MAXIME: 0:00

They wanted to be one of the best in terms of customer service, and to be able to do so, they needed a brand new solution that was much simpler and also much harmonized with Odoo. The main constraint that they had was business continuity, so we had to make sure that we would not disrupt the business.

EMILIE: 0:21

For every customer and every project, we really try to challenge them as much as possible to really stay standard as much as possible. So here for the kitchen and retail business, it was not possible to stay in full standards. We did do a bunch of customization.

MAXIME: 0:37

So during the implementation anyway, you will discover new things, you will analyze new things, and maybe also you will change your mind on the priorities and on the implementation.

RICHARD SHALL: 0:48

Hello dear Odooers, it's Richard Shall, back for another episode of planet Odoo. A little birdie told me that you like stories about some of Odoo implementations. Fortunately for you, we have no shortage of them. Today we are here with two of Odoo large account consultants, Maxime Vanderheyden and Emily Verdonk, who will speak with us today about one of their biggest and trickiest successes, ego. And for those of you who have not heard of ego, it is a Belgian based company that is kind of a big deal in the kitchen manufacturing industry. So hold on to your forks and let's learn about how they did it. Hello, Emily. Hello, Maxime. Hello, Richard. Thanks for joining us here today. So we're here to talk about the ego implementation or is it ego? But, uh, can you please introduce the company so everyone knows who we're talking about?

EMILIE: 1:31

Yes. So, uh, ego is a Belgian company, so they are really famous in, uh, in Belgium, um, at least for doing kitchen and closets. So, uh, they do custom mades with the kitchen and closets. And so they first start with designing, uh, the kitchen in the closet with the client, and then, uh, they place it at the client side, and then they handle all of the after sale, uh, services. Uh, so they have more or less 50 showroom in Belgium. They are also, uh, they have also showrooms in Luxembourg. And then they also have some subsidiaries in Spain, Middle East and also Senegal. So quite an international company as well.

RICHARD SHALL: 2:12

Okay. So then if I were to go to their showroom they would, I would book an appointment to, then they'd come to my house, they'd measure everything up, they understand my preferences and then build it for me to my specifications. Okay. And then they have after sales services as well. So what does that mean exactly? Yeah.

EMILIE: 2:30

So if you have any trouble with your kitchen or with your closet, uh, after it was placed by ego, uh, you can directly. Well, now it's in Odoo that you can directly create a ticket in Odoo, and then they will manage it and call you back. Will you understand what the issue is? And then a fitter, as they call it, uh, will come back to your place to, uh, to fix the problem.

RICHARD SHALL: 2:50

Okay. Fascinating. So I imagine that's quite complicated to manage.

EMILIE: 2:54

Yes it.

RICHARD SHALL: 2:54

Is. What was ego using before they saw the light.

MAXIME: 2:58

So before that they were using a set of different softwares and they were in fact a lot of them. They had a specific ERP, but it was only used for part of the business, like the accounting and the sales order. They had another software for the author to create the offer for the customer, specific software for planning as well software for the tickets. So a lot as you can see of different softwares, also the drawing softwares, some of them we kept because they were really specialized and we had to integrate them with Odoo. But some of them, and in fact a lot of them, we could just replace them piece by piece by Odoo.

RICHARD SHALL: 3:37

Okay, so with all that different software in place, why did they need Odoo?

EMILIE: 3:40

Because it was a lot of different softwares. And so it was really difficult to really communicate between all of the softwares because they used, for example, they used one software to create the contact and to really manage the contact, uh, their appointments and so on. One software to generate the quotation, one to draw the kitchen and another one, uh, really to uh, that manages the sales order. So really in Odoo, those are only two apps that are really connected to one another. So the CRM and the sales app. So it was really easier to go to Odoo because of that mainly.

RICHARD SHALL: 4:20

Which makes a lot of sense. And uh, I mean, they were doing this for a while, right? How long were they using all the different software?

