Case Study

Fulton Thermal Corporation Fires Up Processes with Odoo ERP

ryan.warrick — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 03:59:01 +0000

Fulton Thermal Corporation Fires Up Processes with Odoo ERP ryan.warrick Mon, 01/29/2024 - 20:59

Delve into our experience implementing Odoo ERP system Fulton Thermal Corporation, a manufacturer of large-scale heating equipment.

The Problem

Fulton Thermal Corporation, a manufacturer of large-scale heating equipment, was facing several challenges with its existing ERP system, which had reached the end of its lifecycle. They needed a robust solution to streamline their complex business processes and ensure their ERP could adapt to their unique manufacturing requirements. Additionally, they were looking for cost-effective options that wouldn't compromise on quality and service.

The Solution

After extensive research and consideration of various ERP options, Fulton Thermal Corporation decided to implement the Odoo ERP system. They chose Odoo for several reasons, including its cost-effectiveness compared to larger ERP systems and its open-source nature, which offered customization capabilities to align with Fulton's specific business processes.

To ensure a successful implementation, Fulton Thermal Corporation partnered with Open Source Integrators (OSI). OSI brought their expertise in Odoo ERP implementation and a deep understanding of Fulton's manufacturing needs. The partnership aimed to address the unique challenges the company faced in terms of its manufacturing processes, supply chain, and more.

Process

OSI followed a systematic approach to accomplish Fulton's Odoo implementation, adhering to the scientifically-tested and time-honored implementation guidelines of Analyze, Optimize, Automate, and Transition.

Analyze

OSI began by thoroughly analyzing Fulton's existing business processes and requirements. They assess...

Analyze

OSI began by thoroughly analyzing Fulton's existing business processes and requirements. They assessed the current workflow, identified pain points, and understood the specific needs and goals of Fulton.

Optimize

Once the analysis was complete, OSI focused on optimization, working on streamlining and improving t...

Optimize

Once the analysis was complete, OSI focused on optimization, working on streamlining and improving the existing processes, eliminating inefficiencies, and identifying areas where Odoo could provide better solutions.

Automate

Automation was a key aspect of OSI's strategy. They used Odoo's capabilities to automate repetitive ...

Automate

Automation was a key aspect of OSI's strategy. They used Odoo's capabilities to automate repetitive tasks and processes, reducing manual efforts and minimizing errors. This increased efficiency and allowed Fulton's team to focus on more strategic activities.

Transition

OSI ensured a smooth transition to Odoo by carefully planning and executing the implementation. They...

Transition

OSI ensured a smooth transition to Odoo by carefully planning and executing the implementation. They provided training and support to Fulton's staff to help them adapt to the new system. This transition phase was critical in ensuring that Fulton's team could effectively use Odoo for their day-to-day operations.

The Results

Working closely with OSI, Fulton Thermal Corporation successfully transitioned to Odoo ERP. The results of this implementation were as follows.

1.Improved Efficiency

The new Odoo ERP system streamlined Fulton's complex manufacturing processes, resulting in increased operational efficiency.

2. Cost Savings

Odoo's cost-effectiveness allowed Fulton Thermal Corporation to invest in customization and optimization while still staying within budget.

3. Enhanced Customization

Odoo's open-source nature provided the flexibility needed to customize the ERP system to align with Fulton's unique requirements.

Key Takeaway's for Those Considering Their Own Odoo Journey

Clear Objectives: Before embarking on an ERP implementation journey, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of the problems you aim to solve and the specific goals you want to achieve.
Partnering with Experts: Collaborating with an experienced ERP implementation partner, like OSI, can significantly impact the success of the project. They bring valuable insights and expertise to the table.
Flexibility and Customization: Opt for ERP solutions that offer flexibility and customization options to adapt to your business processes rather than forcing you to conform to rigid workflows.
Cost-Effective Solutions: Consider cost-effective ERP solutions that can meet your requirements without breaking the bank.
Community and Knowledge Sharing: Engaging with a community of users facing similar challenges can provide valuable insights and support during and after ERP implementation.

Red-Hot Business Processes to Maximize Efficiency

Fulton Thermal Corporation's successful transition to the Odoo ERP system with the assistance of OSI highlights the importance of clear objectives, expert partnerships, flexibility in ERP solutions, cost-effectiveness, and community engagement in ERP implementation projects. OSI's time with Fulton serves as a valuable resource for businesses considering ERP implementations, showcasing how a well-planned approach can lead to improved efficiency and competitiveness in the market.

5 min read

Home Construction Service Finds a Home in Odoo ERP

ryan.warrick — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 23:59:09 +0000

Home Construction Service Finds a Home in Odoo ERP ryan.warrick Mon, 01/29/2024 - 16:59

Case Study

OSI collaborated with Homepro, a Texas-based company specializing in residential construction services, to deliver the transformative power of ERP solution to scaling business operations and optimize its processes.

Homepro, a Texas-based company specializing provider of home security, entertainment, and control systems, leveraged the transformative power of ERP to scale their business operations and optimize processes. The organization embarked on a bold journey toward a complete systems integration. Led by a clear vision and a resilient IT team, the fine folks at HomePro were able to create a meticulously designed system architecture that perfectly serves their needs. Through extensive communication and collaboration, we worked hand in hand to bring this vision to life.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The customer

Master of home solutions

HomePro is a premier provider of home security, entertainment, and control systems. They offer a wide range of items, from building materials to furniture and home appliances. HomePro enables customers can browse a variety of products to upgrade or maintain their homes. The company often targets both individual homeowners and professional contractors, providing a one-stop shop for many home-related needs.

With their previous system architecture ill-configured to handle the nuances of 250 builder partners, 27,000 homes per year and monitoring 37,000 homes, multiple customer types such as home owners and builders, 125,000 payment lines per year, and 500 Licenses/200 portal users, it’s no overstatement to say the HomePro team was in desperate need of a new approach.

"We were growing fast. Our ERP and customer relationship tools no longer served our needs."

CIO of Homepro

The challenge

Unreliable systems in the face of growth

When Michael Hinton, CIO of Homepro, first approached me, the company was experiencing rapid growth and expansion into new business areas, including high-voltage electrical wiring and security. This growth, as exciting as it was, brought significant challenges in managing their business operations (as noted in the section above).

To say it plainly, their existing ERP and CRM systems were completely inadequate for their evolving needs, missing the mark in multiple detrimental areas. Given their plans for a 20% annual growth and diversification into new markets, they needed a new solution stat.

Problems

Complex siloed systems
Lack of installations scheduling system
Unreliable product lifecycle tracking
Unreliable systems for day-to-day processes

Needs

Streamlined future state that is scalable
Data volume management
Warehouse management system
Managerial reporting by business and location
Inventory control so that installers know their available inventory for jobs

The solution

From workshops to APIs

In search of a flexible, scalable ERP solution, Michael's previous positive experience with open-source tools led him to consider Odoo ERP as a potential solution. However, for an organization operating with a deficient system, alongside aspirations for major growth in the near future, an full-scale Odoo implementation is a daunting, often impossible task. Over the years I’ve seen many rosy-cheeked companies try to tackle this kind of project on their own, only to fall, burned out and defeated, in the end. The risk of failure is severe.

After hashing out the details with Michael and team, OSI was brought on board to implement a solution tailored to Homepro's unique needs. We focused on integrating various business processes, from sales orders to project management, aligning them with Homepro's multifaceted service offerings.

Here are some of our key action items:

Organization was critical in order to make the most efficient use of the budget and project scope
Flexibility was key, as HomePro needed to be able to adjust to changes over time.
User experience was a must, allowing employees of all skill levels to effectively manage Odoo’s suite of tools. That in mind, having the right people in the room to make the key decisions for the outcome of the implementation was necessary.
Fully integrated system with Odoo, including:

API integrations
43 AI bots
BI and reporting
Monitoring

Refresh system design and implementation

Our Process

A tried and true method

Our first step always begins with the end in mind. Using our results-driven approach, we conducted an in-depth workshop with all necessary HomePro players present. Throughout the meeting, our joint teams discussed options for the client to be in control of the outcome at all times, ensuring they always have the option to automate certain processes or fall back on tried and true manual processes. Gathering all requirements to run the business from a current state to a future state process, the OSI team kicked off our scientifically-proven process:

Our approach involved a deep analysis of Homepro's needs, optimization of their ERP system for flexibility, automation of key processes, and a well-managed transition to Odoo. This structured approach resulted in a successful implementation that met Homepro's evolving business requirements.

Analyze

A need for organization, flexibility, user experience was key, and all in all a full integration with Odoo.

Optimize

OSI recognized that Homepro needed a system that could adapt and grow with the company's changing requirements.

Automate

Homepro leveraged the capabilities of Odoo to automate features like project management, CRM, and accounting modules.

Transition

OSI provided training and support to Homepro's staff to help them adapt to the changes.

The results

Transforming for future success

Odoo ERP transformed Homepro's operational capabilities. The customized solution allowed for efficient management of diverse business lines such as security, low and high voltage wiring, and emerging sectors like solar energy. The flexibility of Odoo ERP enabled Homepro to adapt quickly to changes and scale its operations effectively.

