
- Catalogue recipes are protected: the plan works on its own copy.
Batches and approval
- Suggested batches = target ÷ the smallest of the largest compatible machines per recipe role, rounded up; free manual split.
- Material need for all batches against stock on hand, with the shortfall.
- Approval creates one bulk manufacturing order per batch and one filling order per packed variant, orders work orders as in the recipe and freezes the stock figure used.
After approval
- The plan follows its orders (Approved, In production, Done) and stays in sync with Odoo split and merge.
- Packed orders close by asking how many pieces came out; the kg shortfall is recorded as scrap or as yield loss; unfilled bulk returns to the semi-finished location.
- A result step and reports compare planned and actual per plan, batch and variant.
Plan-driven procurement
- The need list is computed on every read from the open component moves of approved plans, min / max rules and extra requests.
- To buy = required − on hand − on order, never below zero, with each source shown separately.
- Vendor cards from the vendor pricelist (cheapest, fastest, minimum quantity); one draft purchase order per vendor and currency, linked to the plans.
- Other purchase-creating paths are locked by design; an hourly check flags needs that reopen.
How it works
From sales demand to draft purchase orders.
- Draft plan from sales
Confirmed packed lines create or join the draft plan of their bulk product (Draft, from sales).
- Request hand-off
The planning manager sets dispatch date and planner and sends the request; the planner takes it over.
- Recipe, operations, quality
The plan copies its recipe, orders operations by role and selects quality criteria from the library.
- Filling and batches
Pieces per packed variant become kg; bulk left must stay ≥ 0; Suggest batches splits the target.
- Approve plan
Bulk and filling manufacturing orders open together; the plan is Approved.
- On the floor
Machine and kettle are chosen on each order; checks repeat until they pass; the plan moves to In production, then Done.
- Buying
The buyer works the To buy list, picks vendor cards and creates draft purchase orders per vendor and currency.
Integration points
Planning and purchasing on standard Odoo documents.
- Sales
Packed demand rows, a Production Plan button and a warning when a linked order changes.
- Manufacturing
Bulk and filling orders, work orders in recipe order, closing with yield rules.
- Quality
Quality points kept in sync with the recipe's criteria.
- Inventory
Semi-finished, loss and reject locations; daily lot numbers.
- Purchase
Draft purchase orders per vendor and currency, linked back to the plans.