Odoo Open Source ERP and CRM

If you are a business owner, irrespective of the size of your business, you may want to implement the use of a smart business management tool to make the running of your business operations much more efficient and effective. More and more companies across different industries and sectors are using different business management programs because of their capability of streamlining and simplifying various business functions and operations. If you are thinking about using a smart business management program for managing your business functions and processes, then you should consider implementing Odoo ERP at your premises.

Push Digits Global is one of the leading Odoo partners in the UAE. We have done Odoo implementation from real estate business to big consulting groups to leading construction giants. Odoo Dubai implementation team at Push Digits is extremely experienced in industry-specific customization, data migration, and software consultation.  

To make your decision easier, here is everything you need to know about Odoo ERP!

What is Odoo ERP?

Odoo ERP is an enterprise resource planning software that is used company-wide for the management of different business functions and processes. It is one of the most popular business management systems in the world with thousands of downloads and installations per day. Odoo ERP is available both on-premise or in the cloud and it is highly customizable as well.

In all, Odoo provides businesses with the opportunity to select from thousands of different applications and modules that are available either on-site or on the cloud.

This ERP can be sourced by two ways:

• The Community Edition – This is a free desktop-only version
• The Enterprise Edition – This is a purchased version available on SaaS subscription and it can be hosted on the cloud or via desktop

Odoo also provides its users with the option to integrate with other platforms such as Amazon, FedEx, eBay, QuickBooks, and UPS. The ERP has multiple modules and functions which businesses can use to effectively run and manage their business operations. Some of these modules and functions are as follows:

• Website builder with Odoo CMS (content management system)
• Planning
• Accounting 
• Subscriptions
• Invoicing
• Inventory management and warehouse management
• Timesheets
• Consolidation
• Manufacturing MRP 
• Marketing, including apps for Marketing Automation, Email Marketing, and Social media 
• E-Commerce
• Project management
• Point of sale
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• Human resources, including apps for Recruitment and Employee Referral
• CRM (customer relationship management)
• Helpdesk for customer support

Overview of Core Odoo ERP Modules

In this section we will briefly discuss a list of core Odoo ERP modules:

• Odoo Accounting and Invoicing
• Odoo Inventory Management
• Odoo Manufacturing
• Odoo Project Management
• Odoo E-Commerce

Odoo Accounting and Invoicing

The Accounting and Invoicing modules provide users with all general accounting tools and processes that are needed within a company, including cash management, bank reconciliations, accounts receivable and accounts payable, taxes, and financial reporting.

The said module also provides the multi-currency function for the recording of international transactions. The aforementioned feature enables the management of invoices and payments in different currencies.

The module can also be used for multiple companies, with each company having a separate chart of accounts and tax rates. The ERP is also capable of consolidating results across different companies. In addition to the aforementioned functionality, there is also a wide range of reporting which includes; Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statements, General Ledgers, Aged Receivables and Payables, and multiple management reports that can be customized.

Our Odoo Dubai team has in-depth knowledge of Odoo accounting and invoicing module and we will completely automate your invoicing system once we execute Odoo implementation for your business. The Invoicing function enables businesses to automatically create invoices based on the information mentioned on sales orders, delivery orders or contracts. The invoicing module allows the creation of recurring invoices as well. The module also provides an overview of drafts, unpaid and paid invoices, and also allows analysis of invoices by product, service, salesperson, customer, etc.

Odoo Manufacturing

The Odoo manufacturing module integrates with other important Odoo apps and modules including PLM and Quality Maintenance. This module provides a work centre Control Panel which provides information about work orders and their progress, production quantities, instructions for each work order, and time tracking amongst multiple other features. Using this function, quality checks can be documented and implemented, serial numbers can be recorded and process alerts can be constructed. Normally, the manufacturing module seems complex but Odoo partners make the entire process, from training to implementation, precise and simple for users. 

The manufacturing module provides a large volume of data which can be analyzed. Productivity can be tracked and understood with real-time Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) reports. Dynamic reports on everything from costing to traceability, OEE, performance analysis, and the ability to create customized dashboards and reports based on organizational needs and requirements.