Through their collaboration with OSI, Homepro achieved the following:

Streamlined operations: Homepro successfully integrated its security systems, low-voltage wiring, high-voltage electrical wiring, and new product lines into a single operating platform, streamlining operations and reducing complexity.
Future-proofing: OSI's flexible architecture allowed Homepro to future-proof its systems, enabling them to adapt to changing market demands and add new business verticals without extensive redevelopment.
Trust and partnership: Homepro established a strong partnership with OSI, characterized by trust, open communication, and quick responses to challenges. OSI's team worked closely with Homepro to ensure a smooth transition and ongoing support.

“The value OSI gave us was key in transitioning from a sale order to actual service delivery.”

CIO of Homepro

Key takeaways for your business

Choosing an adaptable ERP system for growing businesses is paramount to success. The ability to customize and scale according to specific business needs is crucial. For companies at a growth inflection point, like Homepro, selecting an ERP system that can evolve with the business is pivotal.

Here, Michael shares valuable insights for other companies considering a similar journey:

Seek expertise: Collaborate with experienced partners who understand your business needs and can provide valuable insights and support.
Don't go it alone: Reach out to others who have gone through similar transformations, ask questions, and learn from their experiences.
Consider the commitment: Understand the level of commitment required for such a project, especially in terms of maintaining and evolving the system to meet future needs.
Prioritize flexibility: Choose a system that offers architectural flexibility and allows for customization, enabling you to adapt to changing business requirements.

The collaboration between OSI and Homepro highlights the success that can be achieved through strategic technological partnerships and a commitment to innovation and adaptability.

About the author

Greg Mader, President of OSI

Greg’s career spans more than 25 years and includes experience in business, operations, manufacturing, and leadership. He holds two master’s degrees: a master’s in geography from South Dakota State University, and a master’s in computer science from the University of Chicago.

12 min read

Enterprise Integration Mitigates Risk and Solves Age-old Challenges for Utilities

mchambreuil — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 23:05:13 +0000

Enterprise Integration Mitigates Risk and Solves Age-old Challenges for Utilities mchambreuil Tue, 11/29/2022 - 16:05

Case Study

Odoo Industry Specialists

Construction & Utilities

Open Source Integrators (OSI) was singularly selected to serve as contractor and technical lead/solution architect in developing safety, maintenance, and management tools for a utility’s natural gas and transmission projects. Open Source Integrators has established an outstanding reputation for providing strategic consulting, risk mitigation, and implementation services for transformational information technologies. With previous experience in six sigma, open source ERP configurations, and geospacial plotting, OSI became the clear choice.

enterprise-integration-mitigates-risk.pdf

As a leading provider of the open source enterprise platform, Open Source Integrators provided data management, consulting solutions, and established partnerships to provide remediation in an emergent situation. These specialized services provided a scalable, end-to-end ERP business solution responding to the utility company and the community’s current and future needs for long-term safety and operational efficiency.

Open Source Integrators worked with UDC, a renowned subcontractor for one of the world’s largest business and technology services provider. UDC was involved with the development of the GIS foundation of the project and its integration of ERP utilized with CHA Novarro Intrepid, Schneider Electric, and ArcFM products.

Situation

A utility company experienced a catastrophic gas explosion. A piece of pipe in a transmission line was stressed due to installation more than six decades earlier. Upon analysis, a specific section of pipe was found to be eroded.

This created a highly visible, high-liability situation as well as community risk where remediation was needed swiftly but surely to mitigate the problem and provide viable, reliable, long-term solutions.

Goals & Objectives

Improve the safety and operational efficacy of utility distribution through enhanced information and leading-edge business improvement processes.
Improve the distribution of gas records and dynamically-purposed asset information through field-updated digital gas service records and the integration of GIS and ERP applications.
Linear data improvements to Enterprise Asset Management for enhanced work processing to improve all five stages of the work order life cycle.
Become the safest and most reliable utility in the United States.

Tactics

To effectively address the issues, Open Source Integrator’s deployment needed to be multi-faceted to match the strategy:

Mitigate the current situation at hand – replacing and implementing a legacy system that didn’t work.
Serve as the prime contractor for training on the new system.
Create a process/system moving forward to ensure ongoing safety and operational efficiency.

Solution

A multi-pronged approach was required and deployed as remediation:

The Gas Distribution Project

Improved the Distribution Gas records and asset information through updated digital gas service records and the integration of GIS and ERP applications.

Open Source Integrators’ ERP provided data management services via an enterprise resource and analysis platform. This facilitated the seamless integration of the applications necessary to address the utility organization’s business data needs. Data from a myriad of sources, including smart meters, grid sensors, and mobile users, was processed inside an integrated enterprise platform together with business and customer information – both for historic data analysis and real-time processing of urgent information.

The Gas Transmission Project

Served as the “rescue mission,” focusing on providing a leading edge capability for operational awareness and effectiveness in managing the utility’s extensive gas transmission facilities and ensuring the integrity and safety of their pipeline.

All initiatives were designed to improve maintenance, the safety of gas transmission services, and better public accountability of key infrastructure – for the greater good.

OSI provided data management, consulting solutions, and partnerships.

Process/Methodology

Implementing the proper methodology was paramount in this high stress, high profile situation.

Open Source Integrators’ methodology is focused on communication and business goal alignment fundamentals. To accomplish both goals stated above, Open Source Integrators promptly went to work to set up complete life cycle tracking and management of these assets. It was imperative they know where every single piece of pipe came from, who installed it, and when it is due for inspections, not to mention the ability to visualize this data in reports in an ERP system.

Open Source Integrators didn’t stop there. OSI helped optimize and update an ERP-connected accounting system to track implementation costs and current property value based on depreciation. The accounting integration from USAodoo filled a void with a right-sized solution, allowing the utility company real-time accounting valuation and deeper reporting on costs and revenues for both upstream and downstream operations.

For 18 months, OSI’s president was onsite to optimize communication and implementation, working alongside the utility company’s leadership team on a regular basis.

System Integration

Open Source Integrators refined the proof of concept into an end-to-end business solution integrating the client’s needs and business requirements.

Work included:

The Gas Distribution Project

(Systems) installation
Leak survey, which mapped out how much gas pipes leak
Application of positive ions to pipes to keep it from corroding
Providing business system support and connectivity to all parts of the business
Building a development plan that addressed all of these business requirements
Hiring the best developers from around the world
Integrating the utility’s existing systems that included scheduling maintenance, talking to drivers, billing, adding new services.
Tying-in new systems in all existing systems.
Utilizing a universal translator tool called Enterprise Services Bus, customizable software that connects all the systems for communication.

The Gas Transmission Project

Data management
Consulting solutions and partnerships

Results

As a high integrity, nimble, and cross-disciplined custom ERP configurator, Open Source Integrators, as subcontractor, was the tip of the spear in getting in, initializing the requirements, and queuing-up the proper teams of connected experts. At a combined implementation cost of $100 million, the two projects yielded:

The Gas Distribution Project

Open Source Integrators’ management/leadership delivered the Pathfinder project – delivered on-time and on-budget with outcomes demonstrating high user acceptance.

The Gas Transmission Project

Success was achieved by providing leading-edge capability for operational awareness and effectiveness in managing the utility’s extensive transmission facilities and ensuring their integrity and safety.

Together with UDC, OSI provided an enterprise-wide pipeline management solution designed to create a secure, consistent environment to store and maintain critical data required to monitor the lifecycle of the pipeline.

Improved automation and data resulted in improved and more accessible information for the business and the field.

Open Source Integrators’ scalable expertise and best practices empowered the utility to achieve and maintain among the highest levels of safety and efficiency in the industry.

The Open Source Integrators Difference

Open Source Integrators’ unique methodology practices and solutions were vital components in a critical situation that leveraged their impact and made the difference.

Open Source Integrators stands in a category of one.

The unique attributes that make them distinctive in the industry? OSI prioritizes communication both internally among their team and externally with their clients. Customers seek out Open Source Integrators for their full transparency and honesty. More than a business practice, communication is their culture, represented in their world-class ERP teams and industry best practices. OSI’s communication processes enable the success of others and establish a partnership based on trust. The teams of Open Source ERP Experts remember every day that it is not OSI’s journey; it is the customer’s journey. They are dedicated to always asking questions and working first to understand the client to assure the implementation of right-sized, best-of-class integrated ERP capabilities leading to scalable solutions that transform the way business is done.

As a top independent Open Source Integrator in the U.S., Open Source Integrators provides customers a unique combination of open source business process consulting and improvements in industries ranging from construction and utilities to manufacturing, engineering, the service sector and direct to consumer. In addition to accounting and data management, OSI’s business functions include business process management (BPM), logistics, ecommerce, and customer relationship management (CRM).

