Koster Industrial Textiles is a professional Dutch producer of textile lifting slings, lashing straps and round slings. They make these in a wide variety of sizes, types and capacities. All types of lifting straps, lashing straps and round slings are produced in their own workshop. Koster produces standard versions, but of course also systems to customer specifications.
Eric Voschezang is IT project manager at Koster: “Koster IT distinguishes itself by, among other things, fast service and deliveries, also for deviating sizes and designs. We have many years of experience in the production of lifting and lashing systems and a well-equipped workshop with experienced employees. We also print tires with a name and/or logo at an excellent price/quality ratio.”
Lifespan
Koster Industrial Textiles used to work with its own software package. “The package was written 15 years ago and was still adequate for that moment. Recently, a proliferation of functionalities has been added. Ultimately, the software was at the end of its lifecycle. It was also not really user-friendly and difficult to understand for new employees. All in all, a reason for Koster to switch to new integrated business software. Koster has requested quotes and advice from various ERP suppliers. A collaborating partner of Koster worked with Odoo and was very satisfied with it. Ultimately, it was decided to work with Odoo Experts for the implementation of various Odoo apps For example, for sales, inventory management, accounting, purchasing, production and a project module.”
Scope creep
Before Eric became involved in the project, the project had some start-up problems. “There was little time, and it was not clear in which direction we had to go. Especially with Odoo there are so many possibilities, it is especially important to stick to the wishes that you have determined in advance and to set priorities for them. In my view, scope creep is a feared phenomenon in software development in that context. A large part of the projects will have to deal with it. With scope creep, the size of the system to be developed continues to increase unnoticed or uncontrolled. Together with the key users and the project manager of Odoo Experts, we were able to maintain the right focus to implement Odoo efficiently. We first made a blueprint of the desired situation, and then we implemented the appropriate modules. With Odoo you can easily choose and set up the functionality of your business software yourself.”
Step by Step
“We are now at the point where we can do the same as before, but with Odoo and therefore without APIs,” continues Eric. “All modules now also have the same user interface, which makes it very user-friendly. But we're certainly not done yet. We can now add more functionality step by step. For example, we want our stock to be replenished automatically based on customer demand. We want the same with our purchase orders. In concrete terms, this means that we must first make an inventory of whether the stock shown in Odoo is also the actual current stock. Technically, it is correct with Odoo, it is now important to bring it under control in practice. The big advantage of Odoo is that you can look back and link countless things. Also in a production order. The manufacturing module is entirely new anyway. "As far as I'm concerned, Odoo Experts have proven that they are knowledgeable and involved". During the project, they keep the scope on the important issues. When you call, the phone will be picked up by an employee with expertise. In this way, questions can be answered competently, directly and efficiently
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Company name: Koster Industrial Textiles
Website: https://www.koster-it.nl
Branch: textile lifting slings
Keeping the right focus together to efficiently implement Odoo