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Planning resources in Odoo: people and machines via the Project module

In Odoo you plan both people and machines as resources through the Project and Planning modules. Create each machine as a material resource and link it to the staff allowed to operate it, using roles or skills. That way only qualified people can be scheduled on that machine.

Updated June 7, 2026

In Odoo you schedule more than just people: machines and other equipment are resources too. Two questions come up again and again:

  • How do you plan resources, both people and machines, through the Project module?
  • How do you make sure only people who can operate a given machine can be scheduled on it?

People and machines as resources

In the Planning module you create two kinds of resource:

  • Human resources - your staff, usually linked to their user or employee record.
  • Material resources - machines, vehicles or tools. They have no personal calendar, but they do have their own capacity and availability.

Treating both as resources lets you schedule a task or project against the person and the machine doing the work. Capacity and load show up in the same planning view.

Restricting machines to qualified staff

To stop anyone from being scheduled on a machine, work with roles or skills:

  1. Give each machine a role required to operate it (for example “saw operator”).
  2. Assign that role to the staff allowed to run the machine.
  3. When scheduling, Odoo then only suggests staff with the matching role.

This keeps the plan realistic: a shift on the saw can only go to someone actually qualified to run it.

Video: resource planning in Odoo

The video below walks through the setup step by step.

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Resource planning in OdooYouTube

Need a hand with your setup?

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