ODOO 10 : Migrate to latest version Odoo 15

  • by bista-admin
  • Oct 24, 2016
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New Apps in Odoo 10
New at Odoo version 10 are Studio, Attendances, Helpdesk, Maintenance – MRP, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and Quality Control. There is also a new Android-based Mobile App. A couple of Apps have been renamed (Sales Management and MRP). Here is a link if you want to know more about Odoo 10 MRP and PLM Odoo 10 MRP

Odoo 10 Studio

As someone who customizes Odoo, this App is very interesting to me. From the menu you want to change, you can quickly access the views, automation, reports, user security, and data filtering rules.

The way the customization aspects are centralized and available without needing to modify XML will make customizing Odoo easier for non-technical users and faster for Technical users.

access-control

The integration of Etherpad technology (hosted by Odoo) allows you to maintain Notes about each screen that gets modified – this will save digging through documents or PM systems to find out who did what and why!

Odoo 10 Attendances

The release notes mention the ability to set up Odoo in Kiosk Mode as a ‘check in’ screen for employees – much like a traditional time clock or timecard scanner. You scan your badge (printable from Odoo) or select your name (optionally enter a PIN).

checked

Odoo 10 Helpdesk

This is a full-featured system that leverages many other components of Odoo like Live Chat, Forums, and Slide/Video sharing. It is for managing tickets that are emailed, sent via a web form, captured via API, or entered by employees.

It includes the concept of teams, SLAs, ratings (feedback from Customers), and self-service resources/learning. Tickets can be assigned manually, randomly, or balanced based on workload.

The App integrates with the website where your Customers can submit and view tickets and reporting that indicates your compliance with your SLAs.

support

Odoo 10 Maintenance – MRP

This App manages requested or scheduled maintenance (regular or based on KPI’s) on equipment that you enter into Odoo. It would work well for IT hardware or shop floor machinery and tools. You can see requests and scheduled maintenance on a Calendar and plan accordingly. Maintenance can be assigned to internal teams or subcontracted and managed much like tasks (drag through different stages of completion).crosscut

Odoo 10 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

PLM extended the Manufacturing capabilities of Odoo by supporting Engineering Change Orders to revise Bills of Materials and/or Routings for products. Odoo 10 keeps track of what you add and remove at each revision and makes it easier to attach Engineering drawings and documents.

plm

Odoo 10 Quality Control

The ability to QA/QC at various points in your picking workflows (incoming, internal movement, outgoing) will benefit a lot of Customers. You can require random, periodic (every X days) or complete tests that are either pass/fail or measurement within limits. You can assign this work to Teams and Individuals so they can perform checks, attach documents or photos, email others, etc.

Odoo 10 Accounting

The Aging reports are now expandable by Customer or Vendor, showing summary and detail information on the same report – exportable to XLSX (instead of only XLS).

receivable

Odoo 10 Integration (Odoo TaxCloud integration)

Newly integrated with Odoo at version 10 is TaxCloud. This is a great addition to the existing Avalara integration – providing another option for US Customers.

Odoo 10 is also integrated with Google’s Firebase Cloud Messaging which allows Odoo 10 to notify users via web or mobile devices. I haven’t looked at this yet.

The new Apps are great – very tightly integrated with the rest of Odoo as you would expect. The speed has improved and the design of the screens has benefited from a slight refresh.

Odoo 10Speed

I noticed Odoo 10 was faster when moving around from place to place. It just took less time for the screen to refresh. The release notes state reports will be 2 to 5 times faster to generate.

Odoo 10 for Developers

I love the new XML renderer that color codes and autocompletes XML tags when editing views:

architecture

I already upgraded three modules to v10 from v9 – it didn’t take more than 15 minutes for each one – and the main work was the metadata. As long as you have migrated to the new API at version 8 or 9 you should find simple modules ‘just work’. Here is an easy installation guide for Odoo 10.

We hope this snippet of Odoo 10 MRP and PLM helps you to get some insights on the very new Odoo 10. Stay tuned for more information on Odoo 10.

Contact us for any Odoo requirements or email us at sales@bistasolutions.com

Easy Odoo v10 Installation Steps For Ubuntu

Using a VM (Virtual Machine) gives you your own Odoo Server!
You can use this method to create a VM for Odoo 9, and Odoo 10, as well as VM’s for each client project you have to support. Start and stop each VM as you need it. You can connect to the VM while you are in the office, at home, on a plane or in your hotel – no network connection is needed after you have installed Odoo!
This example works on Windows 10 with Virtual Box at or higher than 5.1.4. Plan for 2-3 hours of time. There are many resources on the web to help with the installation of Virtual Box – We list only the main steps here.
Steps:

Download an Ubuntu Server ISO (install CD file) from

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server Make sure you use an LTS version, I am using 16.04.1 LTS.

Install Oracle Virtual Box from

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Open Virtual Box and create a new VM. You should use no more than half the memory of your laptop when sizing it. Here is the first screenshot of the Wizard for creating a NEW VM:

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Follow the Wizard selecting the following options:

2

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Now wait, the creation takes a few minutes

Right click on the VM and select Settings. The first settings we need to change are Network:


 4

The next are Storage, to point the VM to the ISO of Ubuntu you downloaded.  Click on EMPTY

new

Click the CD/DVD Icon and Choose Virtual Optical Disk File – point to the ISO you downloaded

newnew

Start your VM!

You will now install Ubuntu. Hit ENTER a few times (to take all the defaults) until you get to CONFIGURE THE KEYBOARD. Select YES (you use TAB to select options in the VM console) and then you will have to press several keys to detect your keyboard.

Keep hitting ENTER or CONTINUE to take all the defaults until you get to SETUP USERS AND PASSWORDS and choose odoo for the name of the new user, odoo for the username and odoo for the password.