12 min read

Pharmore Replaces SAGE MAS 500 with Open Source Freedom and Flexibility

mchambreuil — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 20:49:10 +0000

Pharmore Replaces SAGE MAS 500 with Open Source Freedom and Flexibility mchambreuil Sat, 10/29/2022 - 13:49

Case Study

Pharmore Ingredients is a high-quality dietary supplement and food ingredient company based in the United States. Founded by Gary Jepson in 2001, Pharmore imports ingredients manufactured overseas and performs rigorous quality control testing on these ingredients to sell to human and animal food manufacturers in the US.

Pharmore-replaces-sagemas500.pdf

The company is a member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition and is consistently recognized as one of the best nutritional supplement and ingredient suppliers in the country. Pharmore was awarded MVP Supplier of the Year by the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) in 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Pharmore supplies 5 of the top 10 dietary supplement companies in the USA and the majority of the top 25. They consistently score 95-100% on customer service score cards evaluating performance on pricing, on time delivery, quality acceptance rate, shipment conformance, and post-sale delivery and support.

“Don’t limit yourself to the functions of today—We chose Odoo to allow us to grow. You can make it do whatever you need – We wanted freedom and flexibility.”

Mellisa Mack, Pharmore Ingredients

Vice President of Operations

Situation

By growing strategic relationships with overseas ingredient manufacturers and US food manufacturers, Pharmore has carved out a significant piece of the nutritional supplement market for humans and animals. Their backend systems are critical players in lot traceability and Certificate of Analysis—from accounting to product purity verification—accuracy and flexibility are non-negotiable. As business grew, so did the complexity of their old system. It got the point that the system’s frailty was too much to maintain.

Heath Jepson, Director of IT, recognized the cost of maintaining an older SAGE MAS 500 system. Pharmore had nursed this system along for a number of years, but it was long past end of life with SAGE.

Melissa Mack, VP of Operations had observed a lot of operational processes in ordering, storage, and sales and fulfillment that required manual operations and large paper trails. She felt that the anticipated growth required a stronger system. Pharmore needed a system that they could trust as the central nervous system of their business. Heath researched open source code solutions and discovered Odoo. They contracted Open Source Integrators (OSI) to guide them through transitioning systems and together, they identified five goals for the system.

Goals for New Open Source ERP System

Automate and streamline processes to increase productivity
Reduce paperwork
Centralize documentation
Utilize CRM capabilities
Flexibility
Improved Certificate of Analysis

Approach

Pharmore and OSI performed a rigorous analysis of system requirements. Pharmore and OSI created a project timetable and benchmarks for success.

Pharmore optimized business processes and functions by altering, eliminating, or adding steps as needed to create opportunities for growth, support, and compatibility.

Pharmore utilized the OSI team to develop their new system and automate frequent essential tasks, including processing and documenting lab testing.

Pharmore Ingredients applied powerful change management techniques to prepare team members for the transition. OSI coached the Pharmore team throughout the process.

Pharmore Ingredients selected Odoo because they needed an ERP system that would give them the freedom to strategically alter their system—at the source code level. They hired OSI to help implement their new system using a 4-step integration process.

“Your whole team asked the questions that needed to be asked. OSI proactively drew out questions that we hadn’t considered, and helped us move forward efficiently.”

Mellisa Mack, Pharemore Ingredients

Vice President of Operations

Process

Pharmore engaged in a thorough vetting of a replacement system for MAS 500. For Heath, the power of an Open Source system that gave Pharmore freedom and flexibility had a huge allure. He didn’t want to be locked into a proprietary system, with limitations that had not yet been discovered.

Pharmore engaged with OSI to thoroughly study the fit and gaps of Odoo as a leading candidate for replacement. During this phase, OSI was able to determine that over 80% of the requirements could be met by configuration or using existing modules from the large Odoo community.

Pharmore’s unique competitive advantage is in the management of safety, quality, purity and traceability of their products. Pharmore’s values and promise directed the development of customization in order to ensure that these aspects of quality are built into the Odoo system throughout the lifecycle.

“We aren’t limited by the constraints of proprietary coded software anymore. We’ve built a system that works for us and we have the freedom and flexibility to grow as we work with more customers.”

Gary Jepson, Pharemore Ingredients Founder

Results

Pharmore Ingredients built a dynamic, integrated system that gives them the flexibility and power they need to maintain the success of their business. The pivotal factor in the impressive outcome of their ERP project was the outstanding team that led the implementation; Melissa Mack, VP of Operations, and Heath. Their exceptional preparation enabled them to preempt challenges by innovating with the OSI team. Pharmore had a 30% increase in efficiency in some business functions and a 70% decrease in printed pages.

Pharmore’s team was significantly involved in executing the implementation plan. Heath and Melissa’s hard work was instrumental in staying within budget and schedule parameters throughout the project. Odoo’s ease of implementation delivered quick wins, and easy acceptance and use. Pharmore is no longer at risk, due to an unstable, unsupported legacy system, and is prepared to make use of Odoo for many years to come. The relationship between Pharmore and OSI is strong, candid, and based on trust and friendship. Working together, Pharmore is ready to continue their growth, maintaining their reputation for quality, safety and compliance.

Pharmore Ingredients’ Return-On- Investment includes:

Automated and streamline processes to increase productivity
Reduced paperwork
Centralized documentation
Utilized CRM capabilities

Casai utilizes Odoo ERP to centralize operations, automate processes, and support growth

jc.laguna — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 19:13:36 +0000

Casai utilizes Odoo ERP to centralize operations, automate processes, and support growth jc.laguna Thu, 09/01/2022 - 12:13

Case Study

Casai is a boutique apartment designer, curator, and rental service based in Mexico City, with properties spread throughout Mexico and Brazil. Their unique vision and approach to hospitality merges the authenticity of locality with 5-star luxury to create experiences tailor-made for the travel-savvy generation.

Casai_Case_Study.pdf

The call to revolutionize travel

Back in 2019, Casai founders Nico Barawid and Maricarmen Herrerias noticed that the hospitality industry was lacking in its ability to simultaneously serve the needs of two distinctly different types of traveler: Those who crave an immersive, locally-interested experience, and those whose top travel needs include crisp-cool sheets and cucumber-slice-on-the-face-level pampering (ahh). Realizing the ripeness of opportunity in identifying this market gap, the duo resolved to combine their deep business and hospitality expertise to create spaces where these two types of traveler can unite in harmony. The rest is history.

Today, with operations in full swing, the Casai team carefully crafts each apartment’s aesthetic to tell the stories of the neighborhood it belongs to, all the while heeding the tenets essential to providing a luxurious, lush stay. It is this combination of authenticity, splendor, and comfort that ultimately generates what has come to define the Casai travel experience: State-of-the-art technology, artisan design, digitally-interfaced guest services, a trustworthy and robust WiFi connection, and a strong emphasis on creating that special kind of comfort one can only find at home.

Casai is not only revolutionizing the way travelers stay, but the levels of immersion and comfort now made readily available throughout your favorite parts of Latin America.

The situation: Odoo ERP supports Casai’s growth

Starting from a humble handful of apartments in Mexico City, Casai has experienced exceptional growth with 1000+ locations now available throughout Mexico and Brazil, from Tulum to Rio De Janeiro. However, as would be the case in any industry, such impressive growth can often lead to scalability issues and strain across operations, ultimately causing slight disruptions in processes that, if left unattended, can become cumbersome for those attempting to run a business without a robust ERP system.

This was exactly the scenario our friends at Casai found themselves in.

“There was a point when we had to start thinking about what the best tool was for organizing ourselves . . . Other softwares were very rigid for what we were doing. We wanted something more flexible, that can adapt to our operations. That’s when we started considering Odoo.”

Maricarmen Herrerias

Chief Operations Officer, Casai

Casai’s system of operations before Odoo

Casai’s organization is structured around various entities and teams, such as sales, accounting and finance, logistics, customer experience, purchasing, inventory, and IT. And, until Odoo came into their lives, Casai’s operations relied on isolated systems unable to communicate between each other, resulting in an effectively inefficient and time-consuming combination of processes.

Casai had been taking advantage of online platforms and tools to manage the different aspects of their business, including:

Guesty
ZenDesk
ContPaq
BreezeWay
Slack
WhatsApp

As hard-earned success led Casai to substantial growth, the absence of connectivity between Casai’s essential business functions led to an overall lack of control over their full scope of operations. Put simply: A total deficiency in visibly over every corner of their organization. Without integrating lines of connection established between each of Casai’s business functions, it became difficult for those in charge of each individual process to ensure that operations were meshing smoothly with the system as a whole.

The Casai team began to feel unable to keep up with their growth, especially where accounting and sales operations were concerned. Growth-impeding mistakes, oversights, and lapses in seamless operation felt as if just on the horizon.

“If we had continued to grow without an integrating solution, we would have started making mistakes that affected our growth.”

Alberto Ramos

Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Casai

Our diagnosis in one sentence? Casai was in need of developing one true picture of their organization. In other words: Odoo ERP.

The challenge: Casai’s Odoo integration sets a record-breaking deadline

Casai met with our Odoo consultants to discuss a full Odoo integration. Having gone through the motions of getting to know the Casai intimately enough to begin to structure an integration fit to their needs, our Odoo consultants resolved to integrate an Odoo open source ERP system that provides Casai with that one true picture of their organization to scale.

