How to Choose an Odoo Partner for Your Manufacturing Business

What Makes a Good Odoo Partner?

Odoo is not an off-the-shelf ERP system that can simply be installed and used. It is a flexible business platform that needs to be configured around your company’s processes, workflows, and operational requirements.

That means dozens of important decisions have to be made before the project even begins.

How should your product structures and Bills of Materials (BOMs) be organised? Which existing processes should remain unchanged, and which should be redesigned? Which data should be migrated from the legacy system? When is standard Odoo functionality sufficient, and when does custom development create real business value?

The quality of these decisions has a direct impact on the success of the implementation.

Industry research has consistently shown that ERP projects rarely fail because of the software itself. More often, projects run into difficulties because of poor process analysis, unrealistic project planning, weak change management, or excessive customisation.

A good Odoo partner does more than implement requirements. They help you make the right decisions.

Sometimes that means challenging an initial idea, recommending a standard solution instead of custom development, or implementing the project in carefully planned phases to minimise risk and avoid disrupting day-to-day production.

What Do Odoo Partner Levels Mean

Odoo officially classifies its partners into three levels: Ready, Silver, and Gold.

These levels are primarily based on factors such as the number of certified consultants within the company and the partner’s ongoing activity in selling and implementing Odoo Enterprise projects.

A higher partner level indicates that the company invests in training, maintains an active relationship with Odoo, and has consistent implementation experience.

However, partner level does not indicate industry expertise.

A Gold Partner may have extensive experience with retail or service businesses while having only limited experience with manufacturing ERP projects.

For that reason, partner level should be viewed as one important indicator—but never the only one.

When evaluating an Odoo partner, consider the following:

• Gold Partner status demonstrates experience and commitment. It shows that the partner has certified consultants, an active relationship with Odoo, and a proven implementation track record. It does not automatically mean they have experience in your industry.
• Industry expertise is just as important as partner level. If you are a manufacturing company, ask how many of the partner’s projects involve manufacturers. Experience with production planning, MRP, quality management, supply chain processes, and manufacturing workflows makes a significant difference.
• Location matters less than it used to. Many successful Odoo implementations are delivered remotely. What matters more is effective communication, knowledge of your country’s localisation requirements, overlapping working hours when needed, and the ability to work on-site during key project phases such as process discovery workshops or go-live support.

How to Recognise a Good Odoo Partner

• Industry expertise matters more than the number of projects. Ask how many of the partner’s projects involve manufacturing companies. A partner who works with production planning, BOM structures, MRP, shop floor operations, and manufacturing workflows every day will usually understand your business much faster than a generalist working across many different industries.

• Find out who will actually work on your project. The most experienced consultant often attends the sales meetings, but they are not always the people who will deliver the implementation. Ask who will be part of your project team, what their role will be, and what experience they have with manufacturing companies.

  Certifications are important, but practical implementation experience matters just as much.

• Ask for references you can actually speak to. Customer references are one of the best ways to understand what it’s like to work with a partner.

  If possible, ask to speak with companies that operate in a similar industry or are of a comparable size. A short conversation with an existing customer often tells you far more than a polished sales presentation ever could.

• The project should begin with process discovery. Be cautious if the first proposal immediately focuses on licences, implementation days, and development estimates.

  A successful ERP project starts with understanding how your business operates today. Process discovery creates a shared understanding of the scope before implementation begins and significantly reduces the risk of unexpected costs and project changes later on.

• Look at what the partner has built.

  Partners who develop their own Odoo modules, manufacturing solutions, or integrations have usually gone beyond standard implementation work.

  This often indicates deeper technical expertise and practical experience solving complex business problems rather than simply configuring existing functionality.

• Understand what happens after go-live.

  An ERP project does not end when the system goes live. Ask how support is organised, what the response times are, who will handle support requests, and how future Odoo upgrades are managed.

  The best partners think beyond implementation and help customers keep their ERP system reliable and up to date for years to come.

Questions to ask before Choosing an Odoo Partner.

A good implementation partner should be able to answer these questions clearly and with real examples. If the answers remain vague or overly general, treat that as a reason to dig deeper.

