Hi Guys,

I posted a specific question a week ago and got a great answer, but I keep getting hung up on small details in Open ERP that make me feel like I am mucking through everything ever so slowly. I thought if I laid out the work flow I need and specific hang ups I have maybe some of you fine folks could lend a hand. I am not a developer, I have worked in various ERP and PLM systems such as Arigo but I just worked in it, not mapped it out.

So to explain quickly what we do:

We are a manufacturer of hand made footwear. We buy raw materials from suppliers such as leather tanneries, sole manufacturers, glue manufacturers, etc... We stock this raw materials in buys 6-12 months in advance and produce shoes a year ahead of delivery. So for instance we are finishing up production of our spring 2014 orders in the next month, and will then get our fall 2015 orders and start production on those in Fed/March. Production/raw material buys are getting to be complex and rather large for us, so we need to be on point with planning and buying.

We also have a DTC (direct to consumer) business where we get orders online and then make those custom to the customers specifications. We treat this like a separate business unit. We will be trying to create some inventory for ourselves in the coming months as well, to try and improve our turn around here.

For sales orders, I need to reflect them to represent not just a style/SKU but also sizes ordered as well, as this needs to be reflected on the invoice/PO/ and MO. I have seen some tutorials on how to do this, and will be trying tomorrow.

My main issue is setting up the products, raw materials, and BOM so they all make sense and the work flows properly.

I set up a boot, and name it. I put it under a category I made called "finished goods/mens boots". I set product type as stockable, and unit of measure as "prs". I then set sale as the wholesale price. Internal ref = our SKU #.

Moving over to Procurement, the method is set to Make to Stock. Supply method manufacture. At the bottom is "suppliers" and I have been leaving this blank. Inventory I don't touch as that will be updated as we manufacture correct? (unless we currently have some to add)

Now going to the BOM

I create a new BOM for it, add my raw materials and set the inventories in each for what we have (ex. 5000 eyelets in stock, 400 sq ft of a certain leather and so on...)

When thats done I save right?

Now when I create a SO and invoice it we should see an MO started.

I guess what is confusing me is how everything looks very much the same (raw materials on the BOM look just like the product set up). So what I am wondering, are there any tricks to setting all this up and making it all flow nicely? I feel like we are pretty straight forward as far as manufacturing and invoicing, but I just need some clarification I guess. Anyone out there who could help me out setting this up or who I can ask any questions to directly?

Thanks all, I know this may seem simple but after watching and reading a million how to's and tutorials, my brain is a bit mushy, could use a wake up and simplification of this whole process.

-Dan