From outsourced production to a connected, traceable factory
Stefano Ricci chose to insource the production of luxury small parts — clasps, buttons, metal accessories — launching a new production line with complex BOMs, external operations and CNC machines connected to Odoo in real time.
Multi-level BOMs
Bills of materials structured for each small-part variant
Automatic subcontracting
External orders triggered at the right moment in the cycle
Enforced operation sequence
The system prevents skipping critical processing steps
Customer → MO traceability
Order reference propagated across all production orders
Odoo apps used
Manufacturing
Inventory
Purchase
Sales
Accounting
QualityThe context
A strategic move with real technical complexity
Stefano Ricci is one of the most recognized Italian luxury brands worldwide, with production focused on extremely high-quality garments and accessories. Small parts — the little metal pieces that define the details of a luxury garment — were historically entrusted to external suppliers.
Insourcing this production opened up a real challenge: how to run a brand-new manufacturing process — highly complex, with intricate BOMs, external operations still required in some phases, CNC machines to integrate, and the need to trace every production order back to the customer order that triggered it.
The challenge
A new production line, from scratch, on a complex process
Bringing a previously outsourced production in-house means a lot more than buying machines. It means building a control system from scratch: who produces what, in what sequence, with what materials, with which subcontracting suppliers — and, above all, for which customer.
The complexity of the BOMs, with multi-level components and hybrid operations (internal and external in sequence), required a system that could orchestrate it all with no room for improvisation or human error.
The issues to solve
- No visibility on production: all entrusted to external suppliers, zero direct control
- Layered, multi-level BOMs hard to manage without a structured production system
- External operations to coordinate mid-cycle, with different suppliers for different phases and precise activation moments
- Operations with no enforced sequence: risk of skipping critical phases
- No link between the customer order reference and the production order
The solution
A production system built layer by layer
Bloomup designed on Odoo 18 MRP an ecosystem of custom modules covering every layer of complexity: from BOMs to machines, from subcontracting orders to end-customer traceability.
Insourcing on Odoo MRP
The full small-parts production flow was structured on Odoo 18 MRP, with multi-level BOMs that mirror the real complexity of operations.
Complex, certified BOMs
BOMs configured with components, semi-finished goods and internal/external operations in a single system. Each component variant has its precise, verifiable structure.
Extended subcontracting for multi-phase cycles
The process required firing subcontracting orders at precise points in a multi-operation cycle, with different suppliers for different phases. Bloomup extended Odoo's subcontracting features with a custom trigger module, fitting them to the real complexity of the production process.
Enforced operation sequence
Processing phases follow a mandatory order: Odoo prevents starting an operation if the previous ones aren't complete, eliminating process errors.
Customer order → production traceability
The customer's order reference is automatically propagated to the production order and all backorders. The factory always knows which customer it's working for.
The results
A new factory, with the control of a mature system
The line started with a solid structure: every step of the process is traced, sequential and automated where it can be.
What changed in practice
- Insourced production is fully managed in Odoo, with certified, updatable BOMs
- External operations are generated automatically at the right point of the production cycle
- No operator can skip a phase: the operation sequence is enforced by the system
- Every production order carries the reference of the customer that originated it
- Management has, for the first time, real-time visibility on internal production progress
Got a similar challenge?
Considering insourcing a production or structuring a complex manufacturing process?
Every manufacturing process has its own specifics. On a 30-minute call we'll figure out together where Odoo can bring order and visibility.