• How many manufacturing ERP projects have you delivered during the last three years? Can we speak to a couple of those customers?
• Who will actually be working on our project, and what experience do they have with manufacturing companies?
• What does your process discovery phase include? What happens if we decide not to continue after that stage?
• How do you plan an implementation without disrupting day-to-day production? Do you recommend a phased rollout or a full go-live?
• What is your approach to standard Odoo functionality versus custom development? Can you give an example of a situation where you advised a customer not to build a custom solution?
• How is post-implementation support organised? What are your response times, and who handles support requests?
• How do you manage Odoo version upgrades, especially for customers using custom modules?
• If we decide to work with another partner in the future, what happens to our system, documentation, and data?

The questions themselves are important, but the answers matter even more.

Experienced partners answer with examples from real projects, explain their reasoning, and are open about trade-offs. Generic or evasive answers may indicate limited experience or a lack of a clear implementation methodology.

Red Flags to Watch Out For

None of these signs automatically mean a partner is the wrong choice. However, if you notice one or more of them during the sales process, it’s worth asking additional questions before moving forward.

• A fixed-price proposal before any process analysis.

  If your business processes haven’t been analysed yet, it’s almost impossible to estimate the true scope of the project.

  In practice, this usually means one of two things: either the proposal contains a significant risk margin, or the scope, timeline, and budget will need to be renegotiated later.

• Saying “yes” to everything.

  Every ERP implementation involves trade-offs.

  If a partner never challenges your ideas or suggests alternative approaches, ask how they decide when to use standard Odoo functionality and when custom development is genuinely necessary.

  Good implementation partners don’t simply fulfil requests—they help customers make better decisions.

• No proven manufacturing experience.

  Experience across many industries can be valuable, but manufacturing has its own complexity.

  If a partner cannot demonstrate experience with manufacturing companies, production planning, MRP, or shop floor processes, expect a longer learning curve during your project.

• Custom development is recommended from day one.

  Custom development should never be the starting point.

  Before writing a single line of code, your partner should first evaluate whether the same result can be achieved using standard Odoo functionality or configuration.

  Every unnecessary customisation increases future maintenance costs and makes version upgrades more complex.

• The sales team disappears after the contract is signed.

  Find out who will actually deliver your project.

  The people presenting the proposal are often not the same consultants who will be working with you throughout the implementation. Whenever possible, meet the project manager or lead consultant before signing the contract.

• No clear plan after go-live

  Going live is the beginning of your ERP journey, not the end of it.

  Ask how support is organised, who responds to support requests, how upgrades are handled, and what long-term cooperation looks like.

  A reliable implementation partner should be able to support your ERP system for many years after the initial deployment.

Frequently asked questions

Does my Odoo partner need to be located in my country?

Not necessarily.

Today, many successful Odoo implementations are delivered remotely. Experience and industry knowledge are often more important than geographical proximity.

What does matter is that the partner understands your country’s localisation requirements, communication works well, and they are willing to work on-site when needed—for example during process discovery workshops or key project milestones

How many Odoo partners should I compare?

In most cases, two or three strong candidates are enough.

That gives you a meaningful comparison without turning the selection process into a lengthy procurement exercise focused primarily on pricing.

Should we start with a process discovery phase?

Yes.

A process discovery workshop helps define the project’s actual scope while giving you valuable insight into how the partner approaches your business.

It also makes implementation proposals much easier to compare and reduces the likelihood of unexpected costs later in the project.

Why Manufacturers Choose Avalah

Avalah is an Odoo Gold Partner with more than ten years of experience delivering ERP projects for manufacturing companies.

Alongside Odoo implementations, we develop our own manufacturing-focused solutions, including Konfoo, APS4 Manufacturing, forecasting tools, and industry-specific integrations.

Our goal is not to maximise development hours but to find the most practical solution for each customer. Sometimes that means recommending standard Odoo functionality instead of custom development when it provides the best long-term outcome.

If you’re considering Odoo for your manufacturing business, we’d be happy to discuss your requirements and help you evaluate the available options.

Your first 30-minute consultation is free.