Duration: 23:07
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
At Odoo Experience 2025 (Day 3), Nemo, Director of Operations at the Odoo partner Sedexus, presented how Sedexus helped the Swiss startup nu glass scale its breakthrough solution for indoor mobile connectivity—especially in trains—by implementing Odoo in a phased, ROI-driven approach. The session blended the physics of modern insulated glass, the operational realities of national railways, and the role of Odoo Field Service, Quality, Manufacturing, and Accounting in industrializing a novel service model.
Core Ideas & Innovations 🧠
The root problem: modern train and building windows use a thin metallic coating to retain heat. That layer unintentionally creates a Faraday cage that blocks mobile signals. Historically, the fix required antennas and repeaters—costly to install and maintain, and vulnerable to obsolescence as networks evolve (5G, 6G, 7G).
nu glass solves this with a laser-based, one-time treatment that micro-patterns the metal layer to let RF signals pass while keeping thermal performance intact. It’s performed in place—no window removal—using portable robots during regular maintenance cycles. Treatment takes roughly 15–20 minutes per window and works on flat and curved glass. The result is a future-proofed interior environment where phones and onboard systems can connect reliably, without visible changes to the glass in normal use.
Sedexus implemented Odoo to make this service scalable across fleets and countries. They designed a workflow to register each train, car, and window; orchestrate operator tasks; embed Quality checkpoints; capture customer signatures and test evidence; and convert completed work into professional Sales and Accounting outputs. Hosting on Odoo.sh and leveraging Odoo’s open-source extensibility, they moved from a minimal accounting setup to integrated Field Service and Manufacturing processes—without sacrificing simplicity for users in the field.
Impact & Takeaways ⚙️
Operationally, nu glass scaled from zero to 20,000 windows treated in two years and now treats about 3,000 windows per month—improving connectivity for an estimated 120,000 train seats and about 20 million passengers per year. Work is coordinated with maintenance schedules, resulting in no disruption to train operations and very few non-conformities. Telecom operators have validated signal performance: once the last window in a car is treated, quality tests confirm the “Faraday cage” is broken and service is reliable.
Environmentally and economically, treating existing windows avoids dismantling and remanufacture, saving hundreds of tons of glass. In parallel, nu glass now collaborates with manufacturers to pre-treat new windows at source—complementing the retrofit model. Strategic partnerships span SBB (Switzerland), SNCF (France), Germany’s national railway, EPFL (where the tech originated), Swiss telecoms (Swisscom, Sunrise, Salt), and early-stage projects in the United States. The company has grown to 20+ Odoo users, earned regional and startup accolades, and passed a formal ISO-style quality certification process—supported by standardized procedures modeled in Odoo Quality.
From an IT and process perspective, the keys to success were starting early with Odoo (even pre-first-contract), avoiding the “Excel phase,” and layering complexity over time. The integrated stack—Field Service, Sales, Quality, Manufacturing, Accounting, on Odoo.sh—enabled traceability-by-design, faster invoicing, and executive-grade reporting disproportionate to team size. Looking ahead, nu glass and Sedexus are planning a migration to Odoo v18 or v19 (to leverage new AI and dashboards) and exploring automatic inventory valuation, asset tracking, and depreciation for robot manufacturing as output scales.
In Q&A, the speaker noted the initial implementation phase took roughly three to four months (about a couple hundred hours), the laser micro-pattern is effectively invisible in normal use, and durability/safety have been validated through modeling and real-world tests required by national railways. The treatment is a one-time process with no added maintenance burden.
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
What I love here is the elegance of solving a complex problem with a simple, maintain-once approach—and then letting software do the heavy lifting. With Odoo, nu glass turned a clever physics idea into an operational engine: every window tracked, every task measured, every invoice triggered. Simplicity at the surface; integration under the hood.
This is the heart of our product vision. If you make the right thing the easy thing, teams scale naturally. The fact that nu glass avoided the Excel phase and built processes early is exactly what we advocate: start small, iterate fast, and keep the user experience frictionless. Community, openness, and integrated apps—that’s how innovations cross the chasm.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
nu glass demonstrates a focused, service-centric operation benefiting from tight process integration and rapid iteration. Odoo’s open-source flexibility clearly served them well in the pilot-to-scale transition. For midmarket service manufacturing, that agility is a strong differentiator.
The long-term questions are classic enterprise themes: multi-country scalability, regulated quality management at scale, asset lifecycle control, and compliance. As robot manufacturing grows, capabilities like global cost accounting, automated valuation, advanced MRP, and extended auditability will matter. UX and speed are strengths here; depth and governance will be the proving ground as deployments span rail operators, geographies, and telecom ecosystems.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
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.