Keep hitting ENTER to take all the defaults until you get to PARTITION DISKS, selecting YES. Click ENTER for the defaults until you get to PARITION DISKS again (write the changes to disks) and select YES. Keep hitting ENTER or CONTINUE to take all the defaults.

Wait until the system is installed. Leave HTTP proxy information blank on CONFIGURE THE PACKAGE MANAGER.

When you get to the SOFTWARE SELECTION screen, make sure POSTGRESQL DATABASE is checked.

Once Ubuntu is installed, login as odoo/odoo and make a small change to support networking so your server can be reached from any network or no network:
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

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CTRL-O saves, CTRL-X exists the nano editor
Reboot:
sudo reboot now

Login again (odoo/odoo) and now let’s install Odoo:

1. Clone out the Odoo v10 branch through the following command inside /opt folder
cd /opt
sudo git clone https://github.com/odoo/odoo.git –branch 10.0 –single-branch

2. After downloading of source you need to install the dependent libraries
• Now simple issue a command to install all the dependent libraries from
requirement.txt file
• To install from requirement.txt file (requirement.txt is a file having all the
dependent library names)
Command lists:-
sudo pip install -r [/requirement.txt]

3. Install nodejs and npm
sudo apt-get install nodejs
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node
sudo npm install -g less

4. Install wkhtmltopdf library, to print report in PDF format:-
• Below is the command to download the wkhtmltopdf library,
sudo wget http://download.gna.org/wkhtmltopdf/0.12/0.12.1/wkhtmltox-0.12.1_linuxtrusty-
amd64.deb
• Then, follow it up by the installation command:-
sudo dpkg -i wkhtmltox-0.12.1_linux-trusty-amd64.deb

5. You need to now setup the Postgresql DB for Odoo
• Install Postgresql Database with the following command:
sudo aptitude install postgresql-9.5
• Create a user role in database by firing the below command in ubuntu
su – postgres -c “createuser -s odoo”

6. Create an Odoo Configuration File
nano /etc/odoo/odoo.conf
[options]
db_host = False
db_port = False
addons_path = /opt/enterprise,/opt/odoo/addons

7. Your configuration is complete, run this command to start the odoo service:
./odoo-bin -c /etc/odoo/odoo.conf
ALL SET TO START WITH YOUR ODOO…!!

Get started with Odoo 10 as quick as this !!!
We hope this Odoo 10 installation guide helps you through your installation process.Stay tunned at www.bistasolutions.com for more details Odoo10 new features.

Feel free to get in touch with us for any assistance on Odoo10 installations or for Odoo10 training at sales@bistasolutions.com or write to us at feedback@bistasolutions.com

What’s new in Odoo 10 – MRP+PLM+QUALITY

  • by bista-admin
  • Oct 17, 2016
  • 0
  • Category:

The MRP app is the highlight of Odoo 10 and has become a milestone in the manufacturing industry. Odoo10 MRP is a complete and integrated software to manage Planning, Quality, Operations, Maintenance, Traceability, and PLM. So it’s no wonder it has been met with so much enthusiasm! The preview of Odoo 10 MRP attracted more than 650 people in 10 countries. 

The Odoo 10 MRP app had so many awesome expanded features. For those who missed out on the MRP tour, you will find the introduction to all the new features of Odoo 10 MRP in this blog. For any modern manufacturer to be fully functional they will have to make use of more than 10 different applications to run their business, creating a high level of complexity in both workflows and integration. With Odoo 10 MRP app, this has been simplified as this is a single software that combines all the common needs of any modern manufacturer. Odoo 10 integrates BoMs, MPS, Work Center Tablets, Schedulers, Push & Pull rules, OEE, PLM (versioning, engineering changes, and doc management), Quality Management (including control points, quality checks, and quality alerts), as well as Maintenance (preventive, corrective, etc.). With all these features incorporated, Odoo 10 seems to be a complete open-source ERP package for modern manufacturers (MRP + Maintenance + PLM + Quality). As they claim Odoo 10 will be an “ALL YOU NEED, IN A SINGLE SOFTWARE”. Odoo 10 has set very high expectations amongst the users and is the perfect example of “EASY + POWER = LEAN”

The new features introduced in Odoo 10 MRP app are listed below along with a detailed explanation.

  • BoMs

  • Finite Capacity Scheduler (Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • Manufacturing Orders

  • Push & Pull Rules

  • MPS (Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • OEE(Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • Work Center Tablets (Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • Reports (Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • New Dashboard (Odoo Enterprise feature)

  • Odoo MRP Work Center Control Panel

Feature Insight: New feature to define work center operation duration computation in 2 ways:

– set time manually

– compute based on real-time previous operations

Path : Manufacturing — > Routes –> Work Center Operations — > Operations

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  • Odoo MRP MPS

Feature Insight: Provides the ability to forecast the quantity of the products based on:

1. Starting Inventory

2. Demand Forecast

3. Indirect Forecast

4. To Supply/Produce

Path : Manufacturing — > Reporting –> Master Production Schedule

2

  • Odoo MRP Dashboard

Feature Insight:

Tablets to record work operations :

1. Record productions

2. Display Worksheets

3. Time tracking

4. Quality Control

5. Barcode support

6. Trigger issues

Path : Manufacturing –> Dashboard

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4

We can perform all work order operations from tablets as shown in the above images.

Feature Insight:

Time Tracking:

– Helps to determine the time taken by workers for production which determines efficiency.

Path : Manufacturing –> Dashboard — > WORK ORDERS

5

Feature Insight:

Quality Alert:

– Allows generating Quality Alerts if production parts are defective or of low quality.