MAXIME: 4:27

Do you know, uh, I think it was, uh, seven years ago that they implemented at least part of the, the, IT landscape that they were using. And so, yes, after those seven years, they decided to go for, uh, a new brand new solution that was much simpler and also much harmonized with Odoo. There is only one source of truth, and it's not the case when you have several softwares that communicate all together. And also one of the issues there. So it was not simple, but also people had difficulties to communicate or to have access to the. Omission. So while you were a salespeople, you could not easily access to information about the warehouse or where was the kitchen and so on, that information was simply not available in the system.

RICHARD SHALL: 5:12

This is a very common scenario for probably most of Odoo clients, but they were doing this for a couple of years. And so what was the trigger or the moment they decided that they were fed up with this approach?

MAXIME: 5:22

So there was one trigger. It was the fact that their ERP was almost end of life and no support anymore. So that was an important point. But another one is really that they went through global digital transformation with a focus on the customer. So they wanted to be one of the best in terms of customer services. And to be able to do so, they needed to have those tools where all the information is directly available to to everyone, and where you can communicate between departments without having the silo effect, where you just have access to your own information.

RICHARD SHALL: 5:57

So not having a single source software essentially impacted their business negatively because their services were hindered and they couldn't continue information they needed when they needed it. Very common scenario for many businesses, I'm sure. So then how did they come across Odoo?

EMILIE: 6:15

Um, well, actually, they were first in touch with one of our partners, and then I, we decided to work together with the partner on the full scope. So for example, the partner was more focused on the development of of another software that could connect directly, Odoo with all of the different tools that we had to keep. So for example, with the drawing software, it's not really a direct link with Odoo, it's a direct link with that software. And then that software has a linked to Odoo. So that was uh, mainly how they came across with uh, with Odoo. Okay.

RICHARD SHALL: 6:50

So that makes sense. And how did they find Odoo, exactly? I mean, did they didn't see any billboards everywhere, right.

EMILIE: 6:55

I believe that, um, because Odoo is also a Belgian company like ego. I think that played a huge part as well. So Odoo is. Well, it's quite well known also in the newspaper already at that time. So four years ago. And so I believe that, uh, knowing that it was also a success story, a Belgian success story, then I think that played a huge part in deciding that it was Odoo, but also in knowing that they wanted to, uh, to take contact with Odoo in order to help them with their digital transition.

RICHARD SHALL: 7:29

Okay, great. And then so after they chose Odoo, what was the beginning of the relationship look like? Was it straight into the implementation or was there another step in between?

EMILIE: 7:40

It was the first an ROI analysis. So a return on investment analysis where we could really analyze with them what was their processes and how we could do that within Odoo the the pain points that we needed to tackle during the implementation and so on. So it was first that and then based on that ROI analysis and the timeline that we gave them and so on, they decided to take Odoo and then we started the implementation.

RICHARD SHALL: 8:06

Okay. So if I understand correctly, the ROI essentially or return on investment is a pre-sales process to understand the business a bit better so you can structure the implementation more effectively. Exactly. And how long did the ROI take?

MAXIME: 8:21

Oh, it was so several months before the implementation. I think it was around eight months, but that one was a very detailed one. And one of the lessons learned of that project is that we should reduce the length of the ROI, because you don't need to know each and every detail, because during the implementation, anyway, you will discover new things, you will analyze new things, and maybe also you will change your mind on the priorities and on the implementation. Yeah.

EMILIE: 8:48

And also at that time during the ROI, they they already knew that the implementation would take a couple of years. And so during this time a lot of processes can change based on, I don't know, new things, uh, also in the world and so on. So it was not really needed to do a narrate that much into detail. And so, so really for the phase one dry analysis was really important because it gives us really a roadmap and it gives us okay for each uh, for its set of implementation. We had all of the tasks that we needed to tackle and so on. So that was really easy to manage. But for the the next two phases, because we had three phases, it was really more that the, the ROI was not used that much, and we had to do other smaller ROI analysis for that specific scope. We need to have the tasks, the right tasks that we needed to do at that time and not look back at what we already analyzed in the past. That was not, um, a present needs right now.

RICHARD SHALL: 9:58

Okay, so we'll get into the ROI, additional ROI a little bit later. But essentially, how did the initial ROI structure, the implementation plan and the different applications? And while we're talking about if you can give us an overview of what the implementation look like.

