End-to-end Odoo processes for kitchen construction, appliance service and field work
At Kuhn Design, CONSENSO is replacing the existing industry software OF4000 with an integrated Odoo solution. Kitchen projects, service subscriptions, scheduling, mobile reports, appliance histories, inventory, purchasing and finance and HR processes are being brought together step by step on a single shared platform.
At a glance
Initial Situation
Kuhn Design previously worked with the industry software OF4000. Internal order management, employee time tracking and job reports were not consistently connected to one another, however.
Service technicians and installers documented their work partly on paper. Times, work carried out and further details then had to be checked in the office and transferred manually into the relevant systems. This created media breaks and additional administrative effort.
A further challenge lies in the structure of the customer and object data. A job does not simply take place at a customer, but at a specific building and often in a particular apartment. At the same time, a property can involve various people and organisations — owners, tenants, property management, caretakers and further technical or administrative contacts.
It also has to be traceable which appliances were installed at which address and in which apartment. This includes appliance type, manufacturer, model, serial number and further technical information.
The operational business places differing demands too: service subscriptions have to be managed over several years, technicians scheduled, spare parts procured and kitchen projects coordinated. In future, these processes should no longer be steered through separate workflows and manual transfers.
Solution with Odoo
CONSENSO is introducing Odoo step by step as the central platform for Kuhn Design's business processes, replacing the previous OF4000 solution.
The sales process begins in Odoo CRM and Sales. Customer enquiries, quotations and orders for kitchens, household appliances and services are managed on a shared data foundation.
In the service area, multi-year maintenance and service agreements are managed through Odoo Subscriptions. Depending on the contract, these may run for three, five or ten years. The agreed services form the basis for the recurring scheduling of service technicians.
Jobs are coordinated through Planning and Field Service. The responsible technician receives the relevant customer, object and appliance information on their mobile device. On site, they can record their working time, document the work carried out and create a digital report. Where required, this can be signed directly by the customer.
Once the job is complete, the captured information is available for further processing and invoicing without any renewed manual transfer. Depending on the order, the services are invoiced separately or charged against an existing service subscription.
For kitchen construction, project management is also integrated. Tasks, dates, services and project information can therefore be managed in a structured way per kitchen project.
Purchasing and Inventory support the provision of household appliances, fittings, spare parts and other materials. Depending on the order, products are either delivered to the company's own warehouse or shipped directly from the supplier to the job or delivery location.
Result
- A shared platform for kitchen construction, appliance service and administration
- A more continuous process from customer enquiry through to invoicing
- Fewer paper-based reports and manual data transfers
- Mobile documentation of services directly at the customer's site
- Better transparency over current and future service visits
- Central management of multi-year service subscriptions
- A traceable appliance history per building and apartment
- A shared view of owners, tenants, property managers and further contacts
- Better availability of information for field service and administration
- Integrated procurement and inventory management for appliances and spare parts
- Early testing of the data migration during the implementation phase
- A scalable foundation for further digitalisation of the business processes
As the project is still in progress, these improvements are not presented as conclusively measured project results.
Project at a glance
- Industry
- Kitchen construction, household appliances and technical customer service
- Project type
- Replacement of an existing ERP and order management system
- Project status
- In progress
- Project scope
- Kitchen construction, appliance service, recurring maintenance, field service, supply chain, finance and HR
- Previous core system: OF4000
- Highlights: A custom data model for properties, apartments, contact roles and installed appliances
Competencies
- Custom Data Model
- Field Service Management
- Legacy-System-Ablösung
- Mobile Serviceprozesse
- Odoo Data Migration
- Odoo ERP-Implementierung
- Projektmanagement
- Prozessdigitalisierung
- Subscription Management
- Supply Chain
About the company
Kuhn Design is a Basel-based company for kitchen construction and household appliances. It plans and builds kitchens and handles the delivery and installation of appliances for kitchens and utility rooms. Kuhn Design also offers service and repair work for household appliances.
The business model combines several different process worlds: project-based kitchen orders, the sale and installation of appliances, recurring service work, and short-notice repair visits to private customers, properties and property managers.
Day-to-day operations therefore involve more than managing customers and orders. Scheduling service technicians and installers, the availability of appliances and spare parts, and a traceable history of the appliances installed in each apartment and building are equally important.
Odoo apps used
Core apps in the project: CRM · Sales · Subscriptions · Planning · Field Service · Project · Timesheets · Helpdesk · Repairs
Supply chain: Purchase · Inventory · Barcode · Quality
Finance and HR: Accounting · Invoicing · Employees · Payroll · Expenses
Documentation and collaboration: Documents · E-signature · Contacts · Calendar
The apps are being introduced by process area as part of the phased implementation. Not all of the areas listed are fully live yet.
Integrations and custom extensions
- A custom data model for buildings and properties
- Representation of individual apartments and units within a building
- Assignment of different contact roles such as owner, tenant, property manager and caretaker
- Linking of installed appliances to building, apartment and contacts
- Management of appliance type, model, serial number and additional technical information
- Appliance history for maintenance, repairs and replacement work
- Connection between service subscription, scheduled visit and installed appliance
- Mobile time tracking for service technicians and installers
- Digital job report with optional customer signature
- Repeatable data migration from the previous system into Odoo
- Regular refreshing of test data during the ongoing implementation
- Preparation of a controlled migration for the later go-live
Which Odoo apps fit your company?
In a conversation we will clarify whether we already have experience in a similar situation, and what a sensible entry point could look like.