Path : Manufacturing –> Dashboard — > WORK ORDERS

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7

  • Odoo MRP Masterdata

Feature Insight: Selecting “Ship this product as a set of components(kit)” sends components in Delivery Order from Sale Order.

Path: Manufacturing –> Master Data –> Routings

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  • Odoo Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Feature Insight: It gives the actual efficiency of equipment based on calculations shown in the below figure.

Path : Manufacturing –> Dashboard

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10

  • Odoo 10 PLM (product life cycle)

Feature Insight :

PLM is used to maintain BoM revisions and track product lifecycle based on Engineering Change orders. Basically, PLM application allows us to :

– PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) helps to create ECO (Engineering Change Orders) to :

1. Make BoM revisions.

2. Make MO Route revisions.

3. Update Work Operation based on revisions in BoM.

4. Generate alerts for changes in BoMs as well as Routes in MO.

5. Generate multi-level approvals from higher authorities for any revision (BoM or Route) before making changes in MO

– Approve Engineering Change Orders

– Manage BoM Versions

Below we have attached the snapshots of the features that we just listed

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12

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14

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We hope this snippet of Odoo 10 MRP and PLM helps you to get some insights on the very new Odoo 10. Stay tuned for more information on Odoo 10.

Please feel free to reach us at sales@bistasolutions.com for any queries on Odoo and its related modules.

Mistakes To Avoid While Implementing An ERP For Your Business

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, organizations must effectively manage complex operations and processes. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have emerged as effective tools for automating and integrating various aspects of business operations.

In this blog, we will discuss the most common mistakes to avoid when implementing an ERP system. We will look at how these mistakes can be avoided and what steps should be taken to ensure a successful implementation. Understanding these common mistakes can help businesses ensure the success and cost-effectiveness of their ERP implementation. In addition, we’ve included some advice on how to avoid these mistakes in your next implementation project.

Why do ERP Implementations Fail?

  • Poor Planning and Execution
  • Lack of Adequate Budget
  • Insufficient Training and Support
  • Inadequate Data Management
  • Resistance to Change

Mistakes To Avoid While Implementing An ERP For Your Business

  1. Lack of Clear Objectives and Requirements 

One of the most common mistakes is starting an ERP implementation without clear goals. Without well-defined objectives, businesses may end up with a system that does not meet their requirements or solve the problems they set out to solve.

Advice

  • Creating specific, measurable objectives for the ERP project
  • Gathering comprehensive requirements by involving key stakeholders from all departments
  1. Choosing the Wrong ERP Software 

Not all ERP solutions are the same, and selecting the wrong one can result in significant setbacks such as functionality issues, integration issues, and high costs. Businesses frequently make the mistake of selecting an ERP based solely on price or vendor reputation.

Advice

  • Conducting thorough research on different ERP solutions and vendors
  • Analyze software features, scalability, customization options, and ease of integration
  1. Over-customization of the ERP System 

While customization can help tailor the ERP to your specific business requirements, too much customization can result in higher costs, longer implementation times, and complications during updates.

Advice

  • Using standard features and functionalities whenever possible
  • Customizing only when necessary, with a focus on core business processes
  1. Inadequate Planning and Project Management 

Failure to adequately plan or manage the project can lead to delays, budget overruns, and a system that does not meet your business needs.

Advice

  • Creating a detailed implementation plan outlining tasks, timelines, and responsibilities
  • Appointing an experienced project manager to oversee the implementation
  1. Underestimating the Importance of Data Migration 

Data migration is commonly more challenging than anticipated. Poor planning can result in data inconsistencies, errors, and missing information, disrupting operations and requiring costly corrections.

Advice

  • Before starting the migration process, clean and organize the data
  • Developing a detailed data migration strategy, including mapping and validation
  1. Not Providing Adequate User Training 

Even the best ERP system will fail if users are not trained to use it properly. Insufficient training can result in resistance, low productivity, and frequent errors.

Advice

  • Creating a comprehensive training program tailored to specific user roles
  • Organizing hands-on training sessions, workshops, and online resources
  1. Ignoring Change Management 

ERP implementations frequently necessitate significant changes to the existing workflows, processes, and job roles. Businesses that fail to address change management may face employee resistance, resulting in lower adoption rates.

Advice

  • Communicating the ERP system’s benefits to all employees at an early stage
  • Providing ongoing support and resources to help staff adapt to the new system
  1. Inadequate Testing Before Going Live 

Skipping or rushing through the testing phase is a common mistake that can result in unexpected problems once the system is launched. Challenges discovered after launch can be costly and disruptive to business operations.

Advice

  • Involving end users in testing to ensure the system meets their requirements
  • Allowing enough time to fix bugs and make changes prior to going live
  1. Poor Integration with Other Systems 

An ERP system that does not integrate well with other software (such as CRM or e-commerce platforms) can result in data silos, duplicate work, and decreased efficiency.

Advice

Identifying all systems that must be integrated with the ERP early in the process

Creating a clear integration strategy, including data synchronization and API connections

  1. Not Planning for Ongoing Support and Maintenance 

ERP implementation does not end with a launch. Failure to plan for ongoing support, maintenance, and updates can cause system performance issues and user dissatisfaction over time.

Advice

  • Arranging for ongoing support from the ERP vendor or a dedicated internal team
  • Schedule regular system updates, maintenance checks, and performance reviews
  1. Underestimating the Time and Resources Needed 

ERP projects can be time-consuming, and businesses frequently underestimate how long it will take or the resources required. This can result in rushed implementations, poor results, and unexpected expenses. 

Advice

  • Creating realistic timelines and dividing the project into manageable phases
  • Allocating sufficient resources (time, budget, personnel) to the project
  1. Lack of Post-Implementation Evaluation 

Failing to evaluate the ERP system after implementation can prevent businesses from realizing the full benefits. Without a review process, it’s difficult to identify areas for improvement and address them.