MAXIME: 10:14

Yeah. So what we did, uh, after the ROI is that we decided to split the project into several phases because we knew it would take quite a lot of time. And the idea was to bring added value as soon as possible to a go. And so we decided to focus on a phase that was really for the salespeople and for all the showrooms. Then there was a phase that was much bigger, where you had all the logistics, you had all the client services planification. Um, all those things were put together in that big second phase. And the third phase was the accounting to really finalize the project and have the full flow in Odoo.

RICHARD SHALL: 10:57

Okay. So what made you pick that order specifically? Why not start with accounting or the logistics side first?

MAXIME: 11:03

Yeah. So um, the first idea was to start on the second phase, the big. Just one, because the idea was to bring as much as possible added value as fast as possible. But we soon realized that at the end it would make much more sense in terms of deployment of phases one after the other to follow the flow of data. So you start by selling, and then you will end up with the accounting stuff at the end and in the middle you have all the logistic purchase and so on. And so that's why we decided to go for that logical flow. And the phase one was really the foundation where we put all the master data in place, and we started to use Odoo in all the, the more than 50 shops in Belgium and Luxembourg.

RICHARD SHALL: 11:51

That makes sense. Very logical, straightforward from beginning to end. And so then you mentioned that there were many Rois done throughout. So once you finish phase one, it seemed that you need to go back to the ROI board and do some more analysis. Can you tell us more about that?

MAXIME: 12:07

After the first phase, as Emily explained, we realized that things are changing, things are moving. And also another important point is that the customer so ago did know what Odoo was capable of and the the new at the end that a lot of things could be simplified. There were in the ROI, a lot of things required development, but the thing is that it was not absolutely needed. It was just that they didn't know that by using some workaround, by using some functionalities that were there in standard in Odoo, they could tackle those points. And so that's the reason why before each phase, we made sure that we took the latest information into account, and that ago also took into account what they knew about the possibilities of Odoo, which.

RICHARD SHALL: 12:57

Is what we are tend doing all the time, right? Evaluating and pushing the client to take the standard and play with it first before customizing. Okay. And so then what kind of constraints were there that they have or imperatives that we needed to meet during the ROI process or implementation process?

MAXIME: 13:12

So the the main constraint that they had was a business continuity. So we had to make sure that we would not disrupt the business. And so it means that we had to take into account the fact that there they had peak periods. You have to know also that the showrooms are opened the full week, including the Saturday. And so it means that we had to find a slot where we could do the Goliath's where it was secured. And, um, that constraint means also that we had to make sure that everything could be done in that short amount of time. So we had to focus on performances and things like that. Um, and we also made the very first rollout. So it was for the showroom to secure them. We worked, uh, shop by shop, I would say we started with one shop, then five shops and then 15 and so on until all the shops were live. And by doing so, we were able to tackle the issues without having a big impact on the on the business, because most issues are appeared at the beginning and so they were tackled to end. The last, uh, shops were put in production.

RICHARD SHALL: 14:20

Okay, great. So that means you mentioned earlier something about timelines. So they knew that there was going to take a couple of years. So how has the timeline evolved over time?

MAXIME: 14:29

In fact, there was no change in the overall timeline. And each time we decided to put in place a go live date at the beginning of the phase, we decided, okay, for this phase it will be in November. That was for phase one. Then it was in April and finally in December. Each time we were able to stick to that date. It was not easy, but we managed to do it. And I believe that for such a big ERP implementation, it's quite, uh, quite a success.

RICHARD SHALL: 14:59

Absolutely. I mean, customizing and everything can make that deadline go even further. So on that topic, what customizations were done or any kind of integrations that were necessary in order to implement this?

