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Example Project · Wholesale Distribution

Replacing QuickBooks and spreadsheets for a multi-warehouse distributor

A distributor with three warehouses, a B2B portal requirement and a Shopify store moves to one ERP for stock, purchasing and accounting.

Example Project

An illustrative project based on recurring patterns. Not a named client; no client results are claimed.

Industry
Wholesale Distribution
Previous system
QuickBooks Online, spreadsheets, Shopify
Odoo EnterpriseOdoo.shShopifyPython integration serviceBarcode scanners

01 — Problem

The situation

A wholesale distributor of industrial consumables runs three warehouses in different states. Accounting is in QuickBooks, stock is tracked in spreadsheets per warehouse, customer pricing lives in a shared workbook and a Shopify store sells to smaller buyers.

Stock is regularly sold twice, buyers place orders by intuition, and finance spends the first week of every month reconciling. Customer-specific prices are frequently quoted incorrectly.

02 — Requirements

What the new system had to do

  • One inventory across three warehouses and Shopify
  • Customer-specific price lists with volume breaks
  • Barcode receiving, picking and shipping
  • B2B portal with customer prices and reorder
  • Landed costs on imported goods
  • Migration of customers, products, open orders and balances

03 — Solution

The approach

Odoo is implemented with Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Accounting, Barcode and eCommerce (B2B portal). Price lists are rationalised before migration, removing obsolete exceptions.

Shopify remains the consumer storefront, integrated for orders, stock and fulfilment. Replenishment rules are set per warehouse from twelve months of sales history.

04 — Architecture

How it fits together

Odoo is the system of record for products, prices, stock, orders and accounting. Shopify owns storefront content and checkout. An integration service receives Shopify webhooks and pushes stock in batches with a safety buffer.

Bank feeds and the payment provider are reconciled through clearing accounts. Carrier labels are generated from the packing step.

Integrations

  • — Shopify (orders, stock, fulfilment)
  • — Payment provider payouts
  • — Bank feeds
  • — Carrier label platform
ERP architecture diagramA central ERP core connected to CRM, sales, purchasing, accounting, inventory, manufacturing, warehouse and reporting modules.M01CRMM02SalesM03PurchasingM04AccountingM05InventoryM06ManufacturingM07WarehouseM08ReportingERP COREOne ledger.One item master.REAL-TIMEEVENT / QUEUED SYNC

05 — Implementation

How the work would be phased

  1. 01

    Discovery and data profiling

    Warehouse walkthroughs, price list analysis and product data cleansing plan.

  2. 02

    Design and build

    Configuration of routes, pricing, portal and integration, demonstrated fortnightly.

  3. 03

    Migration rehearsals

    Two mock migrations reconciling stock by warehouse and the trial balance.

  4. 04

    Training and cutover

    Warehouse barcode training on-site; cutover over a weekend with a stock count.

  5. 05

    Hypercare

    Support through the first month-end close.

06 — Expected outcome

What this design is meant to achieve

The design aims to give sales and customers one reliable availability figure, apply correct customer pricing automatically, and let finance close from system data rather than spreadsheets.

Outcomes describe the intended operational result of this design, not measured client results.

Next step

Planning something similar?

We will map this pattern onto your operation and tell you what would be different.

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