In 2023, we announced that CUTTER SOFT would integrate with Odoo, a complete business management system. It is now done: the Odoo 17/18 connector is an option of CUTTER SOFT V6 PRO. It links the pricing of your aluminium and PVC windows and doors to the management of your business, without re-keying.
What the CUTTER SOFT Odoo connector does
CUTTER SOFT designs, prices, cuts and produces the documents for your windows and doors. Odoo runs the rest of the business. The connector bridges the two: a project’s bill of materials is sent to an existing Odoo quotation, with one product and one manufacturing bill of materials per unit.
In practice, for each window or door in the project, the connector:
- finds each component in Odoo by its internal reference;
- creates an Odoo product for the unit;
- creates its manufacturing bill of materials, with the profiles, hardware, gaskets and glazing;
- adds the matching line to the Odoo quotation.
No more re-keying between pricing and management, and no more hardware lost along the way.
Odoo in a nutshell
Odoo is open-source business management software, widely used across many sectors. It covers sales, purchasing, stock, accounting, human resources and much more. Thanks to its modules, it adapts to the needs of each business, from a small workshop to a factory.
Sending a project to an Odoo quotation, step by step
- Set up the connector, once. On the connectors page, enter the Odoo server address, the database, the user and an API key generated in Odoo (in the user preferences). The connection test checks the server, the authentication and the Odoo version.
- Prepare the quotation in Odoo. Create the customer’s quotation as usual and note its number, for example S00042.
- Send from the project. In the CUTTER SOFT project, in the Odoo section, enter the quotation number and send. Before sending, a preview of the bill of materials is shown for each element.
- Find everything in Odoo. The software checks that the quotation exists, creates an Odoo product for each window or door, creates its manufacturing bill of materials and adds the lines to the quotation.
Product names and descriptions are built with variables: quotation number, code, name, width, height, quantity, colour, profile system. You choose what your team will read in Odoo.
Preparing your product references
The connector finds each CUTTER SOFT product in Odoo by its internal reference, in the CODE/VARIANT format: for example PROFIL-01/RAL9016 for a profile in a given colour. Both the field used and the separator can be set.
The simplest approach is to start from your CUTTER SOFT references and reuse them in Odoo, once and for all. Our team can help you prepare this mapping.
What fabricators and distributors gain
For a fabricator, the project priced in CUTTER SOFT becomes a manufacturing bill of materials in Odoo, without re-keying: production, planning and purchasing all start from the right quantities.
For a distributor, quotes become faster and more accurate, while orders, deliveries and stock are tracked in Odoo, from the real references.
Either way, everyone keeps their own tool: the technician prices in CUTTER SOFT, the office follows up in Odoo.
What stays in Odoo: stock, invoicing, payments
CUTTER SOFT has neither full stock management nor invoicing: that is Odoo’s job. Invoicing, customer payment tracking, advanced stock and supply management, and sales analysis all happen in Odoo.
The split is simple: CUTTER SOFT designs, prices, cuts and produces the documents; Odoo manages. To see where CUTTER SOFT fits in your organisation, read our page on management software for aluminium joinery and our article on digitalising business processes.
Requirements: licence option, Odoo access, API key
- A CUTTER SOFT V6 PRO licence with the Odoo connector option. Like the other licence options, it is available on request; no prices are published.
- An Odoo 17 or 18 server, with a user allowed to create products, bills of materials and quotation lines.
- An API key, generated in Odoo for that user.
The full presentation of the software is on the CUTTER SOFT V6 PRO page, and other answers are in our frequently asked questions.