EMILIE: 15:11

So, uh, for the customization and the integration. So yes, for every customer and every project, we really try to to challenge them as much as possible to really stay standard as much as possible. But for some businesses, it's not, uh, not possible. It's not easy at all. So here for the kitchen in retail business, it's it was not possible to stay in full standard. So we did do a bunch of customization, and we had to do some integration with softwares that we could not replace, uh, directly with Odoo. So we had some permanent integration. So for example with the drawing software, because you know you cannot draw a kitchen or a or a closet. So that's why uh, but we also had temporary integration. So that was uh, because we decided to cut the implementation into three phases. Then at the end of phase one. Do sow the seeds part was done within Odoo, but then for the project part, it was still done in their old ERP. So we had to keep a link between Odoo and the old ERP to be able to, uh, for them to be able to still manage their business during the phase two that lasted for a long time. So that's why those were the really the, the temporary integration that we were able to remove after the, after the phases was done.

RICHARD SHALL: 16:40

Which makes sense. I definitely have have experience with 3D drawings and CAD files. It's definitely not something we can do very easily. But that said, customizations and developments, while challenging, are probably not the most challenging part of implementation. Maybe user adoption and training change management?

EMILIE: 16:58

Yeah, that's for the user adoption and the training. Um, it goes it's uh, the most part of it. And they really did that, uh, really, really well. So they kept the end user informed on the processes on how the project was. Uh, they had a newsletter, I think that was going on every couple of months. I don't know when, but it was really funny and with, with games also in it. So it was super fun to, uh, to have it. And so it really embarked everyone on the on the user adoption boot, I would say. And so that that was really a nice thing. Then for the training, uh, what they did. So that was not on the uh, those trainings were, were done also on phase one. But what happened on phase two is that in parallel of the implementation of the phase two of of Ego, another project arrived also because Ego knew more about Odoo and they decided to also implement e-learning, the e-learning app. And so after that they started using Odoo e-learning app to, uh, make sure that their end users were trained on Odoo. And so they really had a lot of, um, uh, whole flow of, uh, of learning, uh, of Odoo on those apps. So that was really something nice for the training. And that's a.

RICHARD SHALL: 18:20

Good example of using other apps that might not have come up during the ROI process or even analysis.

EMILIE: 18:26

Yes, that is true.

RICHARD SHALL: 18:27

Similar to our knowledge app as well that came out recently. Okay, great. I imagine you took the, uh, change management training that I also did with the the boats, as you said. So are there things that you're going to take away from this training or the implementation that you plan to use for future implementations?

MAXIME: 18:44

Uh, in fact, there are a lot of lessons learned. Uh, we just talked about it. And, um, after each phase, what we did is internally, we discussed together to see, okay, what was working. Well, what could have been improved. We did that on our side. Ego did the same on their side. And then we shared the information and we decided all together what would be the action plan we would put in place. And there are some topics that went out of those discussions, like for example, um, everything about configuration. We realized that if we can do as much as possible in production as fast as possible, it helps a lot because those configuration are directly available in the test environments and are aligned between all the environments and between the future production. So that's for example, one of the points. One important point was to, uh, work also together when it was needed. So for example, for the integrations you have data to make move between systems. And you have to make sure that you understand exactly what's needed from one side or from the other side. And so we worked close together with a go with their developers, with our developers. They went here in Louvain-la-neuve, we went on site on their side. And thanks to that, we were much more efficient. And it also helped making a team spirit that was really helpful. When there were moments a bit more difficult, I would say.

RICHARD SHALL: 20:11

That's good to hear.

EMILIE: 20:12

Yeah. We also had a couple of, um, other things that we we learned from it and that I use already on some other projects that I had was like, for example, the end to end testing by the user. It's really important to start it early in the implementation, even if the whole flow is not yet implemented. It's really important to to start it as soon as possible, because it allows us to make sure that then the flow is really what is needed for the for the key user. So it's way more efficient to do that than to wait until the implementation is full and do that at the end where everyone is tired of the implementation as well. I might say I.

RICHARD SHALL: 20:53

Agree with you. I mean, it's one of the biggest challenges we have is getting people to test and adopt the system. And so are there any tips and tricks besides a newsletter that worked well besides.

