Most ERP projects are run app by app, and the documentation dies at go-live. I map how the company really works, use what Odoo already does, and only then decide what to build.
Standard before custom. Every requirement is checked against what Odoo does out of the box in v17–v19; configuration comes next, code last. Most “we need a module for this” turns out to be a setting, a route or a report.
Certified functional consultant on v16 and v18.
Odoo connected to AI through the Model Context Protocol: ask the ERP in plain language, read and act on records. Read access is broad, writes are narrow and go through the guardrails described in the AI / ERP room.
API keys stay in the system keychain, never in a config file. One connection per database, so a client’s data never mixes with another’s.
Before configuring: one document per process, swimlane diagrams by department, and click-by-click work instructions written once and reused by every process that needs them.
Outside the processes: Products, BoMs and routings · Customers, suppliers and pricelists · Users, access rights and approval rules · Warehouses, routes and locations
Process → work instruction → Odoo. Select a work instruction to see every process that reuses it, or a process to see what it is made of.
Processes · P-XXX
Work instructions · WI-XXX
Odoo
Example: mid-sized manufacturer, Odoo 18. Nothing selected.
Each process is a swimlane diagram by department. The number on a box is the step in the table below it.
Example · Mid-sized manufacturer · 1 company · ~60 users · Odoo 18 Enterprise · DACH
One customer order through the whole company. Each box is a process with its own diagram.
Returns and invoices both land in the month-end close.
From the first enquiry to a confirmed order. Prices come from customer pricelists; only large discounts need a second pair of eyes.
Discounts above 15 % stop for a sales-manager approval; everything else goes straight out.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sales | CRM › Sales › My Pipeline | Create the opportunity, attach drawings, set the expected volume. | WI-SAL-01 |
| 2 | Sales | Sales › Orders › Quotations | Pick the customer pricelist; volume breaks apply on their own. | WI-SAL-02 |
| 3 | Sales manager | Quotation › Approvals | Approve or reject the discount; the reason stays on the quotation. | WI-SAL-03 |
| 4 | Sales | Quotation › Send by Email | Send the PDF from Odoo so the customer can sign online. | WI-SAL-04 |
| 5 | Sales | Quotation › Confirm | Confirm when the PO or signature arrives. | WI-SAL-04 |
| 6 | Odoo | — | Stock is reserved and a delivery order is created. | — |
Two-step delivery: pick to an output area, then pack with an SSCC label and ship. Invoicing follows delivered quantities, not ordered ones.
Partial availability never blocks the truck: Odoo creates a backorder for the rest.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warehouse | Inventory › Overview › Pick | Scan location and product; Odoo suggests the oldest lot first. | WI-WHS-02 |
| 2 | Odoo | — | Missing quantities move to a backorder. | — |
| 3 | Warehouse | Delivery Orders › Put in Pack | Pack per customer rules and print the GS1-128 SSCC label. | WI-WHS-03 |
| 4 | Warehouse | Inventory › Overview › Delivery Orders | Validate; the delivery slip goes with the goods. | WI-WHS-04 |
| 5 | Finance | Sales › To Invoice › Orders to Invoice | Invoice what was shipped and send it by email. | WI-FIN-01 |
Reordering rules propose what to buy. Goods are received by scanning the supplier label and checked before they reach stock.
Orders above €5,000 need a second approval. Nothing reaches stock without a passed quality check.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purchasing | Inventory › Operations › Replenishment | Check the proposals, group by supplier and send RFQs. | WI-PUR-01 |
| 2 | Manager | Purchase › Orders › Purchase · To Approve | Approve orders above the threshold. | WI-PUR-02 |
| 3 | Purchasing | Purchase › Orders › Requests for Quotation | Confirm the order with the agreed date. | WI-PUR-03 |
| 4 | Warehouse | Barcode › Operations › Receipts | Scan the GS1-128 label: lot and expiry fill in on their own. Attach the material certificate. | WI-WHS-01 |
| 5 | Quality | Quality › Quality Control › Quality Checks | Measure against the control plan; pass or fail. | WI-QA-01 |
| 6 | Warehouse | Quality › Quality Control › Quality Alerts | Move to quarantine and open an alert for the supplier. | WI-QA-02 |
| 7 | Finance | Accounting › Vendors › Bills | Match the bill to PO and receipt; differences are flagged. | WI-FIN-02 |
MRP turns demand into manufacturing orders. Operators work from Shop Floor tablets, with quality checks built into the work order.
