What Are the Key Benefits of Using Blanket Orders in Odoo 17’s Latest Inventory Module?

Navigating the world of inventory management often feels like a complex puzzle, but there’s a silver lining with Odoo 17‘s Blanket Orders feature. 

This transformative tool in the inventory module is your strategic ally, offering a streamlined approach to procurement. 

Among its various features, the integration of blanket orders in the inventory module is particularly transformative. 

Blanket orders, or long-term purchase agreements, are not just a feature but a strategic tool reshaping procurement and inventory management. 

In this blog, we delve deep into how leveraging blanket orders in Odoo 17 can revolutionize your business operations.

UNDERSTANDING BLANKET ORDERS IN Odoo 17

A blanket order in Odoo 17 serves as a long-term agreement between a business and its supplier, ensuring a regular supply of products at predetermined prices. This arrangement is crucial in managing inventory levels effectively and avoiding stock outs or overstocking.

Odoo 17’s inventory module has been specifically designed to accommodate blanket orders, ensuring seamless management of these agreements. This integration empowers businesses with better control and foresight in their inventory management.

Let’s embark on a journey to understand the top five advantages of Blanket Orders in Odoo 17 and how they can be a game-changer in your business operations :

1. Simplifying Procurement

Blanket Orders in Odoo 17 are like having a secret weapon for procurement. 

They set up long-term partnerships with suppliers, ensuring a steady supply of necessary items over an agreed period. 

This results in efficient, automated deliveries, ensuring a smooth flow in production lines and eliminating the panic of last-minute orders.

2. Budgeting with Confidence

Imagine locking in prices and securing bulk discounts with ease. Blanket Orders enable this, offering stability in pricing and protecting your business from market volatility. This leads to predictable expenditures and healthier profit margins – a win-win for you and your finance team.

3. Achieving Inventory Balance

The dread of stockouts can be a thing of the past. With Blanket Orders, maintaining optimal stock levels becomes a reality, allowing for a proactive approach to inventory management. This means no more excess stock or emergency sourcing for missing components.

4. Streamlining Operations

Say goodbye to the overload of paperwork. Blanket Orders in Odoo 17 automate routine tasks, such as generating purchase orders and confirming deliveries. This not only saves time but also allows your procurement team to focus on more strategic tasks like supplier relationship management, enhancing team efficiency and satisfaction.

5. Enhancing Decision Making

Blanket Orders offer clear visibility into your supply chain with real-time updates on deliveries and stock levels. This insight aids in fine-tuning production plans and logistics, ensuring informed and effective decision-making.

The latest version of Odoo 17 elevates Blanket Orders with features like partial deliveries and improved vendor consignment stock management, making it a robust tool for procurement management.

Let’s consider an example – A company producing electronic components can set up a Blanket Order with its key supplier for specific components, like resistors or capacitors, over a six-month period. This agreement would specify quantities, delivery schedules and fixed prices.

As a result, the company benefits from consistent supply, better pricing and reduced administrative burden, allowing the focus to shift to production efficiency and quality control. 

This practical application shows how Blanket Orders in Odoo 17 can be a powerful tool in the arsenal of a manufacturing unit, leading to smoother operations and improved profitability.

Let’s check out the key steps for setting up and using blanket orders in Odoo

1) Enabling Purchase Agreements

To start using blanket orders in Odoo, the first step is to enable Purchase Agreements in the Purchase application. This is done by navigating to the Purchase app settings and selecting the Purchase Agreements option. Enabling this feature is essential as it lays the groundwork for creating and managing blanket orders.

2) Creating a Blanket Order

Creating a blanket order in Odoo involves a series of steps in the Purchase app. First, you navigate to the blanket orders section. Here, you’ll fill out essential details in the blanket order form, such as the Purchase Representative (the person in charge of the order), Agreement Type (defining the nature of the order), Vendor (supplier details), Currency, Agreement Deadline (expiry date of the order, if any), Ordering Date, Delivery Date, Source Document (if the order is linked to any existing document), and the Company (which the order belongs to).

3) Adding Products and Prices

Once the blanket order is created, the next step is to add products to the order. This process requires manually selecting the products and agreeing on the prices with the vendor. These details aren’t automatically populated, so it’s crucial to negotiate and input them accurately.

4) Editing Agreement Settings

Odoo allows customization of the agreement settings for each blanket order. You can choose and adjust different agreement types, selection types for the order, and settings for new quotations. These configurations help tailor the blanket order to specific business needs.

5) Creating RFQs from Blanket Orders

From an established blanket order, Odoo enables the creation of new Requests for Quotations (RFQs). These RFQs are pre-populated with information based on the existing settings and terms of the blanket order, making the process efficient and consistent.

6) Linking RFQs and Orders

Odoo facilitates the tracking and management of RFQs and orders by linking them directly to the respective blanket orders. This linkage ensures clarity and traceability in the procurement process, allowing users to easily monitor and manage their orders and quotations.

7) Creating a New Blanket Order from an RFQ

In Odoo, you also have the flexibility to initiate a blanket order directly from an RFQ. This feature is particularly useful when you start with an RFQ and decide to establish a long-term purchasing agreement based on that initial request.

8) Replenishment Integration

Blanket orders in Odoo are designed to integrate smoothly with automated replenishment systems. This integration ensures that the supply chain is continuously optimized, with the system automatically managing stock levels and reorder points based on the terms of the blanket orders.

These steps collectively contribute to an efficient and streamlined process for managing long-term purchasing agreements in Odoo, enhancing both procurement efficiency and inventory management.

Concerned about migrating to Odoo 17? With our expertise at Pragmatic Techsoft, we make the transition smooth and efficient. Our team of experienced professionals will guide you through the process, from data transfer to staff training, enabling you to focus on your core business growth.

Are you ready to transform your inventory management with Blanket Orders? Contact our team of Odoo specialists for a tailored solution that elevates your procurement strategy.

Keep an eye on our blog for more insights into Odoo 17’s capabilities, including the robust Manufacturing Module, designed to streamline your production from raw materials to finished goods.

Don’t let inventory challenges slow you down. Reach out to Pragmatic Techsoft today and step into a new era of procurement efficiency with Blanket Orders.