Whose materials belong in a subcontracting BOM?
Separate company-supplied components from a subcontractor’s own materials in Odoo. Map procurement, movement and cost coverage before testing a mixed flow.
Before adding a subcontractor's material to your Odoo BOM, determine who procures it and which stock movement your company needs to record. A list of everything physically inside a product is not automatically the right resupply instruction.
The Odoo 19.0 documentation distinguishes three subcontracting flows. In basic subcontracting, the subcontractor acquires the components. In resupply subcontracting, your company sends components from its warehouse. In dropship subcontracting, your company buys components from a vendor and directs delivery to the subcontractor. Odoo 19.0 subcontracting.
Separate the procurement agreement from the engineering list
For basic subcontracting, Odoo documents a subcontracting BOM with no component lines required because the subcontractor handles the components and manufacture. In the resupply flow, the BOM contains the components the company provides. These are distinct documented cases; a mixed arrangement deserves its own configured test. Basic subcontracting, resupply subcontracting.
Do not add supplier-owned consumables to a resupply BOM just to make the engineering list look complete. First establish what that line causes in procurement, transfers and consumption. Keep any necessary specification or quality evidence available through an appropriate controlled record.
The agreement must also settle ownership, loss, unused material and returns. Physical location alone does not answer those commercial questions. This worksheet organizes the review; it does not decide legal title or accounting policy.
| Material or charge | Who procures it? | Physical route | Evidence the company needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company-supplied casting | Your company | Your stock to subcontractor | Transfer, received quantity and recorded consumption |
| Component bought for direct delivery | Your company | Vendor to subcontractor | Purchase reference and delivery confirmation |
| Subcontractor's own consumable | Subcontractor | Its supply to its process | Agreed product specification and charge coverage |
| Processing charge | Your company buys the service/product arrangement | No separate material transfer | Agreed purchasing and billing basis |
| Unused company material | Already supplied by your company | Remains there or returns | Balance and disposition evidence |
Rehearse a mixed-material example
Consider an invented arrangement for ten assemblies. Your company supplies ten castings. The subcontractor supplies adhesive from its own stock and charges an agreed amount that includes its work and adhesive. The finished assemblies return to your warehouse.
The process needs to explain all ten castings. If nine assemblies return and one casting remains unused, the remaining casting should not disappear merely because the purchase order looks nearly complete. Check the configured records for the receipt, consumption and remaining material. If one casting is damaged instead, record that different outcome through the company's approved process.
The adhesive still matters to the product specification. But creating a fictitious shipment from your warehouse would misstate the physical flow. Have the implementation team demonstrate how the intended mixed arrangement preserves the specification without generating an invented company supply movement.
If your company instead purchases the adhesive and has its vendor deliver it directly, that is a different route. Odoo's dropship-to-subcontractor documentation describes company-purchased components delivered from the vendor to the subcontractor. Confirm the configured purchase and delivery records with that scenario. Odoo 19.0 dropship subcontracting.
Review cost coverage once
Odoo's subcontracting overview describes product valuation in terms of company-provided components, subcontractor charges and applicable transport or other costs. Use that as a prompt for the finance owner to inspect the configured result. Do not count a supplier-provided material twice if its cost is already included in the subcontractor's agreed charge. Odoo 19.0 subcontracting.
Take one purchase order through receipt, a partial receipt and a material exception in the test system. Accept the flow only when purchasing, inventory and finance can explain the same material history. For revision-sensitive inputs, add the as-built traceability check to the review.