Hi,

In Odoo, the reason you can still edit products directly without using PLM and ECO is because the PLM module does not automatically lock down product master data. By default, Odoo treats products in Inventory and Sales as standard records, so any user with sufficient access rights can modify fields like product name, category, or units of measure. The PLM and ECO processes are optional governance tools designed mainly to control engineering changes, such as updates to Bills of Materials, routings, or attached design documents, rather than every product field. This means that unless you specifically restrict access, Odoo won’t force you to go through an ECO when changing product data. If your company requires stricter control so that all product modifications must follow the ECO approval workflow, you would need to adjust user permissions to prevent direct product edits or add a custom rule that only allows changes through approved ECOs. In short, nothing is wrong with your setup — Odoo is behaving as designed — but to enforce PLM-driven control over product changes, additional configuration or customization is required.

Hope it helps

Hi Mannes,

That’s expected: in Odoo you can always edit product master data directly if you have the rights. The PLM + ECO flow is only enforced on Bill of Materials and product changes if you activate the PLM module and set up ECO approvals.

If you haven’t enabled PLM, Odoo won’t restrict product edits. To make it mandatory, install the PLM app, configure ECO types and stages, and assign permissions so users must go through the ECO pipeline for changes.

Hope this clears it up!