Advice

  • Schedule a post-implementation review to evaluate system performance
  • Continuously optimizing the system based on user feedback and evolving business needs

Conclusion: Avoiding The Pitfalls

Avoiding these common mistakes during ERP implementation can save time, money, and frustration, and ensure a smoother transition to a more efficient and integrated system. Proper planning, training, and communication are key to a successful ERP Implementation. 

Remember, the key to a successful ERP implementation isn’t just about technology; it’s about people, processes, and careful planning. If you’re considering an ERP implementation or are currently facing challenges, feel free to reach out. At Bista Solutions, we’ve guided numerous professional services businesses through the process, helping them avoid pitfalls and achieve their goals. Let’s ensure your ERP project is a success from the start.

Schedule A Demo

Celebrating Excellence: Won Best Odoo Partner Award 5th Time in a Row!

best odoo partner in usa

Odoo ERP is dedicated to nurturing its vast ecosystem of Odoo Partners to meet the growing demand for its ERP solutions. At the same time, Odoo Partners continues to flourish within the thriving Odoo Community. We are thrilled to announce that Bista Solutions has once again received recognition at the Odoo Experience 2022 event. We have been awarded the title of “Best Odoo Partner 2022” for our exceptional ERP implementation and positive customer reviews. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment and expertise in the field.

“Our consistent recognition reflects our unwavering commitment to excellence and our continuous efforts to deliver exceptional results to our clients.”

  • “Best Odoo Partner of the Year 2022 North America”
  •  “Best Odoo Partner of the Year 2021 North America”
  • “Best Odoo Partner of the Year 2018 North America”
  • “Best Odoo Partner of the Year 2016 US”
  • “Best Odoo Partner of the Year 2015 Americas”

Quality That Set Us Apart –

  • Our uncompromising commitment to delivering exceptional solutions
  • Strong focus on customer satisfaction and long-term partnerships
  • Proven track record of 350+ successful project deliveries in varied industries
  • Continuous innovation and staying up-to-date with the latest Odoo advancements
  • The dedicated and skilled team of Odoo developers, Project Managers & QAs
  • Streamlined processes and efficient Project Management
  • Proactive problem-solving and attention to detail
  • Strong communication and collaboration with clients throughout the implementation journey
  • Consistent delivery of high-quality results, exceeding client expectations
  • Strict Adherence to Compliance & Data Security standards.

Our Odoo Services: 

  • Odoo Consultation and Strategic Guidance 
  • Odoo Implementation Services
  • Odoo Customization and Configuration 
  • Odoo Integration Services
  • Data migration and Version Upgrades
  • Odoo Custom App Development 
  • 24/7 Training and support
  • Performance Optimization Services

We are the Most Trusted Odoo Gold Partner

  •  3+ Decades of Experience
  •  200+ Custom App Development
  • 300+ Expert Odoo Devlopers
  • 350+ Happy Clients
  • 10+ Countries Explored
  •  15+ Industries catered
  •  24/7 Support Available

 

Bista’s Expert Team & their Exceptional Contribution

Best Odoo Partner

Our Offerings: Empowering Your Business for Success

  • Comprehensive Business Process Management Solution 

Enhance operational efficiency and agility with our powerful suite of tools that enables analysis, modeling, automation, and continuous improvement of workflows, tailored to your industry for seamless operations and accelerated growth.

  • Advance Manufacturing Production Planning and Scheduling

Optimize your production processes with our advanced production planning and scheduling module. Achieve seamless coordination of resources, materials, and schedules, ensuring efficient operations, reduced lead times, and enhanced profitability. 

  • Supply Chain Management

Track every step of the supply chain journey, from sub-suppliers to end customers, ensuring seamless operations, minimizing delays, and optimizing inventory levels with our comprehensive supply chain management solution.

  • Retail & E-commerce Solution

Unleash the power of our E-commerce solution, tailored to your industry’s specific needs. Create a captivating online presence, attract customers, and drive sales with an intuitive interface that makes browsing and purchasing a breeze.

  • Field Management Solution

Empower your field service teams with our field management solution. Streamline work order management, scheduling, and real-time communication, improving response times and customer satisfaction. 

  • Business Intelligence and RPA Integration

Unlock actionable insights and drive data-based decision-making with our powerful business intelligence and robotic process automation (RPA) integration. 

  • Streamline Marketing Campaigns

Amplify your reach and engagement across digital channels with our cutting-edge Marketing Automation solution. Maximize the impact of your campaigns, nurture leads, and deliver personalized messages.

  • Project Management Solution 

Efficiently manage your projects from start to finish with our comprehensive Project Management solution. Gain full visibility into project progress, allocate resources effectively, and streamline collaboration among team members

  • Comprehensive HRM Solution

Empower your workforce with our powerful Human Resource Management solution. Take your employee management to the next level with a centralized system that boosts productivity and nurtures a thriving company culture.

  • Professional Service Automation

Fuel the success of your service-based business with our Professional Service Automation solution. Seamlessly plan, track, and manage projects, allocate resources effectively, and accelerate billing processes. Collaborate effortlessly and deliver exceptional service to your clients, setting your business apart.

  • Powerful CRM Solution

 Unleash the true potential of your customer relationships with our robust CRM solution. Capture every interaction, analyze customer data, and leverage advanced segmentation to target your marketing efforts precisely. Deliver personalized experiences that foster loyalty and drive revenue growth.

  • Comprehensive Financial Management

Take control of your financial processes with our comprehensive financial management solution. Streamline accounting, budgeting, and reporting, ensuring accurate financial data and compliance. Make informed financial decisions, maximize profitability, and drive sustainable growth.