But with Casai’s growth moving so quickly in tandem with today’s ever-pressing market for rental services, Nico, Maricarmen, and the rest of their team resolved to request once heck of a hard, no-funny-business deadline: While projects of Casai’s scope usually take somewhere around 8 to 12 months to implement, OSI agreed to integrate Odoo accounting and sales within just 7 weeks, with a focus on logistics over the course of a few short months thereafter. In other words, in order to make this project a complete success, it would have to be done in no time flat.

The Casai and OSI teams agreed on a two-phase integration, broken up over the course of only a few months. If executed properly, the success of such a lightning-fast integration would not only mean a new record for an OSI-led Odoo integration, but also for transforming a client’s digital business functions into a streamlined and automated set of processes.

The solution: Centralizing and automating Casai’s processes with ERP integration

To meet this aggressive deadline, Casai team members worked closely with OSI consultants to perform a thorough requirements analysis, during which the group agreed that Casai’s ideal system called for few customizations, leaving ample space to focus on rigging connectivity between processes. Though Casai had chosen the best of breeds for their business applications prior to Odoo, what their organization actually needed was exactly the thing Odoo ERP is so good at delivering: Integration.

With Odoo, systems such as accounting and sales come together to create one solution, with perks such as automated processes or included logics that can, for example, help to tell whether sales actions have accounting impacts. Under one ERP, an organization’s entire team can be brought onto the same page for visibility throughout.

How Casai analyzed, optimized, automated, and transitioned their processes to Odoo ERP

After meeting with the Casai team to discuss the ins and outs of their business and get acquainted with their operations on a personal level, OSI’s ERP experts settled on these key issues to address throughout the integration: Information was spread across various systems and spreadsheets Various processes required multiple manual steps, including flaws in function that resulted in pain points Increased demand and volume strained existing resources Opportunities to centralize Casai’s systems first, with attention to automation thereafter Delays and difficulties in reporting and data analysis

Once the analysis was finished, the project team got to work putting together an optimization plan that focused on centralizing data for streamlined processes that would better support their operations. These steps included: Centralize information Streamline workflows: Accounting, e-commerce, product management, and more. Increase efficiency gains: Fulfillment, order processing, and shipping Standardize processes: Drop shipment, batch picking, packaging, and more Increase accuracy: Financial accounting, product inventory, and more Provide realtime reporting and dashboards

With optimization came a completely centralized and communicable system, bringing the project to exactly the right moment to focus on automating Casai’s processes where possible. These included: Reservations, confirmation, payment and collection Vendor bill generation Electronic invoicing Asset and depreciation management Increased throughput streamlined the need to hire additional staff

Casai transitioned to their Odoo system over the course of two, lightning-fast phases, each structured to scaffold their organization throughout the migration process to avoid sacrificing momentum: Phase 1: Accounting and sales in Mexico rolled out in 7 weeks to meet the end of the year deadline Phase 2: Implemented sales in Brazil, and logistics in both countries The finish line: Operations are successfully working in both Mexico and Brazil.

“After two or three weeks [of OSI-led training], we saw that, naturally, over 80% of our sales orders were being processed through the Odoo module... Not only did the Odoo modules bring us more control and visibility, but were actually helping our team do their job easier. That’s when we realized the value of this project.”

Alberto Ramos

Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Casai

Project highlight: Leveraging the Odoo open source community for a streamlined property management system

Among Casai’s essential needs, one that stood apart from the rest was the lack of a streamlined and efficient property management system (PMS) to help oversee the technical details of their 1000+ properties. This includes technicalities such as surface areas, available services, and contracts for each individual apartment.

In cases such as this, the OSI team will often reach out to the Odoo community and check whether other Odoo experts have already built modules that might meet the needs of the client at hand. Our experts came across an Odoo project in Spain that had created a complete management system for a hotel. Given that this Spanish PMS was designed specifically for those in the hospitality industry, it stood out as the most promising option.

Casai’s particular requirements asked for management modules just a little different from what the Spanish system offered, but with some light reconfiguration, the OSI team was able to rework it to match Casai’s needs exactly. As it so often does, the open source approach saves time and resources with the power of the Odoo community; by leveraging our comrades in all all things ERP, the Casai and OSI project teams worked together to create exactly the right solution to streamline property management and all of the minute details it involves.

The result: Casai’s operations after Odoo

Today, Casai successfully uses Odoo for:

Accounting
Property Management
Sales & CRM
Integration with Guesty
Inventory Management
Purchasing
RMA
Projects
Human Resources

Casai uses newfound Odoo capabilities to launch further growth

Throughout the project, OSI team members provided extensive knowledge transfer and training for the Casai technical team. With this “training in the trenches together” approach, Casai developed in-house Odoo customization and development skills, giving them the tools they need to continue to be successful with Odoo as their business ramps up speed.

“We are in a very traditional industry [hospitality], but we are also building something new. We needed more flexible solutions that we could integrate together to form the best software for us. That’s why we decided to go with Odoo.”

Maricarmen Herrerias

Chief Operations Officer, Casai

We’re happy to announce that Casai will be leveraging their newly instituted Odoo capabilities to pursue further growth. Having worked so closely together throughout this project, we’ve seen what Casai is capable of in terms of initiative and execution—the Casai experience is, truly, special. And with Odoo tools now supporting their operations, we know that they will be more than successful as Nico, Maricarmen, and team bring the Casai experience to their next target frontier: Columbia.

Wine Distributor Streamlines Sales, Purchasing, and Inventory Processes With Odoo ERP

bettina.acosta — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 23:51:58 +0000

Wine Distributor Streamlines Sales, Purchasing, and Inventory Processes With Odoo ERP bettina.acosta Thu, 07/21/2022 - 16:51

Case Study

Learn about how OSI partnered with Vinha, an online wine distributor located in Portugal, to help their team streamline business processes with Odoo ERP solutions.

Vinha_Case_Study.pdf

Vinha is an online wine distributor located in Sintra, Portugal, with operations spread throughout the EU and other European countries.

Vinha carries over 2,000 types of wines and spirits, and has structured their website with the goal of helping customers easily sift through options with accuracy and speed. As highly knowledgeable experts, Vinha provides customers with product insights such as the best mixes for each wine, the right temperature for maximum enjoyment, and ideal storage intervals. They were also the first web-based wine store to use the Vivino rating system—the premier wine marketplace/community that features ratings from over 10 million wine lovers and aficionados.

In the last few years, Vinha has undergone significant changes in circumstance that have led to a more than notable growth spurt throughout their operations. In 2019, Elisio Santos, Vinha’s owner and mastermind behind all things wine, purchased the business with the intention of radically scaling Vinha’s potential as a distributor. Elisio invested in a proper warehouse equipped to handle Vinha’s upward movement, and brought on Pedro Sarmento, Vinha’s current operations manager, to help manage the initiative alongside a few other Vinha personnel.

While exciting, these fruitful changes created a considerable amount of fatigue within Vinha’s business processes, which in turn placed Vinha in exactly the right position to reconsider how they executed and managed their operations. In particular, Elisio and his team became interested in automating sales and purchasing, creating full visibility over inventory, and finding a tool that accurately calculates margins. What follows is the story of Vinha and OSI’s collaborative effort to implement and optimize Odoo ERP software for streamlined management of Vinha’s processes.

The situation

Vinha’s tools before Odoo:

WooCommerce + spreadsheets to manage their online store
No system for accurately calculating margins.
InvoiceXpress for invoicing
Manual process to purchase replacement inventory and keep the warehouse stocked

After Elisio took the helm, Vinha’s overall growth consistently showed increases of hundreds of percentage points per quarter, with the promise of continued growth pressing firmly onward into Vinha’s future. However, this sudden burst in expansion put strain on the tools and techniques they’d been using to conduct business.

Vinha’s product catalog had grown from 600 to more than 2,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) over the course of a single year, causing their WooCommerce/spreadsheet setup to fall short when maintaining visibility over stock. In the wine industry, varying brands, types, and years constantly fluctuate in value, meaning that an inability to track inventory with 100% accuracy can result in waste and underpricing. Put simply: Vinha was looking for better visibility over inventory turns so that product aging never becomes a problem.

Additionally, Vinha’s order numbers piled up to the point of requiring daily purchases from many different suppliers, and each weekend Vinha experienced peak order volume. This resulted in an inconvenient amount of extra hours spent processing these orders before the picking team could resume work. Though this is certainly not too bad of problem to have when it comes to your business’s livelihood, these increases contributed to a clog in Vinha’s processes and created delays.

We were using a lot of our time doing tasks that I thought should be done by an automatic system. It was almost impossible to keep track of all the changes. This was the main driver to get reliable information that gives us the tools to decide over prices, over stock, and over assortment.

General Manager, Vinha

To sum up, Vinha’s substantial growth put their resource planning and warehouse management techniques under an overwhelming amount of pressure, and this caused Elisio and team to seek out better techniques for streamlining the company’s processes. Vinha partnered with OSI to implement an ERP system run in Odoo, with a custom configuration that simultaneously addresses Vinha’s present needs while setting them up for future success.

