Introduction:
In every manufacturing setup, Work Centers represent the physical places or machines where production activities happen like cutting, welding, assembling, or painting stations. Managing these efficiently is key to smooth production planning and cost control.
Odoo 18 makes it easy to handle Work Centers through its Manufacturing (MRP) module. From defining capacity and working hours to tracking time and cost for each operation, everything can be managed in one place. With proper configuration, Work Centers help you monitor efficiency, identify bottlenecks, and calculate accurate production costs.
1. Enable Work Centers/Work Orders feature
Go to Manufacturing → Configuration → Settings.
Under “Operations” or similar section check Work Orders.
Save. This allows you to create Work Centers and attach them to Operations in a Bill of Materials (BoM).
Without this, the Operations tab may not show for MOs.
2. Configure a Work Center
Go to Manufacturing → Configuration → Work Centers → Create New. Fill in key fields
Name: e.g., “Cutting Station”, “Assembly Line”.
Code: Short identifier.
Tags: For sorting/filter.
Alternative Work Centers: If one centre is unavailable, you can route operations to an alternative.
Working Hours: Define when this centre is active (shift times, days).
On General Information tab:
Capacity: How many units/tasks can this centre process in parallel.
Time Efficiency: If equipment is slower/faster than standard.
Setup Time / Cleanup Time: Time needed before/after tasks. Cost per Hour: For costing manufacturing.
Optionally: Equipment tab, IoT integration, etc
Example:
Suppose you have a “Welding Station”. You set Capacity = 2 units (so it can handle 2 simultaneous tasks), Time Efficiency = 80% (because the machine is a bit older), Working Hours Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00. That means you’ll get realistic scheduling & cost for that station.
3. Link Work Centers to Operations in BOM / Routing
When you create or edit a Bill of Materials for a product, in the Operations tab you’ll see each step (cut assembly, paint, etc.).
For each operation choose the associated Work Center you configured above. This tells Odoo where that operation will run.
Ensure the sequence, durations, setup/cleanup times are realistic. This affects scheduling and capacity load.
4. Schedule & Plan Work Centers
In the Manufacturing app → Planning → Planning by Workcenter you can view how work orders are scheduled per work centre. It shows a Gantt-style view of load, time, tasks.
If a Work Center is overloaded, you can manually shift tasks or use alternative centres (if configured).
When a Work Center is unavailable (maintenance, breakdown), you can mark it as Time Off (via the Time Off app) and route its work orders to the alternative centre.
5. Use in a Manufacturing Order (MO)
When you create a Manufacturing Order:
After confirming MO, the Work Orders tab will list operations with their associated Work Centers. (Because each operation’s Work Center was defined in the BOM)
The operator can start work on each operation at the correct Work Center, track actual time vs expected, etc.
The scheduling respects the Work Center’s capacity, efficiency, and working hours. E.g., if capacity is 1 and you produce 10 units, operations may be queued/serialized.
Conclusion:
Efficiently managing Work Centers in Odoo 18 ensures that your manufacturing operations run like a well-oiled machine. By clearly defining capacity, cost, and working hours, you gain full visibility over resource utilization and production timelines.
From planning and scheduling to real-time monitoring through the Shop Floor interface, Odoo 18 gives you complete control over each stage of production. It helps reduce idle time, optimize workloads, and improve overall productivity.