  • Warehouse Management System

Seamlessly manage your inventory with our integrated warehouse management system. Gain real-time visibility, optimize storage space, and automate critical processes like receiving, picking, and shipping. Ensure efficient order fulfillment, minimize stockouts, and deliver exceptional customer service.

  • Inventory Management Solution

Optimize inventory levels, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction with our comprehensive inventory management solution. Gain real-time insights into stock levels, automate replenishment, and align inventory with demand patterns. Make informed decisions, minimize stockouts, and improve cash flow.

  • Order Management Solution

Simplify order processing, enhance order accuracy, and boost customer satisfaction with our efficient order management solution. Streamline the entire order lifecycle, from order placement to fulfillment, ensuring timely delivery and minimizing errors. Deliver exceptional service and foster long-term customer loyalty.

  • Procurement & Vendor Management Solution

Take charge of your procurement processes from start to finish with our powerful procurement solution. Designed to optimize efficiency and strengthen supplier relationships, our solution empowers you to streamline and automate your procurement operations.

Experience Transformative Power with Our Award Winning Odoo ERP Implementation Services. Contact Us Today!

Data Science in Manufacturing

Data Science in Manufacturing

Manufacturing, simply put, is the act of transforming raw materials into finished goods on a large scale using labor, tools, machines, chemical/biological processes, or formulation. A necessity in today’s consumerist world where a man’s needs far exceed just food and shelter. The motive of manufacturers in a free market or mixed economy is to fulfill these needs at the lowest possible price, enabling the consumer to cater to more of his needs, thus, improving revenue. Optimizing manufacturing operations, thus, not only helps the business owner make more profit, but leads to better productivity. Data Science in manufacturing can achieve all the above mentioned goals.

Metrics of Manufacturing Operations

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” – William Edward Deming

Before we understand the importance of data science in manufacturing, it is imperative that we know the metrics of a manufacturing unit used to gauge its performance.

There are four dimensions of operational performance:

  • Cost – Indicates the efficiency of the operation
  • Quality – This is further broken into:
    • Performance Quality – measures how good of a product or service we provide
    • Conformance Quality – captures to what extent we’re able to deliver on the promise that we have made to the customer
  • Variety – measures the flexibility of an operation to provide goods and services to a heterogeneous customer base
  • Time – Our ability to provide a quick response to demand

These four dimensions are important for two reasons. First of all, they are the goals that we strive for in an operation. And so they will guide what type of performance measures we track. And then, they’re really also at the heart of defining the business strategy. These four dimensions give us the opportunity to differentiate our operations from others, thereby potentially providing us with a competitive advantage.

Use of Analytics in Manufacturing

Since the advent of the Lean manufacturing paradigm developed at Toyota in 1988, factory floors have never been the same. Essentially, lean manufacturing is a systematic method to reduce waste in a manufacturing system. The goals are:

  • Improve quality: To stay competitive in today’s marketplace, a company must understand its customers’ wants and needs and design processes to meet their expectations and requirements.
  • Eliminate waste: Waste is any activity that consumes time, resources, or space but does not add any value to the product or service.
  • Reduce time: Reducing the time it takes to finish an activity from start to finish is one of the most effective ways to eliminate waste and lower costs.
  • Reduce total costs: To minimize costs, a company must produce only to customer demand. Overproduction increases a company’s inventory costs because of storage needs.

Working from the perspective of the client who consumes a product or service, “value” is any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Essentially, lean is centered on making obvious what adds value by reducing everything else.

blog1

In today’s world, Lean manufacturing is Data-Driven manufacturing and is utilized by every manufacturer in some form or the other. The ability to anticipate downtime gives managers the opportunity to plan ahead so the capacity of all machines and labor can be utilized to the maximum. This downtime could be due to a bottleneck resource or due to falling in market demand, both of which could be identified beforehand with the employment of predictive analytics. Predicting expected sales also helps in directing productivity towards parts that are going to be in high demand.

Furthermore, continuously analyzing and monitoring the performance metrics of resources, lines, vendors and plants can help Product managers with optimizing operations, factory scheduling, maintenance, and labor deployment. Data on the usage of the finished product by customers can give key insights into improving design and manufacturing as well.

Evolution of Manufacturing

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With the boom of information technology, various advancements have revolutionized the extent to which data could be leveraged for operational efficiency. Some of these advancements include:

  • The number of sensors per machine has increased which has automated a lot of manual data gathering and provides previously unavailable data.
  • These larger datasets are easier to get from the machine to a central database because the machine is connected to the network.
  • These larger datasets are being aggregated by the companies that make the machines allowing for anonymous cross-company sharing of machine performance data.
  • High-performance computing platforms like Spark and cloud services like Amazon or Microsoft’s Azure allow businesses of any size to store, mine, and analyze these large datasets.

Present-Day Data Science in Manufacturing Analytics Scenario in the Industry

The aforementioned technological advancements have led to the amalgamation of production systems with planning toolkits, forecasting, real-time data streams of sensor data from plant floors, and much more. Some of the most beneficial innovations have led to:

  • Industrial Internet of Things: Cost-effective high-performance sensors are now utilized to gather data for the purpose of quality assurance. Sensors these days can be used to assimilate high velocity and high volume data, tracking various metrics previously thought impossible without slowing production. For example, Jet engine manufacturers utilize more than 50,000 sensors on a single engine that measure temperature, pressure, and vibrations on various parts of the engine to measure possible failure points in the design that lead to insights about the product’s durability and longevity. Thus, it gives them the ability to calculate the profitable warranty period they can offer to their customers as well as predict maintenance costs.
  • Retrace problems for better resolution: Records of common failures, either from customers or from quality checks, can help identify design flaws in products.
  • Supplier Selection: Analysis of Defect Rates and on-time delivery helps in selecting suppliers and deciding on order sizes which optimize inventory stock, cash flow, and supplier fault risk mitigation
  • Increase ROI on data stored: Almost every aspect of the business can benefit from cutting-edge data analysis such as operations, finance, human resources, marketing, sales, customer service et cetera. This makes the returns on adding a new stream of data ingestion almost intangible as it benefits more than one business function leading to a compounded improvement in company performance.

