Odoo can serve companies that hold stock as their inventory management system, and this time we would like to talk about how to think about procuring that stock — the rule you procure by.
Broadly speaking, there are two rules you might procure stock by.
There is make to stock, where you procure in order to hold stock, and make to order, where you procure when an order comes in.
To set make to stock or make to order in Odoo, go to Product -> Procurement tab and choose Buy or Make To Order.
(If you have the MRP module installed, Manufacture joins them there.)
For make to stock, select Buy only; for make to order, select both Buy and Make To Order.
First, for make to stock, you can set up a reordering rule that procures automatically (※) when stock runs down.
When stock falls below the minimum quantity, it procures the quantity needed to reach the maximum quantity.
For make to order, on the other hand, procurement runs automatically (※) when an order comes in.
(※ Running procurement requires Warehouse -> Schedule -> Run Scheduler, though you can also automate it with a module.)
You can check the state of procurement under Warehouse -> Schedule -> Procurements.
If you choose procurement by Make To Order, for instance, the Extra Information tab of the procurement screen shows that a purchase order (PO) has been generated.
That was how to set the rule you procure stock by in Odoo.
We hope it helps the next time you look at a product's settings and wonder what Buy and Make To Order actually are!
Procurement rules in Odoo (Buy, Make to Order)