Duration: 26:39
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
This session, delivered on Day 1 of an Odoo event in Belgium, spotlights how the digital transformation agency Brainwire replatformed Street Characters—a North American mascot manufacturer—onto Odoo 16 to digitize and automate their end-to-end manufacturing process. The speaker (Brainwire’s CEO and founder) frames the project as a multi-phase modernization that replaced a patchwork of tools (WordPress, QuickBooks, standalone design docs, and a separate CRM) with an integrated Odoo stack. Why it matters: the company reports a 40% productivity uplift across processes, driven by tighter workflow orchestration from sales to design to shop floor, along with better visibility, automation, and compliance.
Core ideas & innovations 🧠
Before Odoo, Street Characters’ operating reality was a classic case of disjointed systems: manual handoffs from sales to designers, email-based approvals, scattered documents, and reactive production planning. Brainwire’s response was to build a cohesive, inter-module workflow on Odoo Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Manufacturing (MRP), and Accounting, augmented with a custom CPQ engine and dynamic BOM generation. The CPQ translated sales configuration choices—such as logo placement (left/right/center), size, and product type—into consistent pricing, curbing ad-hoc quoting. The BOM logic leaned on historical data to propose “likely” BOMs per mascot type; operators could override, and the system learned from those adjustments for future estimates.
Design-to-production orchestration was the backbone. Upon sales order confirmation, Odoo automatically created designer tasks, assigned artists, and logged timestamps for each step—design time, customer response time, approval dates—so bottlenecks were visible. Customer approvals, spec sheets (size, color, fabric), QC checkpoints, and shipping all became traceable milestones tied to the same record, with documents stored in Odoo Documents and notifications managed through Discuss and email automation. Sales got a Kanban CRM with mascot images for easier adoption; “Create a sketch” was embedded as a controlled step (pre- or post-quote, depending on deal strategy). Contracts were auto-generated as PDFs at final confirmation and versioned for auditability, reducing disputes. Financially, the solution supported partial billing at predefined milestones and exposed shipping cost impacts on margins—helping teams decide when to charge, absorb, or optimize freight.
How the end-to-end flow works ⚙️
An integrated path ties everything together. Leads enter Odoo CRM, with visual cues (mascot images) to speed triage. Quotes are built via CPQ, ensuring pricing discipline and capturing configuration data that informs later phases. After confirmation, designer tasks kick off; artists are assigned; sketches are iterated with the customer; approvals are captured in Documents. A dynamic BOM is generated from historical patterns, with manual edits allowed and fed back into the dataset. Production plans gain foresight into “what’s coming” thanks to real-time statuses (orders in design, awaiting approval, ready for MRP). QC checkpoints are informed by the exact specs that customers approved. Finally, shipping integrates into the same flow, with cost tracking visible to sales and finance. All activities emit notifications and are surfaced in dashboards so leadership can see where cycle time slips—design, customer approval, manufacturing, or logistics—and take action.
Impact & takeaways 💬
The reported outcomes are substantial. Street Characters saw a 40% increase in productivity across functions. Data entry dropped significantly thanks to automation and single-point data capture. Production improved due to dynamic BOMs and better forward planning; downtime decreased because tasks and notifications eliminated dependency on specific individuals being available. Visibility increased—sales teams could answer status questions in seconds, while management got actionable dashboards to measure efficiency and benchmark improvements. Profitability analysis improved with accurate shipping cost capture and margin reporting. Compliance and accuracy for US/Canada taxation benefitted from running everything in one place.
Implementation-wise, Brainwire rolled out in phases: sales and purchase automation first (~4 months to first go-live), then manufacturing, then accounting—totaling about 9–10 months. Initially, QuickBooks was integrated; subsequently, Odoo Accounting consolidated financials. WordPress remains integrated for SEO/blog and front-end marketing. CAD integration (e.g., Autodesk Inventor) was not implemented due to legacy equipment and cost-benefit considerations but may be revisited. Street Characters currently runs Odoo 16 and is planning an upgrade to Odoo 19—in part to leverage new capabilities such as Payroll.
Two pragmatic Q&A moments underscore the system’s value. First, on pre-sales design work that doesn’t convert: Odoo’s logs now quantify time spent per lead, helping identify repeat non-buyers and refine go/no-go decisions. Second, on enterprise readiness: phased delivery, standardized modules with targeted customizations (CPQ, dynamic BOM), and data-driven dashboards illustrate a balanced approach—moving from spreadsheet chaos to an integrated, auditable system without overengineering.
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo’s vision.
What I like most here is the elegance of the flow. When you remove the friction between sales, design, and manufacturing, teams stop chasing information and start delivering value. This is why Odoo’s integrated model matters: one source of truth, with just enough customization to respect the craft.
The Street Characters story reminds us that simplicity scales. A CPQ that speaks the language of the shop floor, documents that live with the order, and dashboards that reveal bottlenecks—these are small, disciplined choices that compound into productivity. The community’s creativity turns them into repeatable patterns others can adopt.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
The narrative is compelling: a mid-market manufacturer moves from disjointed tooling to an integrated suite and gains agility. The Odoo stack clearly improves UX and time-to-value, particularly for design-centric make-to-order workflows. However, as volumes grow and compliance deepens—multi-entity accounting, advanced quality, or regulated manufacturing—governance and audit controls will need scrutiny. Custom CPQ and dynamic BOMs are powerful but can become upgrade liabilities if not standardized.
We see a familiar trade-off: velocity and integration versus long-term scale and enterprise depth. For larger or multi-plant operations, advanced planning, CAD/PDM integration, and formalized validation may be required. The success of an Odoo 16-to-19 upgrade will hinge on code discipline and testing. Still, the customer-centric visibility the team achieved is notable—and a bar everyone in this segment should aim to meet.
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.