The Big Data era has only just begun. The mathematical tools and algorithms designed to explain the universe have always remained in textbooks, and for decades only ever mentioned in academia. With revolutionary advancements in data storage and computation technology, the time has come when they can finally be put to the test in real-world optimization problems and make their value known.

To know more in detail get in touch with us.

Self Service BI vs. Traditional Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence

While looking for the right business intelligence (BI) tool for your organization, one needs to decide whether to go for a Self-service BI or rather a traditional BI solution. One may not get a clear-cut answer. Actually, the type of solution to choose depends on several factors, including your organization’s use cases, budget, level of technical expertise, & others.

To go one step closer to answering the question “Which is best for my business, Self Service BI or Traditional BI?” we’ve mentioned the fundamental characteristics of both options.

Self-Service BI vs. Traditional BI, What’s the Difference?

Self-Service BI Solutions

Self Service BI solutions are user-driven BI Solutions, leverage many of the strengths of the web & mobile technologies. As the name implies, Self Service BI solutions are designed to adapt rapidly & frequently to changing business needs. One of the objectives of Self-Service BI is to give users the data they require to make informed business decisions instantly. Examples of Self-Service Business Intelligence solutions include Power BI and Tableau.

Fundamental characteristics of Self-Service BI:

  1. Business users, at different levels, are able to access the real-time data they need & quickly generate results without the need for work on spreadsheets & any technical expertise. Often, no coding skills are required & even the reports can be sliced & diced as required without the use of Excel Pivots or any other methods of aggregation in SQL.

  1. Self Service BI’s upfront costs, the total cost of ownership (TCO) are significantly less than Traditional BI’s costs. Even the total cost of change (TCC) is comparatively lower than Traditional BI making it more feasible for organizations to switch to it.

  1. When compared to Traditional BI, Self Service BI has a shorter development cycle that uses less IT resources and is quicker to deliver as well as easy to deploy on multiple platforms & devices. For example, reports can be accessed through smartphones & tablets.

  1. Because of the rich user interactive feature, user adoption is typically greater with Self Service BI than with Traditional BI as it is easier for any non-technical business user to understand & leverage.

  1. In Self Service BI Analytics, Data discovery is quick & easy as it helps businesses to overcome the hurdles of Data Extraction & Data processing tools & pull data from different sources within their organization (including the core data pipeline) to answer ad-hoc one-off questions. Once the Data-model is architected properly it helps information-savvy users to get their answers fast without spending additional time on data processing.

  1. Self-Service Business Intelligence Governance provides ways for enforcing quick & affordable data governance. Data governance is the application of enforcement over Business policies, procedures, practices, and tools that are designed to enhance the use of data assets. The purpose of Data governance is to ensure consistency across various areas of the business; therefore, it must be managed centrally & standardized across all business areas. So when both sales and marketing users ask a data discovery tool “What’s my lead to close rate?” each user gets different answers relevant to their department & role.

Traditional BI Solutions

Another side, Traditional BI solutions are powerful, scalable, and backed by well-established software providers – the BI industry leaders, such as SAP Business Objects / Crystal Reports, Oracle BI, and IBM Cognos.

Low Initial Cost & Low Cost of Ownership

Self Service business intelligence tools are comparatively inexpensive to purchase and easy to implement as compared to Traditional BI tools. They also cost much less to maintain, so the total cost of ownership is less with a Self-Service BI tool than with a Traditional one. So it can be a comparatively affordable BI solution.

Encourages Experimentation

Self Service business intelligence tools help in connecting varied data sources rapidly, giving Developers as well as Business Users the flexibility to experiment with different approaches in lesser time.

Web-Based & App-based

Self Service business intelligence tools are web-based & app-based, which are accessible through smartphones & Tablets, making them perfect for an increasingly mobile business environment. Business users on the go & also virtual workers can quickly gather the reports & data they need to make real-time decisions- just like they were accessing the data from their desktop. Some tools like Power BI allow users to annotate a specific visual in a report, highlight it, add comments & share it with other users through smartphones.

Easy to Use

As against, Traditional BI tools, those who use Self Service BI tools don’t need to know how to code. In fact, even business users, with limited technical expertise in SQL / Excel can execute sophisticated queries and reports.

Less dependency on IT

As a self-service business intelligence solution, Self Service BI empowers the end user to seamlessly carry Self Service Data Analytics processes or Self-Service Reporting, without being heavily dependent on IT.

Less load on Enterprise Servers & investing in IT assets

There are instances where the load on enterprise servers has dramatically been reduced with the use of Self-Service BI solutions. For example, an application can use in-memory technology to store Financial Accounting data just once. Every other financial view needed like consolidations, balance sheets, management accounting ratios, etc. can be calculated on the fly, in real-time. It can reduce data storage needs by up to 98% approx. & vastly reduces the complexity, which leads to the low performance of traditional BI

Questions to consider when comparing Self Service BI with Traditional BI Solutions:

  1. What are the upfront costs, implementation costs, & even the annual maintenance & support costs?

  1. Also, have to estimate how much time/money/resources are needed to train the end users to use the solution.

  1. What technical resources & skills are required to access, prepare and make data actionable for the end business user?

  1. Does the solution allow a business user to connect to existing data sources? How easy is it to add a new data source? So if they plan to do something like changing the Data source or switching the Server, will that be achieved without much help from IT

  1. Can Business Users access real-time data & view reports from their mobile devices?

  1. Who watches the data? Is there a security layer to control business users’ access to view data & reports based on their role & department?

