The first quarter of every year is when manufacturers evaluate operational costs. In 2026, many companies are realizing that their ERP systems are no longer supporting growth — they are restricting it.
For years, SAP was considered the default choice for manufacturing enterprises. It handled large operations well, but the industry has changed. Today’s manufacturers operate with shorter production cycles, flexible supply chains, and constant order customization. An ERP designed for rigid processes struggles in this environment.
One of the biggest complaints manufacturers now report is the cost of change. Adjusting a workflow in legacy ERP systems often requires consultants, downtime, and additional licensing. A simple production adjustment can take weeks. In modern manufacturing, weeks can mean lost contracts.
Odoo changes that dynamic entirely. Instead of forcing factories to adapt to the ERP, the ERP adapts to the factory.
Production managers can modify routing steps, bills of materials, and work orders directly through the interface. If a client requests a last-minute change in specifications, operations can adjust in hours rather than months. That agility has become a competitive advantage.
Another major factor is visibility. Manufacturing today depends on real-time insight. Companies need to know material consumption, machine utilization, and order progress immediately. Traditional ERP reporting often runs in batches, meaning decisions are made on outdated information.
Odoo offers live dashboards across procurement, production, and delivery. Supervisors can see bottlenecks forming before they become delays. Purchasing teams can anticipate shortages instead of reacting to them. The result is smoother operations and fewer emergency expenses.
Cost structure is also influencing decisions in 2026. Businesses are moving away from heavy upfront licensing models toward scalable systems. Odoo allows companies to start with core modules and expand as operations grow. This avoids paying for unused features — a common frustration with legacy ERP deployments.
At ComstarUSA, we have seen manufacturers adopt Odoo not because they wanted to replace software, but because they wanted operational freedom. Once implemented, teams rely less on IT departments and more on their own process expertise.
Manufacturing success now depends on speed and adaptability rather than size alone. ERP systems must support that shift. The companies switching early are gaining operational efficiency and pricing flexibility.
The first quarter is planning season. The manufacturers using this period to modernize their ERP infrastructure are positioning themselves for stronger margins throughout the rest of 2026.
