Company Name: Allocking

Location: Belgium, Europe

Industry: Construction 

Established: 2007

Company Size: <30

Odoo Users: <30

Hosting Type: On Premise

Apps: Purchase, Inventory, Sales, Invoicing, Accounting, CRM, Website, eCommerce, Project, Timesheets, Employees, Studio, Documents + Customer Doors and Contracts modules.

Implementing Partner: Callista

Based in Aartselaar, Belgium, Allocking is a company taking care of the maintenance and repair of all types of building doors for various industries, such as healthcare, retail, and pharmaceuticals. Until 2016, the company was using disparate tools and systems that were not integrated and lacked critical functionalities. Switching to Odoo’s management system was a bold move to benefit from the integrations and real-time data that were missing before and holding up profitable growth.

The Belgian company Allocking specializes in the maintenance and repair of all types of doors inside buildings (fire doors, automatic doors, panic exits, hermetic doors, and doors with access control systems). The mission of this team is to ensure that every door works flawlessly, keeping people safe and operations running smoothly, as their vision is that doors are more than just entry points—they are critical elements of building safety, accessibility, and security.

Founded in 2007, Allocking started as an installer of electric locks and evolved into a dedicated service partner for door systems. This shift came with a clear vision: to become the reference in Belgium for door maintenance, by combining technical excellence with outstanding customer service. Today, the company serves a wide range of professional clients including hospitals, schools, factories, and office buildings.

Up until 2016, Allocking was struggling with several things: 

 Fragmentation of information across multiple tools and systems, which made it difficult to get a real-time overview into operations. 

 Too many manual processes and spreadsheets, which led to inefficiencies, duplicated efforts, and a higher risk of errors.

 No access to real-time data for the technicians on the field, because of non-integrated or mobile-friendly enough tools, which caused problems with scheduling interventions, tracking customer history, managing stock, and ensuring compliance. 

 Lack of control on the company’s growth, which entailed that the increasing number of technicians, interventions and compliance requirements were in need of a system capable of supporting end-to-end operations within the CRM, helpdesk, field service, inventory and invoicing areas.

 Missing analytical features to track KPIs or provide a high level of transparency to clients, which prevented professionalizing customer service and reporting capabilities.

“At the heart of the business is a commitment to continuous improvement. Indeed, we invest in our technicians, tools, and digital systems to deliver efficient, traceable, and compliant interventions. Odoo plays a key role in supporting that vision.” - David Gillain - CEO of Allocking

Looking to increase efficiency and centralize processes, Allocking chose to change the way they used to operate in 2016. At the time, they considered combining the expertise of several software, such as Exact Online for accounting, Team Leader for CRM and invoicing, and Atlassian for planning. Instead, they opted for the unique value proposition of Odoo, a software integrating all the modules they needed.

Allocking turned to Odoo for several other key reasons:

• All-in-one, fully integrated solution, that is not too costly or rigid.
• Modular structure, that makes it possible to start with core apps such as CRM, Field Service, Inventory or Invoicing, and gradually expand into other areas like Helpdesk, HR and Planning following the needs evolution.
• Integration between back office processes and field operations, that provides access to intervention details, allows them to update reports and manage parts usage on the go, and enhance communication and efficiency for the technicians.
• Opensource platform, that gives the possibility to tailor the tool to specific business processes.
• Vibrant community and local partners, that ensure access to the required support needed to make the implementation a success.

“We chose Odoo because it offered an all-in-one, fully integrated solution that could grow with us. Unlike other ERP systems that were either too rigid or expensive, Odoo struck the perfect balance between flexibility, scalability, and affordability.” - David Gillain - CEO of Allocking

With the valuable help of Odoo’s Silver partner Callista, switching software and implementing and configuring this new solution went smoothly. CRM and Inventory have been the first modules to be installed, followed by Projects and Field Service, before adding the finance applications.

Using Odoo for nearly a decade, Allocking observed some tangible metrics in specific areas of the business. Indeed, changing software and implementing this management system into the company’s organizational structure brought many benefits, such as: 

 Centralization of all operations: All operations are now centralized into a single, unified platform. Instead of juggling multiple disconnected tools, the team can manage everything — from CRM and helpdesk to field service, inventory, and invoicing — directly within Odoo.

 90% decrease in intervention reporting time: Thanks to the Field Service app, the technicians receive real-time updates on their interventions and can log their work, parts usage, and client feedback directly from their tablets. This drastically improved their efficiency and reduced communication errors between the field and the back office. As a result, intervention reporting time dropped by 90%. 

 30% increase in technician productivity: Planning and scheduling are now streamlined, and offer a clear overview of technician availability and workload. The company can therefore better match the right technician to the right task, improving both response time and customer satisfaction. Moreover, streamlining workflows has significantly increased productivity by 30%. 

 70% decrease in stock discrepancies: Inventory management has become more accurate. Connecting the stock levels to field operations ensures they always know which parts are used, what needs replenishing, and where everything is, whether it’s in the warehouse or in a technician’s van. 

 Invoicing delays reduced from weeks to days: Everything is connected, interventions and parts are automatically linked to the correct client and job, which makes invoicing faster and more accurate. Invoicing delays are reduced from several weeks to a few days, significantly improving the cash flow and client satisfaction.

 Data-driven decisions based on comprehensive reports: Odoo provides detailed reports and dashboards, which helps monitor KPIs, ensure compliance, and make data-driven decisions. 

 Enhanced customer experience: A significant drop has been observed in customer complaints related to miscommunication and follow-ups. Every customer interaction and intervention can be tracked in real-time within the back office. 

“Odoo helped us move from a reactive way of working to a proactive, structured, and scalable service model.” - David Gillain - CEO of Allocking

Allocking is planning on continuously improving the use that is made of Odoo’s software, with several projects in mind. 

First, the idea is to fully integrate Allocking Door Academy into Odoo, thanks to an integration between technician training, skill levels, and field performance. This will make it possible to track each technician’s progress and link it to their interventions, badges, and future career development.

Secondly, improving offline access to the system is another key challenge. Indeed, many technicians work in underground areas or limited connectivity buildings and need to ensure that data input is seamlessly synchronized once reconnected. 

Then, another focus is on expanding the use of customer self-service to offer them a dedicated portal where they can find their intervention history, compliance documents, and service reports. 

Lastly, Allocking is aiming to further automate the workflows such as contract follow-up, preventive maintenance planning, procurement and HR onboarding. This will ensure that every part of the business is efficient, scalable, and data-driven. 

“Odoo has become the backbone of our operations, and we’re excited to keep building on that foundation to support our growth and innovation.” - David Gillain - CEO of Allocking