Unlock new levels of traceability in warehouse management
In today’s business landscape, especially in industries such as food production, traceability is essential. Whether it’s ensuring the ethical sourcing of materials or tracking the entire production and delivery process, having full transparency on the product journey is not only a good thing, it’s essential. Odoo 18 brings exciting new features that take traceability to a whole new level, especially in warehouse management.
In this article, we’ll highlight the key improvements introduced in Odoo 18 that make warehouse operations more efficient and easier to track.
1. Improving Usability: Facilitate warehouse operations
With Odoo 18, the management of heavy tasks in terms of traceability, such as digitizing products and tracking batches, becomes much more user-friendly. For example, when managing inventory, the new features of Odoo reduce the risk of errors when scanning items and handling bulk products. These usability improvements allow users to move products faster and with more confidence, which is crucial in fast-paced industries like food production.
Example: For a chocolate manufacturer, the digitization and recording of movement of ingredients such as cocoa beans, milk powder and sugar is now a more fluid process. This avoids errors and ensures that all ingredients are tracked from supplier to production.
2. Batch or serial number evaluation: Now possible
A feature long requested by the Odoo community is now available in Odoo 18 - batch or serial number rating. This feature allows for more accurate cost tracking, particularly useful in industries where different batches of raw materials may be sold at different prices. In Odoo 18, you can now track the value of each batch, rather than relying on a standard average.
Example: A chocolate manufacturer can now differentiate lots of cocoa beans from different regions, such as Côte d’Ivoire and Ecuador, where prices and flavour profiles may vary. This allows for more accurate cost management per production batch.
3. Continuous traceability between companies: Total transparency between several companies
In Odoo 18, continuous inter-company traceability is now a reality. In previous versions, records were copied between companies, making it difficult to maintain accurate traceability in a multi-company environment. Now, Odoo ensures that complete traceability is maintained across companies without the need to copy records or manually enter data.
Example: In a scenario where a company manufactures chocolate under one entity and sells it through a separate retail company, Odoo 18 allows for seamless traceability. You can now track the entire flow from production to retail, including each batch and its path between companies.
4. Improved batch and serial number management
Odoo version 18 also brings improvements to batch and serial number management, allowing users to easily generate multiple serial numbers. For example, users can now generate and assign batch numbers for products such as sugar bags in a single step, saving time and ensuring that each batch is fully traceable.
5. Complete Traceability Report: A Game Changer
One of the most notable features in Odoo 18 is the new traceability report. This report provides full visibility over the entire product life cycle - from raw material receipt to delivery of finished products. The traceability report allows users to explore each batch or serial number and see exactly where products are in the supply chain.
Example: If a company needs to recall a lot of sugar due to contamination, they can quickly track the affected product, the amount of sugar used and where the affected products were sent, ensuring a quick and effective response.
Conclusion
Companies can now achieve new levels of traceability, improving operations and ensuring compliance with industry standards. From more efficient warehouse operations to batch-based valuation and seamless inter-company traceability, these improvements make Odoo 18 an ideal solution for companies looking to optimize their production and supply chain management.