Every finished lot carries its components and checks — that is the traceability the auditor asks for.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odoo | — | MRP proposes manufacturing orders from demand and stock levels. | — |
| 2 | Planning | Manufacturing › Operations › Manufacturing Orders | Check capacity and confirm. | WI-PROD-01 |
| 3 | Warehouse | Inventory › Operations › Transfers | Move the components to the production location. | WI-WHS-05 |
| 4 | Shop floor | Shop Floor | Start, pause and finish each work order on the tablet. | WI-PROD-02 |
| 5 | Quality | Quality › Quality Control › Quality Checks | Measure at the control point inside the work order. | WI-QA-01 |
| 6 | Shop floor | Manufacturing Order › Produce All | Register the finished quantity with its lot number. | WI-PROD-03 |
| 7 | Shop floor | Inventory › Operations › Scrap | Scrap with a reason, or send to rework. | WI-WHS-07 |
| 8 | Odoo | — | Stock and the actual cost of the lot are updated, scrap included. | — |
A complaint becomes a ticket, the ticket becomes a return, and the return is inspected before anyone decides what happens to the goods.
Receiving and inspecting a return uses the same work instructions as a purchase receipt.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Service | Helpdesk › Tickets › All Tickets | Log the complaint with the delivery and photos. | WI-SAL-05 |
| 2 | Service | Delivery Order › Return | Create the return from the original delivery. | WI-WHS-06 |
| 3 | Warehouse | Barcode › Operations › Receipts | Receive the goods by scanning the label. | WI-WHS-01 |
| 4 | Quality | Quality › Quality Control › Quality Checks | Inspect and decide: reusable or not. | WI-QA-01 |
| 5 | Warehouse | Inventory › Operations › Transfers | Move to stock. | WI-WHS-05 |
| 6 | Warehouse | Inventory › Operations › Scrap | Scrap with the reason from the inspection. | WI-WHS-07 |
| 7 | Finance | Customer Invoice › Credit Note | Credit the returned quantity. | WI-FIN-03 |
Where all operational flows land. The close is a checklist, not a heroic effort — if the processes above are followed, there is little left to fix.
Stock valuation must agree with the ledger before the period is locked.
| Step | Who | Where, in Odoo | What to do | WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finance | Accounting › Dashboard › Bank › Reconcile | Reconcile every statement line of the month. | WI-FIN-04 |
| 2 | Finance | Accounting › Vendors › Bills | Match or chase bills for goods already received. | WI-FIN-02 |
| 3 | Warehouse | Inventory › Operations › Physical Inventory | Apply the cycle counts planned for the month. | WI-WHS-08 |
| 4 | Finance | Inventory › Reporting › Valuation | Compare valuation with the stock accounts. | WI-FIN-05 |
| 5 | Controller | Accounting › Accounting › Journal Entries | Explain each difference and book the adjustment. | WI-FIN-06 |
| 6 | Finance | Accounting › Reporting › Tax Return | Set the lock date and file the VAT return. | WI-FIN-07 |
| 7 | Odoo | — | The tax closing entry is posted. | — |
From the first workshop to go-live and after — manufacturing, MedTech, agri-export and mid-market companies, in Germany, Spain and Chile. In Spanish, English or German.
Lead consultant at much. Consulting, Munich: GS1, RFID and IoT, from presales to go-live.
Digital tools and ERP for Los Orgones: export documents and contact with buyers in Germany and the US.
Functional consultant certification on two versions; working daily on v17 to v19.
Question the process before digitizing it. Steps that exist only because of the old system, double data entry, the Excel file nobody dares to delete — they are redesigned before they are configured.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Order arrives by email, typed into Excel, retyped into the ERP. | Order entered once; the customer portal or an agent creates the quotation. |
| Warehouse prints the order and ticks lines with a pen. | Picking list comes from the order; scanning confirms each line. |
| Month-end waits for a spreadsheet nobody else understands. | Valuation and bank reconciliation are checked daily; the close is a checklist. |
Typical patterns, not a specific client.
Want to talk about your Odoo? Get in touch — or see how agents work on top of it in the AI / ERP room.