Location/Region: Montreal, CAN
Industry: Equipment Manufacturing
Apps implemented: Manufacturing, CRM, Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Spreadsheet
Software
Replaced: SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, and Oracle.
Company size: 105
Hosting type: Odoo.sh
CO7 Technologies, a rapidly growing manufacturer of protection equipment for electrical grids, needed a scalable ERP solution to manage its complex and highly customized product lines. By implementing Odoo, CO7 was able to simplify its manufacturing, sales, and financial processes, allowing it to grow from nine employees to over 100 in just five years.
Founded in July 2020 by Christian Cossette, CO7 Technologies specializes in manufacturing equipment for electrical substations. The company provides outdoor breakers and indoor protection devices that play a crucial role in maintaining power grid stability worldwide.
What sets CO7 apart is its ability to deliver highly customized, project-oriented solutions that meet the specific needs of its customers. Unlike larger competitors such as ABB and Siemens, CO7 focuses exclusively on grid protection, allowing it to be more responsive to market demands, enabling faster innovation, shorter lead times, and tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of utilities and energy providers.
"For our competitors, what we're doing is just a small part of their portfolio. For us, it's our bread and butter."
Managing complexity before Odoo
From the moment CO7 Technologies was founded, the company faced the challenge of managing thousands of part numbers, bills of materials (BOMs), and manufacturing procedures inherited from the acquisition of three product lines from Schneider Electric. Traditional spreadsheets were insufficient to handle the complexity of CO7's operations.
Prior to implementing Odoo, Cossette had experience working with ERP systems such as SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, and Oracle. However, he found these solutions to be cumbersome, costly, and inflexible. The company also considered Zoho but ultimately sought an open-source solution that could be easily customized to fit its needs.
"I didn’t want to go back to the problem of working with SAP. We needed something simpler and more manageable."
AAZ Solutions: Driving CO7's Odoo success
Led by Guy Potvin, AAZ Solutions was the strategic partner that helped CO7 optimize their Odoo implementation. With extensive experience in both business management and computer science, Guy's deep understanding of technical and operational challenges allows him to deliver tailored solutions that align with his clients' needs. AAZ Solutions distinguishes itself by prioritizing in-depth digital diagnostics, ensuring that Odoo is implemented in a way that fully supports the future growth and operational goals of businesses like CO7.
What sets Odoo apart as the ERP of choice, according to Guy, is its integrated platform that consolidates business functions such as inventory, accounting, and sales into a single ecosystem. This integration fosters efficiency and collaboration across departments, as users work from a unified platform rather than managing multiple disjointed systems. Additionally, Odoo's open-source nature offers flexibility that other ERPs can't match, allowing businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. The cost-effectiveness of Odoo, especially with its pricing model that does not charge extra for additional modules, makes it particularly attractive to businesses looking to scale without incurring prohibitive costs for each added feature.
"Odoo's ability to evolve with a company's needs and its modularity, where new features can be added over time, makes it the ideal ERP solution. As businesses grow, Odoo scales with them, offering functionalities like HR management and payroll at no additional cost, which reduces operational overhead. At AAZ Solutions, our goal is to ensure that Odoo not only addresses immediate needs but also prepares businesses for long-term success."
How Odoo transformed CO7 Technologies?
When CO7 Technologies came across Odoo, Christian Cossette was immediately impressed by its flexibility and ease of use.
The company started with the free version, and within a month, it was clear that Odoo was the right choice.
Seamless implementation and instant results: CO7’s finance team led the initial setup, starting with Odoo’s financial modules. The intuitive interface enabled seamless integration of key processes, ensuring accessibility for non-technical users.
Unified manufacturing and quality control: Odoo’s manufacturing modules provided CO7 with a streamlined approach to inventory management, purchasing, and production. Unlike other ERP systems that require extensive customization, Odoo offered pre-built modules for manufacturing and quality control that fit CO7’s needs perfectly.
Integrated CRM and sales tracking: One of the standout features for CO7 was the integration of Odoo’s CRM with its sales and production workflows. Unlike disconnected systems such as SAP Business One and Zoho CRM, Odoo enabled seamless data flow across departments.
Real-time data and performance monitoring: With Odoo, CO7 tracks key performance metrics through customized dashboards, monitoring sales per production employee, sales hit rates, and financial indicators like cash flow and P&L statements.
Communication and workflow transparency: Odoo’s built-in collaboration tools ensure that all team members stay informed throughout the manufacturing process. The ability to track orders from CRM to final shipment in a single platform has significantly improved operational efficiency.
"The fact that all information flows seamlessly from CRM to production to shipment is what we love the most about Odoo."
Expanding horizons: What’s next for CO7 Technologies
CO7 Technologies is continuously refining its use of Odoo, with plans to further develop its manufacturing processes by integrating more detailed tracking for assembly lines. This will allow the company to optimize production and improve efficiency even further.
In addition, CO7 aims to expand its market reach beyond Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, increasing its global footprint in South America and other emerging markets.
CO7 Technologies' success story demonstrates the power of Odoo in transforming complex manufacturing operations. If your business is struggling with disconnected systems, inefficient workflows, or scalability challenges, Odoo’s integrated platform can provide the solution you need to drive growth and efficiency.