The Bottom Line
To summarize Self Service Business Intelligence meets basic business needs

  • First is the Business need. Business Analysts / Users access the data which they need for decision-making, without having to go to technology experts each time they have a new question.

  • Secondly, a technology that fulfills a business need. Tools that allow Business Users to gather information from multiple sources, analyze it, and also share it with other Users, without having to know the technical protocols required to access the data.

Some common complaints about Traditional BI software are:

  • It’s slow

  • It’s rigid – not easily deployable across devices & platforms

  • Creating reports is time-consuming

  • It places a burden on IT

The good side of Traditional BI tools is

  • They are scalable for storing large volumes of data

  • The response time remains consistent even for large volumes of requests.

  • Organizations can benefit from use cases on historical data & build upon it

  • Can benefit organizations that are seeking highly scalable, centralized, standardized reporting with guided analysis.

On the other side, Self Service BI tools may be much more flexible and easy to use & also easy to adopt. Current business demand is for tools that:

  • Is user-friendly

  • Is more insightful

  • Is interactive

  • Allow users to access/extend not just structured data sources, but also non-traditional ones like social media networks.

However, they may not be as scalable as traditional BI. In the days when there was no other choice it made sense to invest in these tools, but in today’s world, things have changed.

In the past, there was a call for a tool dedicated to working with structured data pulled from a single source—but today’s business environment is very different, as we keep watching the amount of data growing at an incredible pace.

The days of moving data from external sources to a specific data warehouse or data set are gone. Organizations thus need to have a more strategic approach to how they access information in real-time—and for this reason, flexible, simple-to-use Self-Service Business Intelligence tools are best-fit.

Also, the comparatively low entry cost of Self Service BI tools has allowed even SMBs to exploit their data in a way, which was once only possible for much larger companies investing heavily in buying complete BI solutions. In fact, businesses of all sizes can utilize subscription-based models for real-time access to data to help support every business decision.

Fundamental characteristics of Traditional BI:

  1. No doubt, Traditional BI is built to serve even the largest environment. It is scalable to handle a massive amount of data and serve the greatest number of users.

  1. Offers a broad range of features that allow organizations to cover a wide spectrum of reporting types and an array of use cases.

  1. Requires a high level of technical expertise & users often rely significantly on IT to perform even the most basic tasks like building reports. As a result, user adoption rates may suffer.

  1. Typically cost prohibitive for many small to medium-sized organizations, & also for some large organizations. Requires IT support, as they often require SQL query skills or learn a proprietary query language & Advanced Excel skills in order to implement- which drives up cost & requires additional time required to deploy the solution.

How a Self-Service BI Solution Might Benefit Business

Many large organizations opt to go for a combination of Traditional & Self Service BI solutions that meet all the varied use cases that exist within the enterprise – when they have the budget to do so. On the other side, small & mid-sized enterprises have typically fewer BI use cases and more budget restrictions. These companies are more likely to opt for a Self-Service BI Solution which meets their needs of Self-Service Business Intelligence including Self-Service Analytics Tools, Self-Service Reporting, plus offers benefits that Traditional BI typically doesn’t. For example, Power BI may be a feasible option in many such cases.

If you’d like to implement BI software for your company, get in touch. You can reach us using our contact form or email us at sales@bistasolutions.com.

 Why is Context-driven testing required?

context-driven testing

Let’s first understand what is Context-driven testing? Context-driven testing is a model for advancing and debugging computer software that takes into consideration the ways in which the program will be executed or is expected to be executed in the practical world. In order for this type of testing to be conducted successfully, software developers must identify the intended market and gauge the environments or domains in which the product will be employed by the people. There are seven primary or basic principles of Context Driven Testing, viz.

  • The value of any practice depends on its context.

  • There are no best practices in context but there are good practices.

  • The most important part of any project’s context are the People working together in it.

  • Projects unfold over time in ways that are often not predictable.

  • The product is a solution. If the problem isn’t solved, the product doesn’t work.

  • Good software testing is often referred as a challenging intellectual process.

  • We are able to do the right things at the right times to effectively test our products only through judgement and skill, exercised cooperatively throughout the entire project.

Talking about the methodologies and technologies, there are no terms as such for Context-Driven Testing. Instead, it urges the right attitudes- Context-Oblivious, Context-Specific, Context-Imperial and Context-Driven.

  • Context-Oblivious: Being context-oblivious is being unaware of the correlations between the way you work and the many facets of the context in which you work. A context-oblivious practitioner has knowledge of doing things, but can’t tell us the reason it’s done that way. This is typical of newcomers, of course, but also of experienced or knowledgeable people who do not like to think about methodology (a methodology being a set of methods; a method being a way of performing something).

  • Context-Specific: Being context-specific is being suited to a context and to know that you are suited. You know what difficulties you face, and you find a solution to them. But those problems/difficulties don’t change, and hence you don’t need to fine-tune your solutions. It’s not difficult to believe that being context-specific is good enough, but beware: What if you unexpectedly are deprived of half your team, or a part of your testing get outsourced, or attributes of your product change extensively, or you have to remodel yourself to use a new tool. You may not have the choice of adapting to one context only.

