We specialize in the production of outdoor LED lighting, and our products have multi-level Bills of Materials (BOMs). We occasionally manufacture products for stock, but more often we produce them on-the-fly based on the selected quantity and configuration from orders. We can assemble our products (as single units) fairly quickly from available components and subassemblies, with assembly times measured in minutes rather than hours or days. Officially, we often present lead times as 2, 4, 8 weeks, or upon inquiry. The timeline depends on the product, configuration, and available components.

My envisioned use of Odoo for production is as follows: when a customer places an order for a specific lamp, upon order acceptance/production order initiation, all lower-level orders for subassemblies and components cascade down instantly, following the BOM hierarchy. Utilizing Replenishment, my plan was to set products sold (at the highest level) as the only items with manual replenishment. This way, I would manually control the inclusion of finished products in production orders. All subassemblies and components would then be automatically replenished by the system (generating Manufacturing Orders and Purchase Orders). This way, upon order acceptance for production, I intended to promptly and without delay be able to order all missing components and parts – ordering them ASAP rather than ALAP (As-Late-As-Possible).

However, this is where the issue arises. The problem is that, for instance, if the production time for a specific lamp is 14 days, a subassembly takes 3 days, and a component for that subassembly takes 10 days to be delivered, a critical situation occurs. The demand for the subassembly only appears in replenishment 3 days before the production deadline (i.e., on the 11th day since the start), and it's only at that point that a demand for the component arises, which will be delivered in 10 days. This results in a total of 11+10=21 days instead of the correct 14 days. This issue becomes more pronounced with more complex BOMs. In the worst cases, the risk of delays could extend to even months.

Here lies the crux of the matter – either I'm missing something fundamental or the problem is unsolvable, or I lack the proper understanding of how to accurately set time values within the program. This issue involves settings like Manufacturing Lead Time and Customer Lead Time on a product level, as well as global settings like Security Sales, Security Manufacturing, and Security Purchase.

For now, I've circumvented this problem by setting all time parameters uniformly to 0 days. This essentially solved my problem since everything is always needed immediately. Unfortunately, this brought about a new issue – I cannot set future production dates in production orders, as it leads to discrepancies in Replenishment and its demand calculation. When manually controlling production, erroneous demands start popping up regarding quantities needed. One big mess.

I earnestly request that if there is anyone here who could explain to me what I'm doing wrong and how I could resolve this issue (if possible), I would be immensely grateful and indebted. My hope lies solely in your expertise.