Approach

Ensuring Vinha’s operations adjust proportionately with their success

Our Odoo experts worked closely with Vinha’s managerial leads—Pedro Sarmento, Oliver Fontein, and of course Elisio Santos himself—to work out exactly the right Odoo configuration for simplifying processes. By finely tuning Odoo to meet Vinha’s situation, they would be able to conduct business using effective stock, purchasing, and margin-calculating methods, with more than enough room to continuously optimize as demand continues.

“Odoo helped us to control visibility, margins, and stock. Before Odoo, we had to do everything by hand. Now, it’s much better.”

Operations Manager, Vinha

From making supplier orders to e-commerce and fulfillment, Vinha’s processes were in exactly the right place to receive OSI’s Odoo ERP treatment, which was launched in accordance with our tried and true procedure for solidifying a successful ERP project:

Vinha and OSI’s collaboration focused on identifying the specific benefits they would be able to reap by implementing an Odoo system. Together, we outlined their processes and conducted collective brainstorms to imagine Vinha as a company run with and/or aided by Odoo.

Soon, it became clear that Vinha was in need of integrating a tool that allowed them to automate sales orders in WooCommerce, improve purchasing processes, effectively manage the full extent of their large inventory with full visibility, integrate or replace InvoiceXpress, and act on reporting/analytics to drive process improvements in their e-commerce and inventory optimization efforts.

Integrating Odoo with Vinha’s existing processes poised them for automation across each of their key problem areas. These being: Sales, purchasing, inventory, invoicing, and overall e-commerce functionality. With Odoo integration nurturing each of these, Vinha would wield the power to clear bottlenecks and drive a more fluid operation.

Vinha and OSI worked together to create enhanced processes that could more effectively accommodate their mammoth inventory and high demand. With ample time provided for Vinha to adjust to their new Odoo system and iron out the kinks, we anticipated that the Vinha + OSI collaboration would result in a well oiled sales, purchasing, inventory, and e-commerce machine, sufficiently greased and ready to foster success.

“I was happy when we decided to go with Odoo. You can have actionable, real-time insights into what’s going on in the warehouse and sales.”

Management, Vinha

Initiating the right tools, goals, and configuration for optimum performance

Vinha’s tools after Odoo:

WooCommerce connector with Odoo for automated creation of sales orders to trigger a more optimized process of picking, packing, and shipment.
The Odoo inventory management functionality to track Vinha’s 2,000 SKUs, integrated with Odoo financial accounting.
Customization of Odoo to provide the choice of either integrating with or replacing InvoiceXpress.
The Odoo Purchase module to improve purchasing processes such as usage of automated re-ordering rules, more efficient vendor shipment tracking, stock reception, and storage in documented aisle, shelf, and bin locations.
Reporting and analytics to drive process improvements in the eCommerce and inventory optimization effort.

The central goal for configuring Vinha’s Odoo system was to the identify key problem areas in their previous processes and address them with a carefully tailored integration. Each of the following goals were successfully carried out and are continuously being tested and reconfigured to meet Vinha’s needs.

Streamline the order fulfillment process

A significant part of Vinha’s deliveries are order-to-buy. This means that Vinha procures from suppliers when customer orders are placed. Using their previous methods, this was a manual and time-consuming process that tended to fall short when order volumes became overwhelming. With Odoo, Vinha is now able to streamline this process by proposing and tracking supplier orders automatically.

Visibility on sales margins

Most references have low margins, and on top of that, discounts and delivery costs apply. With this in mind, it is critical for any business to understand margins obtained per product and order, after direct costs are accounted for. Odoo provides this information by allowing the Vinha team to keep a record of the actual product costs, with the added benefit of estimating packaging and delivery costs. Vinha’s Odoo system can now use this information to report accurate margins per product and order, giving Vinha the ability to adjust pricing and quickly make decisions on their delivery charge policy.

Control supplier bills

Our experts configured Odoo to ease some of the strain and complexity of controlling supplier bills manually. A process was put in place to automate supplier orders, control the quantities received, and check the received invoices against the received quantities and agreed prices.

Visibility over slow-moving stock

As noted earlier, wines of varying brand, type, year, etc., are constantly fluctuating in value and demand. For a distributor like Vinha, this creates the need to always keep track of what’s in inventory. With accurate inventory data produced by the purchase and sales transactions, Vinha now has real time visibility on existing stock, and has complete visibility over corresponding value and cycle times.

The result

OSI and Vinha worked together to implement key fixes throughout every fixture of operations that was unable to support growth. Now, with Odoo, Elisio and his team will be able to work through their newly configured Odoo-supported processes and make tweaks where necessary.

“The relationship has been more than professional. They [the OSI team] are available whenever you need them. The whole team does everything they can to make things happen.”

General Manager, Vinha

It’s fair to say that Vinha’s Odoo implementation went as smooth as any ERP system implementation could go. But what we, OSI, are truly the most proud of is the chance to have formed a steady working relationship with Elisio, Pedro, and the rest of the Vinha team. When it came time for Vinha to consider an ERP, they could have gone with any other integrator out there, but chose above all else to go with OSI.

We’re honored that Vinha chose OSI as their partner in implementing a tailor-made Odoo ERP system, and we look forward to continuing to help bring their business a superior level of ERP operability.

14 min read

CCU Improves Delivery and Service

justin.hough — Tue, 18 May 2021 18:15:16 +0000

CCU Improves Delivery and Service justin.hough Tue, 05/18/2021 - 11:15

Case Study

Leading beverage company deploys Odoo open source solution as a strategic enabler to better customer experiences

ccu-improves-delivery-and-service-case-study.pdf

Exceptional service one delivery at a time

Since 1850, Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU) has been a leading Chilean producer of diversified beverages. The company operates in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. As Chile’s largest brewer and the second-largest wine producer, they had $2.6 billion in revenue in 2018.

In 2015, CCU acquired Manantial, the leader of bottled water sales and distribution in Chile. While Manantial operations represent a small part of CCU business, their national recognition represents a strategic brand. Manantial’s competitive advantage involves its ability to provide outstanding service to its customers. They do this because they possess in-depth knowledge and experience of client needs, which allows them to offer very convenient service plans. The company usually provides home delivery service the next day and fast, efficient installation and maintenance of home dispensing equipment, online order placement, and electronic payment.

“We see ourselves more as a service provider versus a company that sells products. The goal is to use Odoo to help provide better service to our customers.”

Oscar Enzo Navarrete Vargas

Sales and Distribution Systems Developer Sub-Manager, CCU

Since its acquisition by CCU, Manantial had grown nationally, and that growth made it increasingly difficult to continue to keep up with knowing the needs and circumstances of customers. Managing and maintaining information and processes became overly complex and inadequate. The company relied on three separate systems, resulting in siloed information not available to everyone who needs it when they need it, impacting operational and administrative decisions for sales, technical service, and after-sales customer management.

Manantial needed to modernize its enterprise. Specifically, the company wanted a solution that integrates systems to make customer insights more readily available.

The ultimate goal was to improve the customer experience and maintain market leadership by:

Making needed data accessible by more Manantial users
Improving business process automation, operations, and management
Providing excellence in product fulfillment and customer service
Satisfying market demand and customer needs

Situation

Leadership at CCU, which included Oscar Enzo Navarrete Vargas, recognized the opportunity to consolidate customer information across the enterprise using open source ERP technology. Specifically, the company wanted to replace two in-house legacy systems:

SICA: a system used to create customer profiles and calculate prices according to commercial plans.
Truck: a sales and distribution system
that manages the whole sales cycle including distribution, customer account credit management, collection, and payments. It also handles operational logistics such as completing order forms, preparing tickets, and coordinating deliveries.

In addition, several other integrations were targeted, including PeopleSoft for accounting and finance and other systems for purchasing management, inventory management, and more. According to Oscar, once Odoo was selected, Manantial began looking for an integration partner. They consulted Odoo, which recommended OSI based on its deep experience and expertise.

A joint team worked on the Odoo Implementation. OSI acted as the primary integrating partner leading the project. CCU also operated as an integration partner, working with OSI to help with the development and implementation with the goal of eventually taking over the project entirely.

Throughout the collaboration, the companies identified several opportunities for business improvement by overcoming some critical technical challenges that included:

Localization of Odoo for Chile
Migration of two in-house legacy systems (SICA & Truck)
Complex customer segmentation
Integration of order process from ecommerce site
Customization required in Odoo core modules

“The main goal was to replace legacy sales and distribution systems at Manantial. We wanted to fully modernize our operations and provide better tools to users.”

Oscar Enzo Navarrete Vargas

Sales and Distribution Systems Developer Sub-Manager, CCU

Approach

The OSI and CCU collaboration began with an extensive workshop to understand the existing IT ecosystem and the desired future state. Oscar and decision makers from multiple departments – logistics, sales, marketing, accounting, production, and more – helped OSI learn about existing systems and workflows. OSI employed its unique combination of business process management and open source technical expertise to guide the week-long discovery period.