  • Context-Imperial: Being context-imperial is keeping your solutions the same while aiming to change the context around you to shape those solutions. A typical example is when a tester refuses to perform testing without a “complete specification” instead he should be learning how to test when he doesn’t have a spec. Another first-rate example is the typical testing consultant who affirms we should all use some Best Practice he has thought of. When it doesn’t give desired results, he says, we must not be using “engineering discipline” to follow the path to victory, or maybe we don’t possess “upper management support” to drive us do the right thing. The solution can’t be wrong, so the context must be.

  • Context-Driven: The main concept in Being context-driven is behaving as if there is strictly nothing called as a best practice.We can only hope for better practices with reference to the context. Context-driven methodologists are very keen in learning about practices. They then decompose and recompose them to squeeze-in the situation at hand.

Context-Driven Testing vs. Exploratory Testing

Context-driven testing means that when planning testing on a project, choosing the practices, methods and so on.. in order to fit the context; choosing the approach.

While Exploratory testing is just a methodology, where testers explore a particular part of the application and dynamically plan and run test cases, possibly traversing new areas and new tests.

For more insights on Odoo and its related modules you can get in touch with us through sales@bistasolutions.com and write your inputs on this blog at feedback@bistasolutions.com

Common BI Software mistakes & How not make those mistakes

common bi software mistake

Common BI Mistakes & Solutions To Overcome all BI Mistakes

  • Proper “Data Validation”.

Data quality does have a great impact on business intelligence. Customers won’t adapt to the business intelligence solutions provided to them which are irrelevant or incomplete. BI mistakes are common issues occur in many businesses.

To avoid this, one should create a process and follow it through the procedure which will figure out the data redundancy and impurity in data before getting a push in the data warehouse or business intelligence platform.

  • Ignoring Users Needs/Requirements.

Ignoring user needs may put us in big trouble or lead to more expenses. A common mistake that companies usually make before investing in business intelligence is, failing to match the system’s capabilities with what users need.

To avoid this, it’s important to be aware of most of the business intelligence software capabilities. Forex. At times user requires a complete interactive reporting system but unfortunately, the solutions selected by them is capable of delivering just static reports.

  • Underestimating Costs of Training and User Enablement.

Due to budget constraints and heavy negotiation, it’s been observed that the cost of training is neglected which ideally becomes a roadblock at the time of final delivery.

We usually recommend plenty of ongoing training so users know how to use the system and also this self-service business intelligence software had found to be quite easier for the end users as well.

  • Not leveraging intelligence (gathered data) and reporting.

Many organizations gather vital information from their business intelligence solutions or Software, but then don’t share it, discuss it, analyze it, or sometimes don’t act on it,” and that’s a very big mistake.

Proper business intelligence software can be used to report on various data points, identify risks and opportunities, and forecast trends. Yet most companies become complacent with a predefined set of reports and don’t take into account the changing business environment. Instead, companies should “maximize the reporting capabilities of their business intelligence software, so that they are good at predicting and heading off problems and identifying risks.”

  • Not choosing a solution that can scale and adapt.

One of the common biggest mistakes that one make is going with business intelligence solutions that fail to scale up with future business requirements.

To avoid this we need to make sure the business intelligence solution you choose can grow, or adapt, to your business needs, so we do not have to look for a new business intelligence solution right away.

  • Not factoring in security or legal requirements.

Avoiding data governance when selecting your business intelligence solution. “Giving all the data to all the people and just letting them explore is unethical.”

To protect the company and your customers, “make sure your new business intelligence system works by your company’s data security policies and legal obligations. “We at Bista solutions not only provide business intelligence expertise to meet your requirements but also adhere to sign NDA and follow HIPPA compliances for data integrity.

For more insights on BI and its related modules contact us or email us at sales@bistasolutions.com

Bank Statements Reconcile in Odoo

Odoo Bank Reconciliation Module

What is Bank Statements Reconcile and Why is it required? :

Every company at the end of every month has to perform a process to ensure that the company’s accounting records like the check register, general ledger account, balance sheet, etc. are consistent and compatible with the bank’s records. In the real world, bank statements are very important documents for any business. The companies validate their invoices against the bank statement they received from the banks. This process of confirming the amount in both the company’s ledger and in the bank account is called “ Bank statement reconciliation “.

We at Bista Solutions have put to use the process of Bank statement reconciliation in Odoo for accounting purposes. Through this blog, we will show how this process can be configured and used in your day-to-day business.

Configuration of Bank statement reconciliation in Odoo :

For Bank statements reconciliation, we need to configure the following things by navigating through Account > configuration > settings Menu, and checking the options

  • Import .qif files

  • Import in .ofx format

This will enable you to import the bank statement into your Odoo system in .ofx and .qif file format by default.

How to import :

For importing the bank statements into your Odoo system, you need to go to the accounting dashboard from the accounting menu. And then click on the button @Bank journal box. As shown in the image below for reference

This will display another dialog box that will ask you to upload yours.QIF or.OFX file which you would have pre-downloaded from the bank’s mail. Select this file from your local system and upload it onto the system…

Once the file is uploaded, you need to check your date formats and apply the appropriate format as shown in the image below:

You can now Import all statements with one click.

Reconcile Statement :

After importing a statement you will be redirected to Bank Reconciliation statements, here you can verify your accounting records from the dashboard. This can be done by clicking on the “more option” and then clicking on “Bank Statements”. Odoo also allows you to verify at the “Reconcile window”. All you need to do is Select the appropriate customer against your reconciliation statement. After you verify and reconcile this transaction related invoices will go into paid states.

This is how you can easily use the bank statement and reconcile them with your system records and thus know that the amount of Cash reported by your company (company’s books) is consistent with the amount of cash shown in the bank’s records. We hope this quick walk through the process of Bank statement reconciliation in Odoo helps you to automate these processes.

For more insights on Odoo and its related modules contact us or email us at sales@bistasolutions.com