Supply Chain

Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): product lifecycle management software

Enterprise

Manage engineering change orders on products, bills of material

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Odoo Ready Partner
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Calgary, in-house team
Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) logo
What it does

What Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) does

Odoo PLM is the Enterprise app that manages engineering change orders (ECOs) and versioned bills of materials on top of Odoo Manufacturing. When a recipe changes, an ECO captures what changed, who approves it, when it goes live on the floor, and what the previous version looked like. Every BOM carries a version number, and the live one on the shop floor is the one flagged Production Ready.

Discrete manufacturers, electronics shops, medical device makers, food and beverage processors, and any regulated production environment where the question "who approved this change" matters runs PLM here. You can test Odoo PLM free on the Odoo trial; pricing kicks in only if you install more than one Odoo app.

For Odoo's own product overview, see Odoo's product listing.

How it works

The day-to-day flow

An engineer wants to change a recipe. They open the bill of materials for the product, hit New ECO, and pick the ECO type (Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, New Product Introduction, Customer Complaint, whatever your shop tracks). Odoo creates a draft ECO and a draft BOM that is a copy of the current production-ready version.

From there, the engineer edits the draft BOM (add a component, swap a supplier part, change a quantity, adjust an operation step), and PLM tracks every change as a BOM Change line on the ECO. Each change has a from-value, a to-value, and an author timestamp. The engineer attaches the supporting documents (a CAD file, a supplier datasheet, an internal test report) to the ECO so the approvers have the context.

Now the approval flow runs. Each ECO type has an approval template tied to its stages, with named approvers and approval types: Mandatory (must approve before the ECO can move forward), Optional (approves but the ECO can move forward without), or Comment-Only (reviewer who can comment but cannot block). The ECO moves through stages (New, In Progress, Validation, Effective, Done), and at each stage the assigned approvers get an activity in their inbox. When all mandatory approvers have signed off, the ECO is ready to apply.

Applying the ECO is one button. The draft BOM becomes the new production-ready version. The previous BOM is preserved with the prior version number, linked as the predecessor, and any open manufacturing orders that referenced the old BOM either keep running on the old recipe (you decide per ECO) or get re-scheduled against the new one. The change is now live on the shop floor and the audit trail captures every approver, every comment, every change, every supporting document.

Calibre configures Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for Alberta businesses: step by step, in writing.

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In this module

What's inside Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Versioned Bills of Materials
Every BOM carries a version number. The Production Ready flag identifies the live version the shop floor uses. Older versions are preserved with a link to their successor, so a manufacturer can pull up exactly what the recipe looked like on the day a specific lot was produced. No overwritten history.
Engineering Change Orders With Type Categories
Group ECOs by type (Cost Reduction, Quality Improvement, New Product Introduction, Customer Complaint, Regulatory Change, whatever your shop runs). Each type can have its own approval template and its own pipeline stages, so a routine cost reduction does not need the same five-approver chain as a regulated medical device change.
Mandatory, Optional, and Comment-Only Approvers
Each approval on an ECO is set to one of three types. Mandatory approvers must sign off before the ECO can move to the next stage. Optional approvers add their sign-off if available but do not block. Comment-Only approvers can review and comment without an approve or reject button, useful for stakeholders who need to be informed but are not on the formal approval chain.
Configurable Pipeline Stages Per ECO Type
Each ECO type carries its own pipeline of stages, configurable per shop (typical sequences include New, In Progress, Validation, Effective, Closed). Different approvers can be assigned to different stages, so an engineering review happens before procurement gets pulled in, which happens before quality signs off, which happens before the change goes live.
Per-Line Change Tracking on the BOM
Every change made to the draft BOM is logged as a BOM Change entry (line added, line removed, quantity changed, supplier changed, operation step changed). Each change shows the from-value, the to-value, the author, and the timestamp. The auditor sees exactly what was different between version 3 and version 4 without diffing PDFs.
Document Attachments per ECO
Attach CAD files, supplier datasheets, internal test reports, customer complaint emails, and regulatory submissions directly to the ECO. The attached files travel with the ECO through the approval chain and live on the version's history afterward, so a year-end audit pulls the full justification for any change without anyone hunting through shared folders.
Apply Change Order in One Click
When all mandatory approvers have signed off, the ECO is ready to apply. One button switches the draft BOM to the new Production Ready version. The previous BOM is preserved, linked as the predecessor, and the change is live on the shop floor at that moment.
Decide Open MO Behaviour per ECO
When an ECO is applied, the user chooses whether open manufacturing orders (already started against the old BOM) should keep running on the old recipe to completion or get re-scheduled against the new one. This matters when a partial run is in progress and switching mid-build would orphan components. The choice is per ECO, so a critical safety fix can force the switch while a cost reduction can finish the current run.
Email Alias per ECO Type
Each ECO type carries its own email address. A supplier sending a part-change notification, an internal report of a customer complaint, or an automated regulatory alert can create or update an ECO just by sending an email to the type's address. The body lands in the ECO's chatter; attachments save as supporting evidence.
PLM Dashboard With Waiting-On-Me View
The dashboard shows the count of open ECOs per type, the count of ECOs waiting on validation, the count of ECOs awaiting approvals, and a personal Waiting On My Approval view per user. An engineer logs in and sees the five ECOs that need their sign-off without filtering through everyone else's queue.
Built for

