Automotive Retailer and Manufacturer Uses Odoo to Optimize Online Sales Order Process

Overview

In less than 3 months, Novobi helped TOPDON USA, a global automotive technology company, implement an Odoo ERP system that optimized their sales order process. The solution features a sales order approval process and e-commerce website integration with Odoo. With this solution, sales order accuracy increased, data syncing between the TOPDON site and system backend improved, and their team found the new and improved Odoo ERP system much easier to use.

The Client

INDUSTRY:

Automotive Aftermarket, Motor Vehicle Manufacturing

LOCATION:

Rockaway Township, New Jersey

TOPDON USA

TOPDON USA is a global automotive technology company that offers a wide array of automotive repair products and services.

From automotive repair shops to DIY professionals, TOPDON proudly provides cutting-edge technology to all their customers, selling entry-level, mid-level, and advanced tools in more than 150 countries. TOPDON is a one-stop solution that provides exceptional service and top-quality customer support based in the USA, incorporating innovation, quality, durability, and value into all their offerings.

Challenge #1

Current system cannot support new business initiatives without costly, time-consuming, and complicated development

Solution

Inflexible and monolithic

Challenge #2

“Requires a system that allows sales representatives to quickly generate BoMs, verify component availability, and generate quotations with increased speed and efficiency”

Solution

Create a custom job report to automatically generate the total cost of an ETO project that updates costs and inventory in real time with design changes.

Challenge #3

Requires a system that eliminates manual effort when sending purchase orders while ensuring order data accuracy

Solution

Create a custom job report to automatically generate the total cost of an ETO project that updates costs and inventory in real time with design changes.

Challenge #4

Requires a system that produces real-time financial accuracy by posting journal entries in real-time as transactions or stock moves occur

Solution

Create a custom job report to automatically generate the total cost of an ETO project that updates costs and inventory in real time with design changes.

The Client’s Challenge

TOPDON USA came to Novobi, seeking help with their Odoo system due to recurring automation and reporting issues. To provide the best possible solution, the Novobi team addressed several business and technical challenges ranging from immature virtual processes to performance issues with their Odoo system.

Business Challenges

On the business side of things, TOPDON had specific requirements the Novobi team had to meet. The solution developers had to overcome the following challenges:

Lack of Sales Approval Process

No Mechanism for Sales Approval

TOPDON didn’t have an approval process in place, so when bulk orders came in, their sales, shipping and billing teams struggled to coordinate with each other. Orders could not be completed easily, and staff were not on the same page. There was a need for a formalized sales approval process and a single source of truth for all teams involved.

Manual Labeling Still Required

Shipping Labels Created Manually

TOPDON staff had to use a shipping provider to create labels for orders to be shipped. Staff manually input shipping information on the provider’s website, bought the labels, and then printed them. The company required automation for this process to boost overall efficiency and free up workload.

Lack of Efficiency in Post-Sales Process

Bottlenecks with Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)

TOPDON needed an RMA process to handle customer after-sales services. The RMA process that they previously had caused a lot of unnecessary back-and-forth communications between shipping and help desk.

System Challenges

TOPDON’s previous Odoo system had several performance issues and needed improvement in several areas. This pushed the company to find the right partner to troubleshoot their system and help them overcome the following challenges:

Automation and Reporting Issues

Current Odoo System Had Problematic Behaviors

TOPDON USA’s previous Odoo system had performance issues. The lack of automation made many of their processes redundant and labor-intensive, and staff had to do many manual tasks just to obtain the data they needed to create reports.

Lack of Integration Between Website and ERP

Missing Communication Link Between Shopify and Odoo

With their previous setup, TOPDON staff had to transfer data from their Shopify website to Odoo manually. This took time and increased the risk of data inaccuracy. TOPDON also needed website inquiries to synchronize automatically to resolve them within the ERP and fully optimize their Odoo e-commerce management.

Lack of Barcode Scanning Caused Errors in Inventory

Input Issues with Inventory

Previously, the TOPDON team didn’t have barcode scanning to check their product inventory. As a result, their inventory operations were time-consuming and also had data accuracy issues. Incorporating barcode scanning into their workflow would decrease data entry errors.

Novobi’s Solution

Novobi designed and implemented a solution to reduce the need for manual labor and increase the overall data accuracy within TOPDON’s Odoo system.