EMILIE: 21:03

The newsletter worked well, I think, especially during phase two. I believe, was that we had a lot of key users from the logistics side and, well, from all of the side that are really, I think, more involved in the process during phase two and phase three. Uh, during phase one, the implementation team knew the processes really well, and so it was less needed to have the key user involved a lot. But for phase two and phase three, as it was inventory and accounting, this is much more complicated to know. And so there they had to involve the key users in that. And so those key users could help on the testing as well.

RICHARD SHALL: 21:50

Oh okay. So they're actively using it then at the moment.

EMILIE: 21:53

Yes they.

RICHARD SHALL: 21:54

Are. When did they go live.

MAXIME: 21:55

So the very first go live was in November 2021 already. So all the shops were using Odoo at that time. Then we had one in April, two years after, and that one was the big one with logistics, purchase, client services. And so also all the invoicing was done in Odoo at that time. And then finally the last go live was done in January this year. It means that now the full scope for the core business is, uh, is there, and they're using it every day in Belgium and Luxembourg.

RICHARD SHALL: 22:30

Okay. That's amazing. That's good to hear. A big project going live after especially three phase things. So now that they're actively using it, how has using this system influenced the company's overall strategy and process when it comes to how they run their business?

EMILIE: 22:44

I would say that what is the most beneficial for them is really that it's harmonized. That's really the fact that they don't need to use a different softwares each day. They could just log in to Odoo and then I would say Odoo does the rest, but still needs a bit of help. That's one of the most important thing for them and that's what gives them the most added value. Now uh, at well, at the end of the process, like for example, the the salesperson, uh, before they could not see, uh, the whole project of the client so they could not tell you if you call them, they could not tell you. Okay. Uh, your kitchen is now in our stock. It will go, uh, it will go to your home in two days or something like that. They could not tell you that. Now they can because they know where the stock is. And they know also, for example, if you don't know where you are on the payment now, they can know, okay, uh, you still have to pay 10% of your, of your order, for example. So that's really important. And for the customer, it really gives him up to date information that he couldn't have before.

MAXIME: 23:51

And another big improvement is all the dashboarding real time dashboarding that they are using a lot. In fact, every department, every team has their own dashboard where they can monitor the activity and so they can take proactively decisions, and they can also detect if there are bottlenecks or issues to to tackle as soon as possible. And so that's also a big change because the data is there. It's real time. It's available for the whole company. So you have aggregated data from all the showrooms coming directly into Odoo.

RICHARD SHALL: 24:23

It's good that you mention it because it's I mean, it's the full scope really. You have the reporting that managers really love and they want to have all that data at one place. Yet it's easy to use for the end user and the client. So they get everything in one place. So all related to data at the end.

MAXIME: 24:37

Yeah indeed. And it's also it also helps a lot for the the onboarding of new people because it's much simpler to explain don't have eight different applications. You just show Odoo all the applications are working I would say almost the same way. So it's much, much easier to understand. And people are, uh, directly ready to work, I would say much, much quicker than before.

RICHARD SHALL: 25:02

And they have those e-learning videos they can watch, of course. So then, uh, on top of that, like, how is Odoo helping them meet some of their goals, I guess, what are some of their goals?

EMILIE: 25:12

So one of their main goal is really to have a great service, a the best service to give to their customer. So really, by what I said before, with the new customer service, thanks to Odoo, they can really give them way better information and so on. They also, um, that is more based on um, on an efficient side really management efficiency. Uh, they are with thanks to Odoo, they now can, uh, really optimize how they plan their tasks and so on. So for example, before, um, for the, the fitter and so on, they really had to, uh, to go to another app to make sure that all of their, uh, intervention were planned efficiently and so on. Now they just can choose a date and then Odoo does the rest and gives you okay, which time it is and so on. And everything is done within Odoo. Uh, same, for example, for the the deliveries. Uh, so now, thanks to Odoo, they can choose a delivery date, but also based on the area of the customer. So, for example, uh, ego is located in Namur, so the warehouse is in Namur. And so for them, it's not easy to go to Ostend to deliver a customer. So now they can just say, okay, every Tuesday I will deliver to Ostend. And so all of the customers that are located in Ostend will only be delivered on Tuesdays. So way easier for them to do that. Also, it's more ecological.

