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How to Set Up Work Centres and Work Orders in Odoo 19

By · · Updated · 6 min read · Odoo Odoo 19 Setup Manufacturing MRP Production Planning Work Centers Shop Floor

Short answer: in Odoo 19, enable Work Orders in Manufacturing ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, create your work centres in Manufacturing ‣ Configuration ‣ Work Centers, then add operations to each bill of materials, choosing the work centre that does each step. Manufacturing orders then create one work order per operation, which operators process in the Manufacturing app or, on Enterprise, in Shop Floor.

This is the setup guide. For an explanation of what work centres and work orders are for, see work centres and work orders in Odoo.

Applies to

  • Odoo version: Odoo 19. Odoo 20 was released in September 2026; check its documentation before applying these steps to an Odoo 20 database.
  • Edition: Work centres and work orders are in the Manufacturing app in Community and Enterprise. Shop Floor, quality checks and IoT triggers are Enterprise only.
  • Apps: Manufacturing and Inventory; Maintenance if you want equipment on work centres.

Before you start

  1. List where work actually happens. A work centre is a machine, line, bench or team you schedule work on. If two identical machines are planned separately, make two work centres.
  2. Know your times. For each operation, an expected duration per unit or batch, plus any setup and cleanup time.
  3. Know your costs if you want manufacturing order costs to include labour or machine time: a cost per hour for each work centre.
  4. Have bills of materials ready for the products you make. See how to set up a bill of materials in Odoo 19.

Step by step

1. Enable work orders

Go to Manufacturing ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, tick Work Orders in the Operations section, and save.

2. Create work centres

  1. Go to Manufacturing ‣ Configuration ‣ Work Centers and click New.
  2. Work Center Name and a short Code.
  3. Working Hours: the default is Standard 40 hours/week (Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00). Create another schedule if the work centre runs shifts.
  4. Alternative Workcenters: where work can go if this one is busy.
  5. On the General Information tab:
    • Time Efficiency (percentage), if this work centre runs slower or faster than standard;
    • Setup Time and Cleanup Time;
    • Cost per hour, used to cost work done here;
    • Allowed Employees, if only certain people may operate it.
  6. Product Capacities (optional): how many units of a product can be processed at once.
  7. Save, and repeat for each work centre.

3. Add operations to your bills of materials

  1. Open the BoM (Manufacturing ‣ Products ‣ Bills of Materials) and go to the Operations tab.
  2. Click Add a line, name the Operation (for example Cut), and choose the Work Center.
  3. Choose Duration Computation: compute from tracked time (based on the last few work orders) or set a Default Duration manually.
  4. Add instructions in the Work Sheet tab if operators need them.
  5. Repeat for each step, in production order. Use Consumed in Operation on the Components tab to tie components to the step that uses them.

4. Plan and run work orders

  1. Confirm a manufacturing order. Odoo creates one work order per operation, planned on its work centre.
  2. Review the schedule in Manufacturing ‣ Planning ‣ Planning by Workcenter.
  3. Operators start, pause and finish work orders from Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Work Orders, or on Enterprise from the Shop Floor app.

5. Set up Shop Floor (Enterprise)

  1. On the workstation, open Shop Floor from the main dashboard.
  2. The first time, click Activate your Work Centers and select the work centres this station serves.
  3. Operators sign in through the operator panel on the left. Overview shows manufacturing orders ready to start (confirmed, with components available); each work centre has its own view of its work orders.
  4. Optionally install Shop Floor as an app in the station’s Chrome browser to keep operators out of other Odoo apps.

Worked example: a sheet-metal fabricator

A fabricator makes steel brackets in three steps.

Work centre Notes
Laser Cutter Setup time 15 minutes; cost per hour set from machine and operator cost
Press Brake Older machine, Time Efficiency 80%
Assembly Bench Alternative work centre: Assembly Bench 2

The bracket’s BoM gets three operations: Cut at Laser Cutter, Bend at Press Brake and Assemble at Assembly Bench, each with a default duration measured on the floor.

When a manufacturing order for 50 brackets is confirmed, Odoo creates three work orders. Their expected durations come from the operation durations, adjusted for each work centre’s setup time and efficiency, and the Planning by Workcenter view shows when each machine is booked. If Assembly Bench is full, work can be moved to Assembly Bench 2.

What you should see

  • Work orders listed under Manufacturing ‣ Operations ‣ Work Orders, one per operation of each confirmed order.
  • A Gantt-style schedule in Planning by Workcenter.
  • Performance figures on each work centre’s form (OEE, lost time, load and performance) once work orders are recorded.
  • On Enterprise, manufacturing order cards in Shop Floor, with Register Production for lot- or serial-tracked products and Close Production when the order is finished.

Troubleshooting

No work centres menu or Operations tab. Enable Work Orders in Manufacturing settings.

Manufacturing orders have no work orders. The BoM has no operations, or the order was created before operations were added. New orders pick up the current BoM.

Planned durations look far too long or short. Check the operation’s default duration (is it per unit or per batch?), the work centre’s Time Efficiency, Setup and Cleanup times, and the Product Capacities tab.

An order doesn’t appear on the Shop Floor overview. The overview shows orders that are ready to start. Remove the MO Ready filter to see every confirmed order, and check component availability.

Costs ignore labour. The work centre has no Cost per hour, so time recorded there adds nothing to the order’s cost.

The schedule ignores a night shift. The work centre still uses the standard 40-hour calendar. Assign working hours that match the real shifts.

Official references

How this guide was checked: menus, fields and behaviour were checked against the Odoo 19 documentation in October 2026, and edition availability against Odoo 19’s open-source code. The example is illustrative and wasn’t run on a live database, so there are no screenshots; labels can vary slightly with your installed apps and language.

? Frequently asked questions

How do I enable work orders in Odoo 19?

Go to Manufacturing, Configuration, Settings, tick Work Orders in the Operations section and save. Work centres and the Operations tab on bills of materials then become available.

Is Shop Floor available in Odoo Community?

No. Shop Floor is part of Odoo Enterprise. Community users can still create work centres and work orders and process them from the Manufacturing app.

What does Time Efficiency mean on a work centre?

It adjusts expected durations for that work centre. Odoo's documentation gives the example of older equipment that takes twice as long, set at 50 percent efficiency.

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