OSI prepared an extensive report based on Manantial’s needs and objectives, their customers and industry, and their existing technology landscape. The result? OSI handed over a detailed implementation plan tailored to its vision of a customized competitive advantage based on integrated systems.

OSI leveraged Odoo’s open source ERP to develop an integrated, agile, and precision-tailored digital nervous system for Manantial. At the center of the implementation were FSM modules for Odoo, mainly developed by OSI with support and maintenance from the Odoo Community Association (OCA).

“We reached out to OSI based on the recommendation from Odoo. After an initial workshop, we felt like they possessed a much deeper engineering experience and expertise. They were superior to any other resource in the area.”

Oscar Enzo Navarrete Vargas

Sales and Distribution Systems Developer Sub-Manager, CCU

Working closely with its customer, OSI took advantage of its unique four-step integration process.

Manantial and OSI collaborated to identify key drivers and elements of Manantial’s business model that supports their leadership position in their industry. They also looked at critical processes and business practices that need to be deployed with their new sales and distribution system based in Odoo.

OSI partnered to develop information management tools that provide accurate transactional data. By doing so, Manantial can deliver complete customer information to all administrative and operational areas as well as sales data for analytics and business intelligence.

The companies optimized workflows to manage sales, inventory, technical services, FSM delivery, and accounting and credit management. By integrating data and processes, as well as connecting to the CCU corporate systems through customized APIs, Manantial could tear down departmental silos and foster collaboration.

Manantial and OSI worked together to transition to an enhanced service model based on better information tools. It would provide a unique customer experience with optimal delivery services and excellence in customer care management.

The approach would enable Manantial to provide even better customer experiences, allowing customers to easily track their order or delivery. It also would give Manantial staff the tools to easily provide information, including transaction history, to customers.

Process

The implementation has successfully accomplished phase 1 goals. It supports full localization of documents such as electronic invoices, customer tickets, delivery guides, and more, based on customer type and their order terms and conditions. With this functionality in place, the localization is now available through the OCA community so that any Chilean and South American company can leverage Odoo without the need for translation services. The modules are ready and deployable.

A significant milestone in the overall project involved OSI and CCU working together to integrate Odoo software with CCU’s existing enterprise service bus (ESB) and their corporate PeopleSoft ERP, facilitating communication between multiple applications in a service-oriented architecture. Because of the development in Odoo by OSI for CCU, along with the CCU’s development for its ESB, multiple integrations can take place. In fact, more than 18 integrations occur on the backend, but for the user, they simply have one interface to carry out their daily tasks.

A key innovation involved integration with Xerox to meet various legal requirements. Documents are generated in Odoo, then sent to Xerox, where Xerox takes care of validation, signatures, and local invoicing either in print or PDF form. The Odoo integration with Xerox streamlines compliance by digitally sending documents directly to the proper Chilean legal channels. Odoo fully interacts with different documents, selects when the right time is to ship documents for validation, and vastly improves a significant operation at Manantial involving hundreds of orders daily.

Enterprise Service Buses Explained

Enterprise Service Buses (ESB) are a powerful integration engine for enterprise IT organizations that act as the “connective tissue” between disparate software systems. They virtually consolidate services and applications, including cloud-based applications.

ESBs allow organizations to mix and match legacy, modern, and cloud applications, leveraging previous investments in data and reducing the need for data or application migrations. Modern ESBs can be deployed anywhere: on-premise, in the cloud, or with hybrid cloud architectures.

Why do organizations choose an ESB?

Enterprise IT architects invest in ESB technology to promote application reuse and integration instead of launching new development or migrations with higher risk and cost. Many newer applications offer web services or open APIs that quickly hybridize new and old applications.

Reasons an IT architect might use an ESB include:

Keeping a legacy system on a mainframe or microcomputer operating
Integrating and managing multiple business systems
Operating with multiple message formats between these systems
Modifying a message or destination based on the content of the message
Enabling business intelligence fused from multiple systems

“Odoo is a great platform because it’s easy to develop and customize. It’s very flexible. It’s a good option to adapt the software to your needs. That’s not usual in other platforms.”

Oscar Enzo Navarrete Vargas

Sales and Distribution Systems Developer Sub-Manager, CCU

Results

At the core of the open source ERP implementation, OSI deployed OpenFSM for optimized product delivery services. The solution integrates with sales orders to provide fast, accurate delivery information, including orders per truck, available trucks, routing, and more.

Day route creation is done instantly based on the requested delivery date provided by the customer. Deliveries are assigned to each truck and driver, taking into account max capacity for each vehicle. Integration with the contracts department allows for smoother handling of customers with credit, prepaid customers, or customers with payment due upon delivery. All legal documents are properly updated and listed for a route to ensure drivers have the proper paperwork for the day’s deliveries.

Inventory management is also integrated to handle logistics operations, stock management in trucks, product returns or exchanges, and more. Accounting integration supports receiving payments in routes and generating payables documents. It also supports the accounting and inventory route closing processes to verify missing products that need to be charged to drivers.

Manantial hopes to reduce operational errors from manual processing and scattered information. The company can continue to meet increasing volumes of operations without adding human capital and increasing costs. The enterprise system allows more deliveries to be done in less time and lower costs.

The deployment of OpenFSM, combined with Odoo, provides four crucial benefits:

Customer 360: a complete view of the buyer across all channels and touchpoints resulting from the successful aggregation of data from different systems and applications.
Integrated processes: streamlined order processing and management with all sales channels and Manantial services.
Operations efficiency: automation and enhancements to distribution, accounting, inventory, ecommerce, and more.
Enhanced customer experience: optimization of several processes that replace legacy systems to better serve customers.

Future plans

With the successful implementation of phase 1, Manantial is looking to expand the integrated system features to other branches. In the long term, the company would like to take the improved processes, controls, and tools to more branches across the nation. Once full implementation occurs at every branch of Manantial, the company will make a comprehensive assessment to decide on using Odoo as the primary sales and distribution system for all of CCU.

Adrian Steel Optimizes Retail and More with Odoo Open Source

ryan.warrick — Mon, 03 May 2021 17:45:08 +0000

Adrian Steel Optimizes Retail and More with Odoo Open Source ryan.warrick Mon, 05/03/2021 - 10:45

Case Study

Odoo Solutions

ERP software supports critical processes at multiple locations using carefully configured, low customization.

quickstart-workshop-agenda.pdf

Innovation as a hub for better business

With a long and rich history that began in 1953, Adrian Steel understands the importance of delivering solutions focused on meeting customer needs and delivering value. The company started in Michigan as a small steel structural warehouse with four employees. Today, it’s a leader in the van and truck equipment industry, with more than one million vehicles fitted.

Adrian Steel has grown into a quarter of a billion-dollar company with multiple business segments with independent business and innovation needs. And part of that innovation includes open source ERP. After evaluating several vendors, Adrian Steel began an ambitious implementation to enhance its already efficient internal processes, including sales, purchasing, inventory, and accounting.

The company partnered with OSI to collaborate on an Odoo open source solution that would meet their needs. The objective was to provide holistic data and workflow integration around existing processes that already worked, while also empowering individual offices to see and interact with data as needed to improve their processes.

The result is a true example of the benefits of open source: an end-to-end solution that caters to the company rather than requiring a lot of process reengineering.

Situation

Adrian Steel takes pride in the lean manufacturing practices applied throughout the business, which includes its warehouse, retail stores, and installation facilities. And the organization has always applied innovation to every aspect of its business.

With more than 25 years of experience, which includes working at a premier lean manufacturing location, Lisa Murry has seen ERP systems from their inception through to the many variations today. And at Adrian Steel, she helped oversee the company’s initial Odoo implementation for their retail locations. In 2018, Adrian Steel deployed Odoo software to help manage enterprise data. While successful in implementation, the company wanted to take its system to new heights of productivity.

After looking at several possible partners to help extend its Odoo ERP solution, the company selected OSI because it operated under the same principles: listening to the customer first, observing requirements, and then offering possibilities based on intent.

“OSI was willing to listen and collaborate,” said Lisa Murry, Business Analyst and IT SM Lead, Adrian Steel. “They wanted to understand our business at a deep level and support us, not just Odoo software. It’s really about forming that trust and partnership, which is what we did with OSI.”

More than strategic consulting, risk mitigation, and implementation services, Lisa points to OSI’s ability to put people and purpose first before software that was a differentiator in the successful collaboration.

Adrian Steel had implemented Odoo for other business areas, starting on Odoo SaaS platform. Eventually, they pivoted to the more flexible Odoo Enterprise. The company wanted to extend its benefits—specifically, its powerful management and tracking tools—to successfully deliver on multiple business goals outside the software’s original purpose.

“OSI was willing to listen and collaborate. They wanted to understand our business at a deep level and support us, not just Odoo software.-”

Lisa Murry

Business Analyst and ITSM Lead, Adrian Steel

Approach

Adrian Steel sought a solution that supported its existing processes since they worked; it did not want to reengineer processes to fit the software. Specifically, they wanted digital tools—similar to the many physical tools already in place within the organization—that made current tasks easier to execute, in the same way a hammer or drill helps one of its manufacturers.

