- Alternatively, use Routes or Push/Pull rules on the BOM's components to force picking from a specific location automatically.

I hope this information helps you

Thanks & Regards,
Kunjan Patel

Hi Angela (and Ricardo),

Because Odoo’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) rely strictly on effective dates rather than live inventory balances, automating a dynamic "switch when stock hits zero" isn't supported out of the box.

However, you can cleanly handle this "Phase-Out / Phase-In" requirement without complex custom code by combining a low-code visibility layer, standard manufacturing workflows, and an automated notification loop.

Here is the complete, 3-step blueprint to solve this seamlessly across Engineering, Procurement, and Production:

Step 1: Prevent Accidental Reordering (Procurement Visibility)

The biggest risk when bleeding down stock is that your purchasing team might see inventory dropping and blindly trigger a new Purchase Order. You can use Odoo Studio to build an administrative bridge on the Product Template form for the component being replaced:

1. Add a custom Boolean checkbox called "Pending ECO".

2. Add a custom selection dropdown called "Revision Disposition" with options like “Phase-Out Existing Stock” or “Scrap Immediately”.

3. When the ECO is created, check this box and set the disposition. This alerts your buyers to temporarily let the stock bleed down to zero instead of ordering more.

Step 2: Manage the Physical Swap (Shop Floor Execution)

Instead of activating the ECO on the master Bill of Materials (BoM) immediately, leave the old component as the active line item and manage the final depletion directly on your Manufacturing Orders (MOs):

1. Enable Flexible Consumption: Ensure your BoM or Manufacturing configuration is set to "Flexible Consumption: Allowed". This allows shop floor operators to adjust component consumption on the fly.

2. The Depletion Workflow: * When a new MO is generated, Odoo will attempt to reserve whatever is left of the old component.

   • If stock runs out mid-production and Odoo only reserves a partial quantity, the production operator simply edits the components list on that specific MO.

   • They adjust the old component line down to match what was actually available and manually add a new line for the new component to cover the deficit.

Step 3: Automate the "Stock is Zero" Alert (Closing the Loop)

To remove manual monitoring entirely, you can build an Automated Action that automatically alerts the engineering team the exact moment the warehouse hits zero so they can finalize the ECO:

1. Go to Settings > Technical > Automated Actions and create a new rule.

2. Set the Model to Product Product and the Trigger to On Update (monitoring the qty_available field).

3. Set the Before Update Domain to: [("pending_eco", "=", True), ("qty_available", ">", 0)]

4. Set the Apply On (After Update) Domain to: [("pending_eco", "=", True), ("qty_available", "=", 0)]

5. Set the Action to Create Activity. Configure it to automatically assign a high-priority "Review and Finalize ECO" task to your Engineering Manager.

Summary of the Lifecycle

Engineering flags the phase-out: 

• Procurement stops reordering 
• Production uses up the remaining stock via flexible consumption 
• Odoo automatically tasks Engineering to activate the new BoM revision the moment the last piece is consumed.

This keeps your inventory numbers perfectly accurate, utilizes your remaining warehouse capital, and prevents production delays entirely within standard Odoo logic.