Tecnisata: Reaching new speeds with Odoo

Company: Tecnisata - Indústria Metalomecânica S.A.
Location: Sintra, Portugal
Industry: Precision Machining and Automotive Tooling
Odoo Partner: Smart Improve Consulting
Main Apps implemented: Manufacturing, Inventory, Quality, Purchase, Sales, Accounting, Documents
Company size: 60
Number of users: 45
Hosting type: Odoo.sh

Overview

Tecnisata was founded in 1974 with the purpose of producing goods and industrial components for several sectors such as: Automotive, Aeronautic, Semiconductors and Packaging. Prior to using Odoo, the company was finding it increasingly difficult to manage the company’s growth without real-time information. In order to be more productive and have a better data overview, Tecnista decided to implement a new ERP system. Working in collaboration with Odoo implementation partner Smart Improve Consulting, Tecnisata’s Odoo solution was implemented over a 2 years period. Thanks to Odoo, the company now has procedures to help them in their change management and have good data on products, BoM and price lists.

Key challenges and requirements

Tecnisata was founded in 1974 to design and manufacture cutting and stamping dies tools for the automotive sector. Today Tecnisata manufactures high precision machined parts and components for several sectors such as: aeronautics, semiconductors, automotive and packaging. Before implementing Odoo, Tecnisata used two main systems; one for the financial and commercial departments and the other for production management. With the growth of the business it was becoming difficult to manage without information in real-time. They were unable to manage the shop floor and all the supply chains since they buy and sell globally. Tecnisata was also unable to have a financial overview of work in progress.

When searching for a new system, Tecnisata found there were many options on the market, however the company understood first hand the detriment of an inefficient tool, so it was of high importance that they chose the best tool for their needs. Moving aways from multiple ERP systems, the company wanted to use a single platform. After conducting extensive market research for an ERP that would meet their needs, Tecnisata came across Odoo. They chose to go with it because it's user friendly, fit their business scope and had a very competitive price.

Solution and results

Working in collaboration with implementation partner Smart Improve Consulting, Tecnisata’s Odoo solution was deployed over a 5 month period. The implementation was split in three phases, the first (which lasted one month) was the financial where all the analytic accountability and management reporting. The second phase focused on production, supply chain and warehouse. This phase took 2-3 months and mainly consisted of preparing the data that would be transferred into Odoo. The expertise from the Smart Improve Consulting team was essential in this phase. The third and last phase was quality management in Odoo and where the project officially went live after 2-3 weeks. 

Today, Tecnisata has a clear view over all their data on inventory, orders and finances. They’re now able to estimate delivery dates for customer orders, review the historic profitability from manufacturing orders and easily have detailed financial reports. Previously, the manufacturer used to spend 2-3 days, sometimes more, on the shop floor after receiving an order from a customer. Now with Odoo, it takes just a couple of minutes. Stock management is also much more easily trackable which enables the company to avoid mistakes in stock counts and always account for missing inventory.

“Implementing Odoo was one of the best decisions we have made.”
-José Paulo Filipe, Chairman at Tecnisata 

With the Odoo Accounting app, Tecnisata easily has access to analytical reports that are accessible both via their PC and Smartphone. Where the company feels like they’ve won the most is within MRP. When a customer confirms a quotation, a manufacturing order is automatically generated. If there’s no stock of raw material, Odoo generates a Purchase order for it. On the shop floor, operators are able to report their production and quality issues. The quick reporting enables the Quality team to follow up on situations quickly and thus improving the manufacturing process. 

What Tecnisata employees most enjoy about Odoo is its user friendliness. Shop floor users are not only able to be autonomous but they’re also able to move at a faster pace. They especially love to use Odoo in tablet mode; this is one of the features that helps them to be mobile and autonomous. In the manufacturing app, users are able to set a delivery date when a customer order is received. This wasn’t possible in the previous system. Thanks to Odoo, Tecnisata is able to manage the entire supply chain on one platform.

About Tecnisata - Indústria Metalomecânica S.A.
Tecnisata was founded in 1974 with the purpose of producing goods and industrial components. Currently Tecnisata has established itself as an important industrial reference. With an area of 2200 square meters, located in Sintra, Portugal, with a vast and modern machine pool, a project office provided by the most advance parametric software and a quality control office is currently focused on: 
- Design, development and testing of cutting and stamping (dies) tools
- Manufacture, assembly and testing of special devices
- Manufacture parts

About Smart Improve Consulting
Smart Improve Consulting is a consultancy whose aim is to respond to the needs of Portuguese industrial companies for the implementation of the new ERP Odoo, as well as to fill a gap in the market through the creation of a consultancy with know-how in MRP and industrial processes. With a team with more than 30 years of experience, Smart Improve Consulting's projects are divided into 4 lines of business: ERP; CRM; BI and Process Reengineering.