RICHARD SHALL: 26:45

On that note, you said ecological. Is that one of their goals as well to kind of reduce waste and be more?

MAXIME: 26:50

Yes, clearly. And for example, the filters they are also using no the worksheets in Odoo. So it means it's paper less and the information is available directly for everyone as soon as it's, uh, completed by, by the filter. So that's a big improvement because before they were using paper, it was taking a lot of time. There was a risk of, uh, having errors. There were delays because the paper were not sent on time. And so that was also one of the big improvements.

RICHARD SHALL: 27:19

Great. So now they're both ecological and more efficient and cutting costs without paper. Yeah. Amazing. So now what's the status of it now you said that they were they hit the third or last go live. Is there anything left they want to do. Yes.

EMILIE: 27:33

So, uh, right now what, uh, what's happening is that they are now upgrading from v 14 to the new V 17. Um, and so normally the go live should, uh, happen in the next couple of weeks. Um, and after that, they also have some side projects. Uh, so one of them would be to implement Odoo in, uh, Ego Spain. Uh, that's.

MAXIME: 28:03

It. And in fact, we have also another implementation ongoing. Right now it's the kitchen company. So it's the B2B scope of a go. And so that implementation is already ongoing on the same solution that we put in place for the ego B2C store.

RICHARD SHALL: 28:19

It's a gift that keeps on giving more implementation projects. Right. So to wrap up on the implementation side of things, how did that compare to their expectations? Initially?

MAXIME: 28:27

What they said is that basically, if they knew that the goals would be like they were, they would have signed two times for for that. So we can see that there were a lot of, uh, improvements thanks to the implementation. But also, as I said, one goal was to not impact the business, no disruption during the go lives. And that's a goal that we that we perfectly achieved.

RICHARD SHALL: 28:49

It's not very easy at all to do.

MAXIME: 28:50

Not at all. So for that we had to do several things. It was splitting in phases, making sure that we have batches of, uh, showrooms that were put in productions. And on our side there was a lot of testing also that was done. For example, for each go live, we made dry runs where we made everything as if we would go into production to make sure that on the day everything was ready and everyone knew exactly what to do.

RICHARD SHALL: 29:19

Not easy as I said before. So well done. It's a great thank you. Um, so on that note, can you do you have any tips or tricks or suggestions for people who are looking to implement Odoo or integrate Odoo into their business?

EMILIE: 29:31

I would say that what they need to do is really to make sure that they know their processes, that their processes, they are clear, they are harmonized because sometimes with companies that bought other companies or that are really a bundle of different, I don't know, showroom shops or something, uh, it can be difficult to have harmonized processes and um, so and be um, so that is one thing that's really important to know, uh, the processes so that we know also which one we should implement as well, uh, for them. And um, also they should be ready for some challenge as well. So we are here to challenge them, uh, for their use of Odoo. I would say so really to, to stay standard as much as possible. And so to be ready to change your processes to match the standard of Odoo and so that the, the implementation will at least, uh, cost less and will, uh, take less time as well. So it's a win win, I would say classic response.

MAXIME: 30:41

Indeed. And there is also, uh, another aspect for me, it's the user adoption. Um, they should not overlook that aspect neither. So it's really important to explain to everyone in the company why we took the decision for that change and to explain what will be the benefits, because it won't be easy at the beginning. But on the long term, there will be a lot of benefits by going for such an implementation.

RICHARD SHALL: 31:07

Is the full scope. Change management process. It's not just for management reporting, but it's also hopefully to make their lives better. Exactly. Fantastic. Well, thank you both. Now whenever I see a go, I'm going to think of you too. So much appreciated. Thank you. Thank you for being here.

EMILIE: 31:21

Thank you Richard.

RICHARD SHALL: 31:22

Well, that's it for this week's episode. We hope you found it as enriching and insightful as we did. Maybe it even made you hungry to implement Odoo into your daily life. And if you're eager to learn more about other implementations of Odoo, I suggest you listen to our other episodes about Joule and Decathlon. And as always, stay curious, stay passionate, and. Most importantly, stay awesome.