Location/Region: Brooklyn Park, MN
Industry: Plumbing and architectural products representative
Apps implemented: Studio, Sales, Inventory, Accounting, CRM, Contacts, Manufacturing, Purchase, Website, and Dashboards.
Software
Replaced: Sage
Company size: >35
Hosting type: Odoo Online
At Schu Marketing, a Minnesota company, operating in the plumbing and architectural products industry, efficiency and adaptability are essential. As the firm grew, so did its need for a modern, customizable solution. That need led them to Odoo, a platform that has since become central to their operations.
Schu Marketing represents manufacturers of plumbing-related and architectural products ranging from toilets and faucets to flush valves, partitions, and commercial bathroom accessories. With 37 employee-owners and a decades of legacy, the company is known for combining strong industry experience with a distinctly modern approach.
Founded in 1992 by Sarah Levens’ father with a small team of just four employees, the company has undergone significant evolution. Its footprint, territory, and team have grown, and in 2020 it transitioned into an employee-owned organization when Sarah’s father retired and sold his shares to the staff. Today, Schu Marketing’s leadership group, including President Sarah Levens and Operations Manager Rayna Mellgren, continues to build on that heritage while driving the company toward a more digital and scalable future.
"We’re an employee-owned company… and we’re a little bit more tech forward than some of our competitors in this industry."
Before Odoo: Outgrowing a Rigid System
Before discovering Odoo, Schu Marketing relied on Sage for its ERP. When they attempted to integrate their CRM, the team quickly realized the system wasn’t flexible enough for their business model. The program was not customizable, not compatible with their workflows, and too difficult for employees to use.
The company also worked with a third party to try to adapt Sage to their needs, but the experience was “clunky,” and the system still didn’t align with how the business operated. The team repeatedly faced the same barrier: a rigid, out-of-the-box CRM simply didn’t fit their unique processes.
Additionally, Sage was not available in a cloud version, forcing them to keep an on-premise server at a time when the company wanted to be fully cloud-based. This incompatibility pushed the team to start exploring new options with integrated CRM systems and cloud capabilities.
Schu Marketing looked at several other ERP solutions as part of their search. It was during this process that Rayna shared her prior experience evaluating Odoo at a previous company in the plumbing wholesale sector, experience that helped guide the team toward the right fit.
"Sage CRM was not compatible with our business… out-of-the-box solutions don’t necessarily work for us."
Odoo: The Platform That Let Schu Marketing
Scale and Adapt
Rayna had evaluated Odoo 10–12 years earlier while working at a plumbing wholesaler that was exploring a transition to a new ERP. Even though Odoo wasn’t the right fit for that business at the time due to its e-commerce demands, Rayna remembered Odoo for its strong functionality, ease of use, and straightforward interface. When Schu Marketing began looking for alternatives to Sage, she suggested they take a closer look.
Once the team explored Odoo’s ecosystem, including its cloud hosting, integrated CRM, and ability to adapt to their business structure, they quickly recognized its potential. Odoo’s scalability was especially appealing as the company anticipates future growth.
"Depending on the app and what function we’re using, most processes now give us about a 50% time savings. One of the biggest improvements was month-end processing. With Sage, I had to take my computer home and run everything at night or on weekends because no one else could be in the system. It took hours. With Odoo, it’s seamless. Everything connects the way it’s supposed to, the reports run smoothly, and I no longer have to process month-end at home."
After beginning their conversion at the end of 2022, Schu Marketing went fully live in early 2023. Today, Odoo is embedded in their daily workflows across multiple departments. The company uses Sales, Inventory, Accounting, CRM, Contacts, Manufacturing, Purchase, Website, and Dashboards.
One of the most transformative features for the team has been Odoo Studio. Schu Marketing’s operations require customized fields and non-standard workflows across CRM and sales processes. With Studio, they can “add a field and move things around as needed” without relying on third-party developers. This ability to modify the backend in real time means the platform supports the business, not the other way around.
The Dashboards have also become “huge” for the company. Team members use it extensively to surface real-time insights, track performance, and quickly navigate the data that matters most to their roles. The leadership team emphasized how much they rely on the dashboards to align decisions and stay agile.
On the operational side, the unified environment created by Odoo, linking sales, CRM, purchasing, and manufacturing into one system, has significantly simplified internal processes. The transition from siloed tools to a synchronized platform has improved clarity, reduced manual work, and increased accessibility for all users.
Finally, the fact that Odoo is fully cloud-based directly addressed their desire to eliminate their on-premise server. This shift enables better access, more flexibility for remote employees, and alignment with the company’s long-term digital vision.
"I love Odoo. I love the functionality… it makes our lives so much easier with the customization and the ease of use.”
What’s Next for Schu Marketing
As Schu Marketing continues to grow, the team is enthusiastic about Odoo’s scalability. The wide range of apps available gives them confidence that as their needs evolve, the system will evolve with them, not against them. They are already experimenting with additional modules like Approvals and Rental, preparing the groundwork for more integrated processes in the future.
With the company’s tech-forward culture and employee-ownership structure, Schu Marketing plans to keep leveraging tools that support transparency, efficiency, and proactive decision-making. Odoo will remain central to their operational strategy as they expand their capabilities and digital infrastructure.
Looking ahead, Schu Marketing’s experience offers a powerful example for other manufacturers' representatives, wholesalers, or businesses in traditional industries seeking a modern, customizable, cloud-based ERP. Companies looking to streamline operations, improve CRM adoption, or gain flexibility without sacrificing structure can benefit from exploring what Odoo has to offer.