They also wanted Odoo integration with the company’s AS400 system, located in company headquarters, so that other business locations could seamlessly exchange accounting and additional information, while also maintaining localized data for their own location-based analysis and reports.

OSI consultants analyzed existing systems to assess opportunities for Odoo supporting current methods and business goals at multiple locations, including retail sites and its graphic design business location. After extensive joint review of legacy systems, applications, and manual methods, they designed an Odoo open source ERP platform that fully supported business processes and improved business habits.

“We quickly discovered they would follow through on what they said, and they would be there with us.-”

Lisa Murry

Business Analyst and ITSM Lead, Adrian Steel

The result was a tailored approach using a unique four-step integration process.

As a visual organization, Adrian Steel worked to communicate their unique processes. The two companies partnered to assess, problem solve, process map, and error-proof workflows and systems.

Because Adrian Steel’s main focus involves lean principles throughout the organization, OSI worked to configure and provide tools to support, improve, and extend their process, rather than change the business to conform to Odoo ERP.

OSI helped drive the digitization of manual processes that had already been proven as effective. This allowed Adrian Steel to free those resources up to focus more on the business and less on the technology.

Adrian Steel turned to OSI to step in and be the partner they needed to support the launch of the system at one location that would eventually lead to successful migrations at multiple locations.

“The partnership became very trust-driven. They helped us get things right and on the right track.-”

Lisa Murry

Business Analyst and ITSM Lead, Adrian Steel

Process

A cornerstone for Adrian Steel’s efficiency involves its application of lean principles and Kanban. For years, Adrian Steel has applied lean principles to help its retail company’s manage inventory efficiently, whether for cargo vans, pick-up trucks, cargo trailers, or vocational uplifts. It uses these principles to eliminate waste, optimize processes, cut costs, boost innovation, and reduce time to market.

OSI helped with configuring and customizing Odoo open source ERP applications to manage functional areas of the enterprise, from inventory control to finance, quality, shipping, receiving, sales, and customer service. And as part of enhancing its lean principles, Odoo supports Kanban, which is a lean principle that leverages visual management to drive workflow and eliminate waste.

Using Odoo to augment existing Kanban methods eliminates the weak points of the Kanban system. Odoo manages the historical sales and product data.

By applying open source software to lean principles and Kanban methods, Adrian Steel achieves several operational advantages:

Streamlined complexity around data and systems
Bottleneck removal and goals for optimization
Improved decision support for existing processes
Enhanced processes and resource management
Optimized inventory management and delivery

Results

Today Adrian Steel has several use cases that have improved how it operates. Odoo can help organize the data more efficiently used by a warehouse staffer to print their item pick list, which is color-coded and sorted to support the flow of the Kanban floor. The employee performs their regular duties, such as pulling a part based on the color-coded list that matches color-coded item bins and using a faster, more straightforward solution to get their necessary data (the pick list).

This aspect of the Odoo solution is a customized piece that serves as an example of the power of open source; OSI and Adrian Steel fit the software to meet their exact needs and support their existing processes. And the system highlights the next action a user needs to take to follow the process, which accelerates work and removes opportunities for error.

On the purchasing side, the Odoo implementation helps Adrian Steel adjust purchasing kits, which typically contain items and quantities often ordered together but can be customized to meet specific customer needs. Odoo allows an order entry user to easily manipulate kits with additional products or when items should be removed based on a custom order.

Sales and purchase orders are improved using a holistic approach to data. In Odoo, a sales order automatically generates a customer record that acts as an “anchor,” which integrates several pieces of information such as:

The anchor holds links to all relevant information together so that as people perform tasks, they do not have to switch applications or interfaces. It’s available as a complete record. And for the company’s graphics center, which builds designs, labels, and the visual elements for the outside of vehicles, Odoo’s CRM helps manage customer data.

A complete solution

Adrian Steel has successfully deployed Odoo to control their destiny—they set a goal to remove complexity and find the right tool to support the business. The company partnered with OSI to optimally configure open source software to meet this goal, with minimal customization and seamless backend integration with systems, to ultimately create business efficiencies, remove waste, and reduce costs.

“By partnering with OSI and using systems like Odoo, we work faster, smarter, and better. Starting simple is the key to success.-”

Lisa Murry

Business Analyst and ITSM Lead, Adrian Steel

Proslat Replaces NetSuite and Boosts Customer Engagement with Open Source ERP

mchambreuil — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 21:21:50 +0000

Proslat Replaces NetSuite and Boosts Customer Engagement with Open Source ERP mchambreuil Tue, 01/05/2021 - 14:21

Case Study

OSI and Proslat partner to rapidly implement Odoo solution that improves customer engagement and maximizes sales opportunities

Proslat_Case_Study_FIN_010521.pdf

Innovation as a guiding principle

Proslat is dedicated to serving customers by developing and distributing groundbreaking PVC slat wall panels and organization products. The company offers reliable, environmentally-friendly solutions for residential and commercial applications, including garages, homes, closets, and retail stores.

“Garages have always been the overlooked room in the house, and often end up becoming the junk drawer for the house,” explains Michael Presseau, Proslat’s Vice President of Operations. “We use innovation as a guiding principle to make products for customers to turn it back into a living space because a junk drawer brings no value to someone’s life or the property.”

Proslat’s storage options include hanging wall slats, overhead racks, motorized lifts, and several cabinet lines. These innovative products are sold at The Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon and many other retailers.

Since the 2010 launch of Proslat’s patented wall panel, the company has continued to grow by offering remarkable products.

Proslat initially implemented a NetSuite ERP solution. As they grew, issues arose. Michael conducted an ROI analysis to determine whether they should purchase more expensive NetSuite licenses to meet their additional advanced functionality needs.

“I have an appreciation for how to build and leverage information as equity for the

company, and I’ve also had the opportunity to work on different ERPs or different implementations at every company I’ve worked with,” Michael explained. “You learn what’s important for running a business.”

He soon discovered that Odoo provides better performance at a lower cost than NetSuite. Before implementing Odoo, Proslat used an electronic data interchange (EDI) system to receive purchase orders, provide shipping notifications, and send customer invoices. The EDI processes were far more time-consuming and manual than necessary. The company needed a better EDI architecture for faster onboarding of new customers who needed to integrate with Proslat’s EDI system, as well as to lower the cost per new EDI customer.

The Proslat team planned for the ERP migration project to include changes to several business processes. The OSI team architected Odoo to give users visibility into capacity planning data in Odoo and migrate away from manually forecasting production lead times on spreadsheets.

OSI also provided custom solutions to improve supply chain management. Proslat procured some of its products from offshore sources and needed Odoo customization to enhance supply chain management and mitigate long procurement lead times of up to 75 days.

The team expected Odoo to deliver insight into profitability by product category and help maximize sales opportunities. To achieve this goal, OSI needed to unlock the ERP data to provide improved customer intelligence.

Proslat sought to find more sales opportunities and increase cross-selling and up-selling revenue by implementing Odoo. The critical business case question was, “How much more could Odoo do to help sell without adding sales staff?”

The challenge: migrate the key ERP functionality and data from NetSuite to Odoo in just 60 days.

“NetSuite was expensive and also limited us. We went from being strictly a wholesaler to opening up a division that sells directly to consumers, and we had tremendous growth in the U.S. We had to run two ERPs without upgrading to a huge cost to incorporate two countries into one. That prompted us to look for a change.”

MICHAEL PRESSEAU

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS - PROSLAT

Approach

To meet the aggressive deadline, Michael and team worked closely with OSI consultants. Together, the Proslat and OSI project teams performed a thorough requirements analysis. The groups agreed to complete more than 100 Odoo customization and solution development tasks, plus integrations with other technology platforms.

EDI transfer process was lengthy and inefficient The delivery process required multiple manual steps Increased demand strained existing resources Opportunities for automation and improved support

Streamlined workflows: accounting, ecommerce, product management, and more Increased efficiency gains: fulfillment, order processing, and shipping Standardized processes: drop shipment, batch picking, packaging, and more Increased accuracy: financial accounting, product inventory, and more

EDI processing set up for order receipt, shipping notifications, and invoicing Kit handing and shipping functions developed Functions built for unique order fulfillment requirements Custom workflows for large-customer specialized demands Increased throughput streamlined the need to hire additional staff

Phase 1: rolled out in 60 days to meet the project deadline Phases 2 & 3: implemented priority items requested by Proslat team Phases 1-3: Proslat followed guidance for process improvement and handled internal training

The Proslat team excelled at collecting, cleaning, and preparing valuable data for migration from NetSuite to Odoo. They effectively scrubbed the chart of accounts and balances, product master lists, bill of materials (BOMs), kit BOMs, lists of vendors, and contact data for suppliers and other databases.

Two critical approaches were used to achieve Proslat’s goal of going live with the new Odoo system on January 1. First, Michael exercised strategic and business-driven decision-making to decide what to include in phase one vs. what could wait for a future phase. Second, OSI consultants remained focused and determined to finish the job, despite the challenging timeline and the year-end holiday season. According to Michael, the transition from NetSuite to Odoo was smooth and on time.

