Duration: 16:14
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
This talk showcases how Synapsis Group partnered with Tensen-Huon—a Belgian engineering firm specializing in topography and positioning—to extend Odoo beyond the back office and into the field. Starting in 2024, Synapsis first delivered a tailored Odoo module and then rolled out a true, native mobile application to complete the transformation. The goal: digitize operations end-to-end and monitor profitability from proposal through invoicing while ensuring planning, timesheets, and reporting are accurate and effortless for both office and field teams.
Core ideas & innovations ⚙️
The project leverages Odoo’s strong backbone—Projects, Timesheets, Planning, Reporting—and layers custom logic and UX for the realities of field work. Work at Tensen-Huon starts with a project, flows through proposals, missions, and subprojects, and is managed via workflows. Because field planning is volatile (tasks shorter/longer than expected), accurate timesheets are crucial for forecasting and profitability. Synapsis built advanced dashboards to flag data-input delays and overruns, giving managers a real-time overview and the back office tighter control over project tracking and invoicing.
The breakthrough came when Synapsis addressed the field gap with a mobile-first experience that wasn’t just Odoo on a small screen. The native app (built with .NET MAUI) runs on iOS and Android with one codebase and connects securely to Odoo via APIs. It uses device capabilities—geolocation to suggest nearby projects during time entry, direct access to addresses and routing, push notifications for schedule changes and deadlines, reminders for timesheets, and offline capture with seamless synchronization once a connection returns. Security remains centralized in Odoo (logins, user groups, permissions), ensuring consistency and compliance. Performance and simplified workflows were prioritized so field staff can input data quickly, even in underground areas or stone quarries without signal.
Why a native app instead of mobile web? Push notifications, offline-first behavior, deep device integration (camera, microphone, biometrics), and smoother performance all drive adoption and make the app feel like a natural part of field routines. The approach remains aligned with Odoo’s principles—configure where possible, customize where it adds clear value, and keep the platform cohesion intact.
Impact & takeaways 🧠
The combined solution empowers both the back office and the field. Managers get visibility and forecasting accuracy; finance benefits from clean, timely data across quotes, projects, and invoices; and field teams gain a fast, reliable way to keep planning and timesheets current, even offline. Adoption was supported through a pilot group of testers, iterative improvements, and a rollout that replaced an older, cumbersome tool—resulting in a more willing and engaged user base.
From a technical and operational standpoint: - Compatibility spans Odoo Online (Enterprise) and on-premise deployments with API access; Synapsis has delivered mobile integrations since Odoo 16 (and likely beyond, based on API availability). - Offline synchronization challenges were minimal in this case because timesheets and photos were largely one-way updates; conflict resolution is designed per data entity when needed. - The model is extensible: photo capture from the field, custom workflows, richer reporting, and integration with Odoo Field Service for maintenance scenarios are all within reach.
The takeaway is clear: Odoo + mobility isn’t just a convenience—it’s key to adoption, data quality, and measurable operational gains. When the field has an app that’s fast, offline-ready, and deeply integrated, the whole business becomes more accurate, responsive, and profitable. 💬
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
What I love here is the insistence on simplicity with purpose. We’ve always believed Odoo should be the backbone—modular, consistent, and easy to extend. When you bring that to the field with a thoughtful mobile UX, you unlock the real value: people enter data because it’s faster and useful, not because they’re forced to. That’s how you get clean timesheets, better planning, and ultimately better decisions.
Mobility done right isn’t a replica of the back office; it’s a rethinking of the job to be done. Keep security centralized, keep workflows coherent, and exploit native capabilities. The community and partners who embrace this pattern—configure first, customize where it counts—are the ones who will keep pushing digitalization forward with elegance and impact.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
The integration depth and UX coherence are strong differentiators here. Tying a native, offline-capable app to a unified Odoo data model addresses a common failure point in field operations—data latency and adoption. For mid-market organizations, this approach can be compelling, especially where agility and time-to-value outrank heavy enterprise customization.
The challenge, as scale increases, is ensuring robust governance, compliance, and complex scenario coverage—multi-entity consolidations, advanced resource planning, and rigorous audit trails. Competitors will point to their enterprise controls and vertical depth. But if Odoo partners continue to combine platform discipline with polished mobile experiences, they will keep narrowing the gap while maintaining a UX edge.
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.