Through PLM all changes in products, discussions, and changes are held in one repository, the process of approvals is simple and easy, and data is in real-time. The integrated document management enables documents to be passed to manufacturing with workflows and triggered alerts, and attaches documents to the Bill of Materials.

Odoo Inventory Management

This module provides full traceability of all your inventory items, irrespective of whether you have a single item or a multiple warehouse all across the world.

The module provides users with the functionality to manage inventory operations on a daily basis, including receipt of inventory items, stock transfers, and adjustments, the shipping of inventory items using barcode technology. The advanced routing element within the module enables the most efficient routing and storage types to be selected to reduce time and cost of your entity with cross-docking, drop-shipping, and the ability to build flows of processes based on your needs and requirements, whether this be one step deliver orders or pick-pack-ship orders.

Further, the module provides for multiple forms of inventory reporting and valuation, via both custom and standard dashboards.

Odoo E-Commerce

Odoo E-Commerce module allows businesses to develop their online shopping experience by selecting one of the available website templates and customizing it to showcase their business and product range. The E-Commerce module can also be used for selling digital products such as e-books.

This module offers the level of customer experience which can be expected from an online sales platform, with a guest and user registration, customer portal, search system and a live chat. Customers can add items to their list of items and can also compare different products.

The E-Commerce module is fully integrated with shipping and payments, businesses can make payments using a number of different methods such as Paypal, Adyen, Buckaroo and Ingenico before being redirected to your website. Once you make a payment, there are a number of shipping carriers who you can integrate with from DHL and UPS to FedEx.

Odoo Third-Party Extensions

Like other ERP systems, Odoo ERP offers its users and Odoo partners with third party extensions through its own application store. The ERP offers seamless and smooth integration with applications such as Amazon, QuickBooks and Whatsapp and around 16,000 other apps which help in extending the functionality of your ERP.

Odoo Project Management

The Project Management module can manage multiple resources and projects using a multitude of views, including calendar, Gantt chart, Kanban, graph, and pivot table analysis. Future resources can be forecasted and reviewed based on the requirements of future projects to ensure the maximum efficiency, resource requirements and project timelines can also be accurately analyzed based on data of comparable previous projects. A resource allocated on a project can enter the time spent on a project using the timesheet feature.

The said module is heavily visualized so that to increase accountability as well as cooperation across different teams. Tasks along with their deadlines can be assigned to project resources, documents can be shared and team members can communicate through online note pads and live chat.

This module also offers a customer portal to increase customer communication, track customer support tickets and create automated actions including customer satisfaction surveys.

The reporting and analysis feature enables report generation of projects, progress by stage, analyzing realized against forecast cost and time, and billable hours. Dashboards can be customized or pre-defined to ensure information is meaningful to an organization at each stage of a project.

The third-party apps include apps for the following:

• Budget Management
• Asset Management
• Payroll
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Sales Order Automation
• Stock Picking
• Data Migration

Benefits Associated with Using Odoo ERP

The benefits associated with employing Odoo ERP at your premises are as follows

• Easy to use
• Low-cost when investing in fewer number of modules
• Free trial for 15 days and free “Community” version available
• Uses Open Source software that can be easily customized
• Offers a wide range of Odoo apps and also provides the opportunity to integrate with many third-party software apps such as Whatsapp, eBay, and more.

How to Implement & Use Odoo?

Odoo offers its users a one-hour getting started video that helps the users in learning about the Odoo ERP system and Odoo CRM.  Odoo also provides a number of videos tutorials for all its modules and apps to make you an expert in the system. Odoo offers all its users an Odoo demo together with a 15-day free trial so that to help the new users better understand the software.

The Community Edition is an open-source ERP and CRM. Users of the free Odoo version have access to the Community page that includes an online Odoo demo, User Guides, download link, Help Forum, and Events, including Odoo Experience.

How Can Push Digits Help You in Odoo ERP Implementing?

Our Odoo Dubai team has implemented and customized Odoo in a wide range of organizations in many different sectors. Our services include onsite as well as offsite consultation. We offer free of cost one time consultation to understand your business and suggest a possible implementation plan. From billing automation to BRS automation to 3-way matching of your business expenses, we make anything and everything possible. Contact us today to today to find out more.