Novobi Enhancements

Novobi leveraged Odoo to develop the following enhancement to meet TOPDON’s needs:

Sales Order Approval Process

With this enhancement, Odoo retail management becomes easier. Users can dynamically set up approval steps for the sales order validation process which ensures that the sales orders TOPDON sees on Odoo match the sales orders from their e-commerce platforms such as Shopify.

Product Information Management (PIM) System

This bespoke module transformed TOPDON’s Odoo ERP system into a PIM system. As a PIM, Odoo holds product information like weight and volume. With this information, staff can accurately estimate shipping costs and buy shipping labels.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) Process

Novobi built an RMA process within TOPDON’s Odoo system that included RMA policies such as Refund before Receive. These policies allow the ERP system to pre-create steps staff need to know and follow for each order being processed.

Barcode Scanning

This enhancement within Odoo Inventory streamlines TOPDON’s product shipping process and helps improve inventory forecasting. With this module, staff can easily track, receive, and ship products. They simply scan barcodes, and products will be correctly identified and prepared for shipping.

Odoo Apps

TOPDON USA uses the following Odoo apps in their system:

Helpdesk
Inventory
Manufacturing
Repairs
RMA
Accounting
Purchase
Sales

“After a lot of research, we decided Odoo would be our platform solution. More research led us to our Odoo Gold Partner, Novobi. Novobi was able to take my requests and dreams and put them into usable systems and processes that streamlined each of our departments. Support, sales, advertising, and procurement all benefit from the solutions we found with Novobi, and they have been a great partner.”

Chad Schnitz
Vice President / TOPDON USA

The Novobi Approach

Novobi follows a strict implementation schedule following CMMI and Scrum frameworks with weekly sprints, ensuring that clients can expect demos and workable solutions weekly or biweekly. Novobi also follows best practices in configuration and customization to ensure the system functions correctly. This approach makes it easier and more cost-effective to upgrade in the future.

Discovery

Planning

Implementation

Launch

Training

Support

Discovery

Novobi jumpstarted the project with a discovery done purely remotely. Through analysis, the Novobi team discovered that TOPDON did not maximize the use of their Odoo system, and a handful of out-of-the-box functionalities were not being utilized. The successful discovery phase not only clarified risks but also enabled an easy implementation process.

Launch

TOPDON was onboarded on May 2022, and after less than 3 months, their new system went live on July 2022. The quick implementation took 25% less than the initial estimate.

Planning

Before implementation, Novobi presented TOPDON with an estimate and a clear timeline that includes 10 weekly sprints to be conducted by the 4-person team. At this point, teams also discussed future plans for features to be implemented after the project go-live.

Training

Novobi provided training for the client via Zoom meetings with playbacks. Using the ‘train the trainer’ method, TOPDON management and admin staff were trained comprehensively, then they trained the Novobi team back as if the team is new to the features. This ensures the TOPDON staff are ready to train other users.

Implementation

Novobi ended up conducting less sprints than initially planned thanks to the thorough discovery and analysis. During the 8-9 weekly sprints, the Novobi team implemented the necessary fixes and customizations. Testing was also conducted through 3-5 sprints.

Support

Novobi provided 2 weeks of post-go-live support to ensure the TOPDON system worked as expected. After the system launched, the TOPDON and Novobi teams started development for the next phase while continually monitoring the performance of the new system.

The Results

Novobi’s quick implementation of key customizations fully optimized TOPDON’s Odoo ERP System. As a result, there is an increase in user satisfaction, sales order accuracy, and overall efficiency due to the integrated nature of the system.

EASE OF SYSTEM USE

Thanks to the solution implemented by Novobi, TOPDON’s virtual processes have improved. Staff can now utilize Odoo with ease, increasing overall user satisfaction.

EFFORTLESS INTEGRATION OF SHOPIFY TO ODOO

Support and contact requests generated on TOPDON’s e-commerce website are now properly visible on the Odoo backend through custom site integration.

ENHANCED INVENTORY FORECASTING

Accuracy in inventory forecasting has increased through Novobi’s enhancements, including the Sales Order Approval Process which ensures stock visibility on the backend and Barcode Scanning that enables easy product tracking.

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