ERP Builders: How We Run ERP Projects

People sometimes ask what makes one ERP partner different from another. Honestly, on a website they all sound the same. Everyone is "experienced", "client-focused" and "end-to-end". So instead of adjectives, here's how we actually run a project, including the parts that cost us work.

We start by trying to talk you out of it

The first call is a consultation, not a demo. We ask what's broken today and what "fixed" would look like in six months. Quite often the honest answer is that you don't need a new ERP yet. Sometimes a better QuickBooks setup and one integration solve 80% of the problem for a tenth of the price.

If an ERP does make sense, we'll say which one and why. Usually that's Odoo, because it covers a lot of ground for small and mid-sized businesses at a sensible cost. But not always. If your needs are deep, regulated process manufacturing, for example, we'll tell you Odoo may not be the right tool.

Discovery happens on your floor, not in a slide deck

We want to see the warehouse, watch an order get picked and packed, and sit with whoever does the month-end close. Process documents describe how work is supposed to happen. The floor shows how it actually happens, and that's what the system has to handle.

Discovery produces four things:

• A process map you'll recognise
• A list of every system and spreadsheet in use, and who owns it
• A data quality assessment (this is usually the uncomfortable one)
• A requirements list, each item tagged as configure, extend, integrate or defer

Fixed phases, not open-ended time and materials

We split work into phases with a fixed scope and price for each. Phase one is usually the core transaction flow: sales, purchasing, inventory and accounting working end to end. Manufacturing, eCommerce, advanced reporting and automation come later, once the basics are stable.

This isn't the most profitable way for a consultancy to work. It's the way that keeps projects from drifting.

Things we won't do

A few rules we stick to, even when a client asks otherwise:

• We won't customise before configuring. If standard Odoo can do it with a different process, we'll suggest the process change first. Every line of custom code has to be maintained at every upgrade.
• We won't go live on unreconciled data. Opening stock and the opening trial balance have to tie out before cutover.
• We won't skip training for floor staff. Warehouse and production users get hands-on sessions on the devices they'll actually use.
• We won't claim partnerships we don't have. We're independent, and we say so.

What a normal week looks like

During build, you'll get a short written update every week: what got done, what's blocked, what we need from you. There's a shared test environment you can click around in at any time. Key users are asked for a few hours a week. That's the single biggest factor in whether the timeline holds.

After go-live

The first month-end close after go-live is where problems show up, so we stay closely involved through it. After that, most clients move to a support arrangement with agreed response times. Some prefer to bring things in-house, in which case we hand over documentation, the customisation register and the Git repository.

Want to talk?

If any of this sounds like how you'd like a project to run, book a consultation. If you'd rather read more first, the ERP implementation guide and common ERP implementation mistakes explain the thinking behind most of these rules.