“The biggest challenge involved in collaboration was distance and time, which speaks to how well OSI took care of us for each phase. OSI has great people who know what they’re doing, and they’re always available. They are great communicators.”

MICHAEL PRESSEAU

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS - PROSLAT

New Year, New ERP Success

Proslat had many reasons to toast that New Year’s Eve. The new Odoo system passed all the initial tests, and Proslat was ready to fulfill the many customer orders the new year would bring.

“OSI’s biggest success was to get Proslat transactional by January 1,” said Michael. “I don’t know if the readers of this case study will realize how important that is. Other businesses we know of lost 10% of their sales during system migrations. Proslat didn’t lose a dollar of sales.”

Of course, the rapid implementation presented some challenges.

“It was harder than expected,” Michael said. “We didn’t have an opportunity to learn the system well enough in the quick implementation. But it worked. We didn’t lose any sales. Without the OSI team’s expertise, it wouldn’t have happened.” Proslat began phase two with a deep dive to review sales, production, and fulfillment bottlenecks. Michael and the management team identified inefficient processes for automation and optimization with Odoo functionality.

After two months of using the new Odoo system, OSI and Proslat began the EDI implementation. Once major customers were consistently able to place EDI orders, the company started to internally reassign associates to work on higher-value tasks, due to the reduced reliance on manual processes.

Results

Proslat started the project with an implementation budget target. OSI project managers worked collaboratively with Michael to manage the scope, schedule, and budget.

This teamwork ensured that all phase one and phase two requirements were met within the budget target. The project team prioritized appropriately and postponed non-essential tasks that wouldn’t fit within the target budget.

Throughout the project, OSI team members provided extensive knowledge transfer to the Proslat technical team. With this “training in the trenches together” approach, Proslat developed in-house Odoo customization and development capabilities. The company went on to complete certain phase three projects independently.

Today, Proslat successfully uses Odoo for:

Accounting
Sales
CRM
Inventory Management
Marketplace integrations with EDI
Manufacturing
Purchasing
RMA

“Our experience using IT consultants in the past was they didn’t have the expertise for that which they were claiming. OSI consultants know what they’re talking about. When they billed Proslat for consulting time, I knew we were investing in OSI working on our case rather than researching how to work on our case”

MICHAEL PRESSEAU

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS - PROSLAT

How well is Proslat’s new EDI system working with Odoo?

“EDI orders are coming in seamlessly,” Michael said. “With the EDI foundation we built with OSI, when Proslat gets new EDI customers, the new integrations will be simple.”

The project’s ultimate success comes from improved customer engagement and service, which helps Proslat thrive even during times of economic uncertainty.

“90% of the feedback we get is about the service rather than the actual product,” said Michael.

“This feedback drives us because we truly view feedback as an opportunity. Our open source ERP allows us to improve the entire customer service experience. It frees up our time to spend time on more valuable things, which makes the company grow.”

13 min read

Open Source ERP Helps Blacksmiths Depot Grow in a Changing Market

julian.sanchez — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 06:11:35 +0000

Open Source ERP Helps Blacksmiths Depot Grow in a Changing Market julian.sanchez Fri, 09/25/2020 - 23:11

Case Study

Odoo Solutions

Blacksmiths Depot partnered with OSI to create a seamless integration between inventory, distribution, purchasing, and more

JT-Blacksmiths-Depot-Case-Study_091720.pdf

Blacksmiths Depot partnered with OSI to create a seamless integration between inventory, distribution, purchasing, and more

For more than 300 years and through multiple generations, the Kayne family has continued its tradition of blacksmithing. In 1965 the family formally started its business under the name “Steve Kayne Hand Forged Hardware.” Eventually the company name transitioned to Blacksmiths Depot (BSD), sellers and manufacturers of blacksmithing, metalworking, and bladesmithing items. Today David Kayne, Steve’s son, runs the business with his mother, Shirley, and his wife, Cathy.

David learned everything there is to know about blacksmithing from his father, who began teaching him at the age six.

“Back in the 70s we did over 30 craft shows a year,” he explains. “ And the bicentennial in 1976 was an even bigger year. My dad was particular about making sure that everything was just right, and the customer was always right.”

After decades of steady growth, David realized that the family business had hit a critical point in its history. They struggled using old fashioned inventory and accounting methods. And they lacked a clear, comprehensive view of the financial status week-to-week and month-to-month, making it difficult to create effective product and purchasing decisions.

“My mom used the ledger pad, then we moved into Excel, and then QuickBooks,” said Kayne. “We reached a point where we maxed out the amount of data we could manage. We couldn’t do what a lot of proprietary ERP companies require – put a ton of money upfront – so we looked for something else.”

Situation

Whether it was David managing products, Shirley handling the books, Cathy overseeing sales and the catalog, or anyone servicing customers, the processes in place became time-consuming and complicated. And the company could only gain a financial picture of the business at the end of the fiscal year, after compiling records in Excel and sending them to the company’s CPA.

David needed better inventory control and a point-of-sale solution that connected with inventory, accounting, and more. He wanted to provide his customers, now more digitally savvy than ever, with the same outstanding service that began in the 18th century (in-store) but could be delivered using 21st-century models (online).

In the journey to discover digital tools, David decided to investigate acquiring an ERP to manage data effectively and to improve operations and planning. This would provide a digital platform for scalable growth, enhancing accounting functions and tracking orders and sales, which would, in turn, help increase profitability.

“We had to figure out another solution because we needed something bigger. OSI contacted us, and the timing was right. We started with the inventory part and have been slowly adding on to it.”

David Kayne

VP Operations, Blacksmiths Depot

Approach

David Kayne selected Odoo because it effectively managed back-office functions while linking those with manufacturing, sales, and customer service. With an open source solution, BSD could gain the benefits of ERP systems used in larger companies, but at a lower price and with greater flexibility.

By selecting OSI as a trusted partner, they could leverage business and technology experts. OSI could help assess and engineer more effective ways to accurately track purchased and resold products, as well as products forged onsite and drop-shipped from vendors.

In partnership, BSD and OSI employed a unique four-step integration process:

David, his family, and the rest of the BSD team and OSI began with a business and systems analysis. The joint team outlined goals, such as merging ERP with ecommerce, as well as timetables, and benchmarks.

OSI partnered with BSD to create a seamless integration between inventory, distribution, purchasing, and more. BSD decided which business processes to preserve, refine, or eliminate, creating a path for harmonious growth.

OSI helped identify the right processes and systems, including multiple sales channels, ranging from ecommerce to a portable POS system for travel to roadshows and clinics.

OSI helped guide the BSD team through the adoption of the new system. Staff did their homework, preparing for the new system, while getting support from OSI on training and answering questions.

“OSI staff were good to work with because of their experience. They understood what needed to be done as well as potential issues that might arise. Sometimes it’s rocky, but now we have a better solution in place.”

David Kayne

VP Operations, Blacksmiths Depot

Process

Once up and running, David and BSD leveraged the new system, including the integration of accounting and inventory control with the website. As new orders came in, BSD had a timely, complete, and accurate understanding of existing inventory.

BSD employees understand when new products need to be built or bought from suppliers and the associated costs. Moreover, with precise data about incoming orders and product shipments, they can make data-driven decisions around shipping, suppliers, and distribution.

The team leveraged complete data to maximize efficiency, which improved margins and delivered higher value and lower costs for customers. David could track and assess items like landed costs, including shipping, broker, and customs fees, import duties, freight costs, and more.

With greater inventory accuracy and control, and effective ecommerce to accounting integration, the entire BSD team gained a digital nervous system that manages data and processes across the business. Staff can now take orders online, process, and ship to the customer with full accounting traceability and minimal data entry. “We never knew one day to the next what we had or didn’t have,” said Kayne. “And scrolling through everything to find what you’re looking for was troublesome. Now, we can know before a customer calls what we have and what we need to order.”

Benefits:

+ Elimination of data entry redundancy
+ Inventory control with re-order points
+ Accurate financial and managerial accounting
+ Control of state and county-level tax liability
+ Real-time reporting to provide better executive visibility

Results

Using Odoo modules, David Kayne can continue his family’s legacy of outstanding service and quality products. Staff can take advantage of full cost and management accounting capabilities. The open, flexible ERP solution integrates sales, purchasing, inventory control, accounting, and ecommerce. For David, the road to success was paved with some challenges along the way.

“Nobody likes change,” said Kayne. “It’s hard to get everyone on board because you have to get out of your comfort zone. Successful change comes from demonstrating everything with proof. When we show the program works, it helps facilitate change.” In addition, BSD has the ability to scale with new customers and market opportunities. Specifically, as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, David could not only adjust to changing demand and new business requirements, he could also give customers what they wanted when they wanted it.

“Having our ecommerce site up and running was key for us. Without the internet, we would have been dead years ago. But with the recent COVID-19 crisis, the internet saved our business.”

David Kayne

VP Operations, Blacksmiths Depot

10 min read