Case Study: Building a Custom ERP Flow with Odoo and AI
Building a Custom ERP Flow for Signage Manufacturing and Installation
RDG is a signage manufacturing company that works on both outdoor signage projects and internal signage systems for large companies and buildings.
Their work sits in a demanding operational space. Some projects require semi-industrial production of repeatable pieces. Others require fully custom, one-of-a-kind signage designed for a specific space, client, or installation condition.
That mix creates a difficult challenge:
The company needs flexibility in production, but consistency across the full project lifecycle.
For RDG, that lifecycle runs from sales and quotation, through design, purchasing, manufacturing, installation, client delivery, and final invoicing.
Before the implementation, RDG had the experience, the team, and the internal discipline to deliver the work. What they did not have was one connected system that reflected how the company actually operated.
The Challenge
RDG was managing its work across several tools that were being strung together by the team. Each tool solved part of the problem, but the information was not truly synchronized across departments.
That created friction at every handoff.
Sales had one view of the client and project scope.
Design had another view of the specifications.
Purchasing needed to interpret what materials and providers were required.
Operations needed to understand what had been approved and what needed to be built.
Installation teams needed the final project context in the field.
Management needed visibility into whether the project was moving correctly and profitably.
The result was not simply inefficiency.
It was a lack of operational visibility.
Because every department had its own version of the work, RDG could not easily measure the impact of its internal initiatives. It was difficult to understand where time was being lost, where profitability was being affected, or where a handoff needed to be improved.
The founder also had to stay close to many small details across the entire project lifecycle.
Not because the team could not do the work, but because the system did not give each team a reliable way to check, update, and validate its own responsibilities.
The Existing Workflow
RDG already had a clear operating cadence.
The sales team contacted new and existing clients, gathered the project scope, and coordinated the early commercial conversation. From there, the founder and design team worked on the proposed design and the initial quotation. That early stage included client communication, quotation review, pricing adjustments, and the negotiation steps needed to move the opportunity toward approval.
Once the project was approved through the sales process, the design team finalized the files, specifications, parts, and production requirements. Operations then reviewed the project and submitted the necessary purchase requirements. The purchasing department checked inventory, generated purchase orders, and coordinated with providers.
After that, the operations and manufacturing teams began building based on the approved design, updating inventory and production progress along the way. At the end of the production phase, operations handed the project assets to the installation team, which completed the work on site.
Once installation was complete, the sales team forwarded the final invoices to the client.
The process made sense. The problem was that the tools did not support it cleanly from end to end.
Our Approach
The goal was not to force RDG into a generic ERP workflow.
The goal was to configure and customize Odoo around the way RDG already worked, while adding the structure needed to make the process measurable, repeatable, and easier to supervise.
That meant staying close to the company's existing rhythm. RDG had been operating for years, and the team already had in-house processes that were familiar to each department. A successful implementation needed to respect that knowledge instead of replacing it with a rigid system. But at the same time, RDG needed more standardization between departments.
The solution was to connect the full project lifecycle inside Odoo, while customizing the key modules and flows that needed to reflect RDG's internal logic.
What We Built
We customized several Odoo modules across the operational flow, including sales, manufacturing, projects, purchasing, finance-related workflows, and installation tracking.
On the sales side, we added custom fields and logic to support RDG's quotation and client negotiation process. This included a custom quotation calculator based on RDG's internal pricing logic, so the team could prepare quotes in a way that reflected how the company actually prices its work.
We also customized currency logic so RDG could bill in different currencies depending on the type of client and commercial context. From there, we adapted the manufacturing module to support the company's mixed production model.
RDG needed to handle both repeatable signage components and highly custom project-specific pieces. The system needed to be flexible enough for that production reality while still keeping the sales, design, operations, and installation phases connected.
We also modified the project and purchasing modules so that project execution, purchase orders, inventory needs, and profitability tracking could live in a more connected flow. This gave RDG a clearer way to understand what each project required, what had been purchased, and how internal costs were affecting performance.
Finally, we created custom installation tools embedded into the manufacturing flow. These tools helped field teams report the final state of an installation and gave supervisors a more reliable way to review project completion.
Installation Reporting
The installation phase was especially important because it was the final proof of the work. RDG needed a way for field teams to report what happened on site without relying only on informal messages or disconnected updates.
The custom installation tools allowed installers to:
Upload photos from the field
Add notes about the project or installation condition
Update installation statuses and phases
Request signatures from the client receiving the project
Provide proof of completion for supervisors and client-facing follow-up
This made the final phase more visible and easier to supervise.
It also created a stronger record of what was delivered, what was approved, and what needed attention before the project could be closed.
Implementation Process
The implementation was phased deliberately. The project was not divided into phases because the system had to be built department by department in isolation. It was phased because each part of the workflow needed to be introduced, trained, tested, and measured with the team.
We started with the sales process.
That gave RDG a stronger foundation for quotations, pricing logic, currency handling, and early project information.
Then we moved into the manufacturing and installation steps, connecting the approved project information to the teams responsible for production and final delivery.
Finally, we worked with the purchasing and finance teams to improve purchase tracking, project cost visibility, and the operational data needed to understand profitability.
This phased approach made the implementation easier to adopt.
It allowed RDG to absorb the changes one section at a time, while still moving toward a connected end-to-end operating system.
The Result
The biggest improvement was visibility.
RDG's teams gained a more connected workflow across sales, design, operations, purchasing, manufacturing, installation, and supervision.
Instead of relying on disconnected tools and repeated manual updates, each department could work inside a shared system that carried project information forward.
That reduced the amount of time spent keeping separate systems aligned.
It also gave management more room to focus on operations instead of constantly chasing updates across departments.
For the founder and supervisors, the system created a clearer way to monitor work without needing to personally track every small detail.
For the teams, it created cleaner handoffs and more standardized steps.
For field installers, it created a practical way to document work, report issues, collect client confirmation, and close the loop on the final installation.
Why It Mattered
RDG did not need a generic ERP implementation.
They needed a system that understood the shape of their business.
Signage manufacturing and installation is not only a production problem. It is a sales problem, a design problem, a purchasing problem, a project management problem, a field execution problem, and a client communication problem.
The value of the implementation came from connecting those pieces into one workflow.
By customizing Odoo around RDG's real operating cadence, we helped the company preserve the way its team already worked while giving that work more structure, visibility, and accountability.
That is where ERP becomes useful. Not when it replaces the business. When it finally reflects it.