Is Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) right for your team?

Outgrowing the entry-level tools

SMBs whose data lives in QuickBooks, HubSpot Free, or Excel spreadsheets that were set up when the business was smaller. The team now spends hours building reports by hand and reconciling between tools every month-end.

Mid-market on Sage X3 or Fishbowl

Discrete or process manufacturers paying for Sage X3 or Fishbowl licences and customization hours. The shop floor needs BOMs, work orders, and quality control without enterprise pricing.

Operations across multiple tools

Retail, manufacturing, mechanical, or professional services businesses with 10 to 200 employees running on a patchwork of point tools. The team wants one database for the whole company instead of Zapier holding it together.

At a glance Enterprise tier Cloud, Odoo.sh, or self-host iOS + Android app 15-day free trial CSV migration from current tool Odoo Ready Partner support
Bundle

Apps people often run with Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Most manufacturers running Odoo PLM pair it with two or three other Odoo apps to cover the change-management chain. Odoo Manufacturing is the parent (PLM sits directly on top of it) and every applied ECO updates the BOM that the shop floor's manufacturing orders pull from. Odoo Inventory shares the same product catalog, so a supplier-part change tracked in an ECO updates the right product on the same inventory profile. Odoo Purchase is the common pairing when an ECO involves a supplier change: the new vendor's part code, lead time, and pricing flow into the procurement side automatically when the ECO is applied. Odoo Quality is the optional pairing when an ECO needs an inspection check update (a new measurement tolerance, a new test type) to roll out at the same time as the BOM change.

Odoo ManufacturingManufacturing Orders & BOMs
Odoo InventoryManage your stock and logistics activities
Odoo PurchasePurchase orders, tenders and agreements
Odoo QualityControl the quality of your products
Comparison

Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) vs the alternatives

List-price comparison against the manufacturing (mrp) tools Calibre most commonly migrates customers off. The deciding factor is usually integration, not the line-item price. Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) sits on the same database as every other Odoo app you install, so the data flows between modules without separate bridges.

Tool Per month (annual plan) What you get
Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) CA$35.20/user/mo All Odoo apps included, free 15-day trial
DELMIAworks US$150/user/mo Manufacturing (MRP) only
Fishbowl Manufacturing Growth US$429/flat/mo Manufacturing (MRP) only
Katana Core US$299/flat/mo Manufacturing (MRP) only
MRPeasy Professional US$69/user/mo Manufacturing (MRP) only

Annual-commitment rate where published; monthly list rate otherwise. Sourced from vendor pricing pages, 2026-05. Plans and regions vary. Full cost calculator on the Odoo overview page.

Pricing

What Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) costs

One App Free
CA$0
forever
  • One app, unlimited users
  • Multi-company allowed
  • Odoo Online hosting
  • Dependent apps included free
If Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the only Odoo app you install
Most teams pick this
Standard
CA$35.20
/user/month, billed yearly
  • Every Odoo app included
  • Odoo Online hosting
  • Free 15-day trial
  • iOS + Android mobile app
Start free trial →
Charged monthly: CA$44/user. Yearly billing saves 20%.
Custom
CA$55
/user/month, billed yearly
  • Everything in Standard
  • Studio (no-code customizer)
  • Multi-company management
  • Hosting: Online, Odoo.sh, or on-premise
  • External API access
Choose this when you need custom layouts or multi-company management.
Calibre Implementation
Quote
phase-by-phase, in writing
  • Scoping, configuration, training
  • Data migration from your current tool
  • Named engineer through go-live and support
Book the call →
Free 45-minute scoping call. Quote in writing before any code ships.

Pricing source: Odoo's published Standard and Custom plans as of 2026-05. Calibre quotes in CAD; conversion from Odoo's local pricing in your region may vary.

