Reference journey · illustration
Reference Odoo journey of an industrial SME.
Disclaimer: this is not a named client, but a reference journey built from situations common in the sub-region. It serves to show how we reason, in what order we work and where we focus our attention. As a matter of principle, it contains no outcome figures.
Journey fact sheet
The starting situation.
- Context
An agri-food or distribution SME, based in Senegal, with a production unit or a main warehouse and a few points of sale. The company is run on spreadsheets and an accounting package: the sales team keeps its orders in its own files, import purchases are tracked by email, inventory is only known at the month-end count, and the accounting firm rebuilds the SYSCOHADA statements after the fact. Management only sees its margin by product several weeks late.
- Trigger
Growth: a second site, new wholesale customers, a financing application for which the bank wants reliable, up-to-date statements. The spreadsheets can no longer keep up, inventory errors cost sales, and management wants to steer on today's figures rather than last month's.
- AGILICIS role
Short scoping, choice of solution, then roll-out in batches and skills transfer: description of the actual processes, comparison between Odoo and SAP Business One, configuration of Odoo to standard, data migration, training by role, support after go-live.
- Scope
SYSCOHADA finance and accounting (chart of accounts, Senegalese VAT, fixed assets, financial statements), sales and invoicing, procurement and imports, inventory and batch traceability, simple production; payroll, point of sale and mobile money payments in later batches.
- Solutions
Odoo, of which AGILICIS is a partner: finance, sales, procurement, inventory and manufacturing modules to standard · online hosting or a public cloud chosen according to connectivity and data location · mobile payment integration as an extension, where the business justifies it.
- Status
Reference journey, presented as an illustration. Comparable real engagements are presented in a meeting, with the consent of the clients concerned.
The story
From decision to roll-out.
The decision
Management first asks the right question: what tool does the company need for the next five years, given its size, its team and its means? For an SME of this type, Odoo covers the need to standard, with fast adoption and a controlled cost in foreign currency; SAP Business One is justified when the company joins a group that requires it or aims for more advanced industrialisation. The choice is argued in writing, not by habit.
Scoping
A few weeks, on site, to describe the processes as they are practised: how an order comes in, how an imported container is received and cleared through customs, how a batch is produced, how an invoice is settled. Scoping lists the data to migrate (items, customers, suppliers, opening inventory, accounting balances), measures its quality and settles the hosting mode. It sets short batches, each with a visible result.
The scenario
The chosen scenario is almost always the same: Odoo to standard, with no custom development in the first batch, and habits adapted rather than the tool wherever the habit is not a competitive advantage. The SYSCOHADA chart of accounts, VAT and financial statements are configured from the outset, in agreement with the accounting firm, which becomes a user of the system rather than a rebuilder of figures.
The batches
First batch: finance, sales, procurement and inventory, with a first monthly closing produced in Odoo as the success criterion. Second batch: production and batch traceability, from receipt to sale. Third batch, depending on the business: point of sale, payroll and social declarations, mobile money payments. An internal key user is trained from the first batch and takes over day-to-day configuration before the end of the project.
Points of attention
What makes the difference in an SME.
Data discipline
An ERP does not tolerate what spreadsheets forgive: one item under three names, a sales unit different from the purchase unit, a customer without a tax identifier. Cleansing of items, business partners and units, then a physical opening stock count, precede go-live. Every piece of data gets an owner in the company. Migrating wrong data means starting with wrong inventory.
Scope
The temptation is to do everything at once. The first batch is limited to what keeps the company running day to day, to the Odoo standard, and it goes live before the next one is opened. Development requests are noted, dated and re-examined after three months of actual use: most disappear on their own.
Hosting and connectivity
Odoo online, public cloud or local server: the choice depends on the actual connectivity of the production site, the location of employee and customer data in light of Law No. 2008-12, the cost in foreign currency and the company's ability to run its own backups. A site that loses its connection several times a day receives a planned operating mode, with entries caught up in order.
Skills and support
Training is done by role, on the company's own data, before and after go-live. An internal key user knows how to set up an item, a price or an account; the accounting firm works in the system; AGILICIS support, from Dakar, takes over for the rest, with written response-time commitments.
Deliverables
What the SME holds in its hands.
The deliverables of a journey of this type, as we produce them. Without quantified indicators: real results are presented in a meeting, with the consent of the clients concerned.
Processes described and an argued choice
Description of the actual processes, written comparison between Odoo and SAP Business One, diagnosis of the data to migrate, hosting recommendation, batch plan with success criteria.
A management model to standard
SYSCOHADA chart of accounts and VAT rules configured, item, business partner and unit master data cleansed, sales, procurement, import and inventory flows documented, list of adaptations refused and the reasons.
A system that keeps the accounts and the inventory
Odoo configured and put into service batch by batch, data migrated and opening stock count validated, first monthly closing produced in the system, batch traceability in place, extensions limited and documented.
An autonomous team and support in Dakar
Internal key user trained in day-to-day configuration, guides by role, accounting firm integrated into the system, support and enhancements provided from Dakar, with written commitments.
Going further
Read, compare, dig deeper.
Our offering Odoo for SMEs and mid-sized companies →
Viewpoint Odoo or SAP: the right question for an SME or mid-sized company in the sub-region →
Viewpoint Mobile money and ERP: integrating mobile payments into the management core →
Our reading of the sector Agri-food industry →
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