Questions

Common questions about Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Is Odoo PLM free?
No. Odoo PLM is part of the paid Odoo Enterprise tier, which is around CA$35.20 per user per month billed annually for the full Odoo suite. There is no Community edition of Odoo PLM. You can test it free on the Odoo 15-day trial to scope a rollout before committing to the licence. The One App Free rule does not apply here in practice, because Odoo PLM depends on Odoo Manufacturing underneath, so even a minimal setup is already a two-app installation.
What's the difference between Odoo PLM in Community and Enterprise?
There is no Community version of Odoo PLM. The whole change-management flow (versioned bills of materials, engineering change orders, ECO types with their own approval templates, the three approval types, the multi-stage pipeline, per-line BOM change tracking, document attachments, one-click apply, open-MO behaviour decision, the email alias per ECO type, and the PLM dashboard) ships only in the Enterprise tier. Teams that want a free open-source PLM setup usually try to track BOM changes in a spreadsheet on a shared drive, which works until the regulator asks who approved what and the answer is in a colleague's email thread.
Can we move our existing BOMs, change orders, and approval history into Odoo PLM?
Yes for the BOMs and the approval setup; partial for historical change orders. Odoo PLM accepts CSV and Excel imports for the product catalog (with version-1 BOMs), the operation routings, the ECO types with their approval templates, the approver groups, and the historical ECOs as flat data with their applied date and prior approval signers. Live in-flight ECOs are usually rebuilt on cutover since the document-attachment and chatter context does not always carry across. Calibre handles the data audit, the approval-template mapping, and the cutover-day in-flight rebuild during the rollout, and keeps your prior PLM tool live as a read-only reference for the first quarter so an engineer can always check what was approved before the cutover.
Does Odoo PLM connect with CAD systems and design files?
Odoo PLM does not embed a CAD viewer or sync directly with SOLIDWORKS, Fusion 360, or Inventor, but it accepts CAD file attachments (DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES, PDF exports) on every ECO and every product. The standard workflow is to attach the design release file to the ECO that authorizes the change, and the approval chain signs off on the file alongside the change description. Some shops integrate a Git-style version-control on their CAD files separately and link the release commit ID into the ECO chatter; the integration is a per-shop customization Calibre can scope on the rollout call.
Is there a mobile app for Odoo PLM?
Yes, on iOS and Android. The Odoo mobile app covers the ECO list, opening an ECO, reviewing changes line by line, attaching a photo of a physical sample to the chatter, and signing off on a mandatory approval from the road. An engineer travelling for a supplier audit can review and approve an urgent ECO on a tablet between meetings. The polished mobile app is part of the Enterprise tier. Heavy CAD work and the detailed BOM editing screen are faster on a desktop because of the screen space.
How does Odoo PLM handle approval chains and approver substitution?
Each ECO type carries an approval template that lists the required approvers per stage. An approver can be a specific user or a group of users (any one of whom can sign off). When an approver is unavailable, the team can either reassign the approval to another user on the ECO directly (one click), or update the approval template to add a substitute at the role level. Approvals can also be marked as comment-only (a reviewer who must be informed but cannot block) or optional (a reviewer whose approval is captured if given but does not stop the ECO from moving forward). The audit trail captures every signature, every reassignment, and every comment with the user and timestamp.
Can a single ECO change multiple bills of materials at once?
Each ECO is tied to one BOM (one product, one version transition), so a change that affects ten products requires ten ECOs. This is by design for the audit trail: each product gets its own signed change history. For changes that genuinely span multiple products (a supplier change that affects every BOM using that part), the pattern is to use a parent ECO type or a project tag to link the related ECOs together, with each one approved and applied on its own timing. Calibre can configure the tag pattern and the parent-ECO workflow during the rollout.

Working with Calibre

How long does a Calibre implementation typically take?
Single-module rollouts on an existing Odoo setup run 2-6 weeks depending on data migration scope. Greenfield Odoo with a multi-module rollout runs 4-16 weeks. Calibre commits to a written, phase-by-phase timeline after the free scoping call before any code is written.
How much does a Calibre implementation cost?
Cost depends on module scope, user count, custom work, and migration complexity. Calibre's posture is a written fixed-phase quote after the scoping call rather than an hourly engagement, so the cost is committed in writing before the first commit.
What happens to our data if we ever want to leave Odoo?
Everything exports. CSV, XML, or a full PostgreSQL database dump, yours on day one. Migrating off Odoo has been done before and it's not a one-way door.
Speak to an Implementation Specialist

Talk to Calibre about Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Written, phase-by-phase quote before any code is written. Odoo Ready Partner, Calgary. In-house team, no offshore handoffs.

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What you get

  • Free 45-minute scoping call with an Odoo-certified engineer
  • Module-by-module fit/gap assessment
  • Written, phase-by-phase quote
  • Named engineer for implementation and support
  • Data-export commitment in writing