Each year, the Odoo Experience is the must-attend event for the Odoo community. In 2024, this event took place from October 2 to 4, gathering over 200 exhibitors and more than 35,000 participants. Attendees use this opportunity to network, connect with experts, and explore the latest Odoo innovations. From implementing readable URLs to enhancing production workflows, Odoo is constantly evolving to meet your business needs.
Join us as we dive into the latest general features of Version 18, unveiled at the recent Odoo Experience 2024!
Odoo industries: Tailored tools for every sector
Odoo Industries offers customized solutions for various business sectors, enabling advanced database personalization. With over 40 applications developed exclusively for Odoo 18, each industry benefits from a unique setup that includes all essential applications right from the start, eliminating the need for complex adjustments.
For the manufacturing sector, Odoo includes tools for production management, inventory tracking, maintenance, and planning, all designed to meet the operational needs of this field. These specialized features streamline process monitoring, enhance team coordination, and minimize disruptions while providing a comprehensive view of production. This “all-in-one” approach simplifies implementation, reduces setup time, and allows businesses to seamlessly manage their operations and boost productivity from day one.
Bill of materials and manufacturing orders in version 18
Prior to version 18, Odoo provided a structured management system for bills of materials and manufacturing orders, ensuring a well-organized production process. However, when a component was missing or changes were needed, teams had to make manual interventions and refer to the product catalog, which sometimes led to interruptions in the workflow. Odoo 18 introduces significant enhancements, making the management of components and manufacturing orders even more efficient and adaptable to real-time needs.
More efficient component management
When a component is suddenly missing—whether due to unexpected demand, delivery delays, or insufficient inventory—managers or operators can now add that component directly from the product catalog without interrupting the production flow. This feature enables teams to adjust manufacturing orders in real time, effectively manage unforeseen circumstances, and reduce unnecessary back-and-forth between departments, ensuring a seamless production process.
Manufacturing orders: Flexibility and precision
Odoo 18 enhances the management of manufacturing orders by introducing the ability to add specific notes directly within production records. This feature allows team leaders and operators to integrate instructions, precautions, or last-minute adjustments directly into the process, ensuring that every team member has access to essential information at the right time. For example, notes can highlight precautions for assembly, specific steps to follow, or last-minute modifications. With these notes available in real time, teams improve coordination and reduce the risk of errors or misunderstandings.
Streamlined inventory updates with the multi-product scanning feature of the barcode module
Odoo 18's multi-product scanning functionality, now compatible with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips, transforms inventory management into a fast and accurate process. By scanning multiple items equipped with these chips, teams can update inventory in real time, significantly reducing stock tracking errors. This technology enables efficient management of product flows while providing instant visibility for each update. Conducting inventory becomes simple and intuitive with Odoo 18, turning every scanner into a powerful tool to enhance your logistics operations!
Analytical budgets: Real-Time cost monitoring
The management of analytical budgets is a financial tracking tool that allows businesses to manage and control their expenses in real time. Unlike simple budget tracking, which focuses on broad spending categories, analytical management provides detailed and precise analysis, enabling the allocation of budgets to specific projects, departments, or activities. It also offers the ability to monitor ongoing expenses, identify variances from the initial budget, and adjust allocated resources to stay aligned with financial goals.
With Odoo 18, analytical budget management now enables real-time cost monitoring, featuring automatic calculations and alerts for budget overruns. Additionally, Odoo streamlines the application of commitments from the moment purchase orders are created, thereby enhancing financial control. These features help users better manage their budgets and anticipate expenses.
Customized quotes
The quote templates in Odoo 18 have been enhanced: with a variety of available templates, businesses can choose the one that best aligns with their brand image and the offerings they wish to highlight. Each template can be tailored to include key information such as product or service details, special discounts, payment terms, and delivery timelines.
This customization goes beyond simple presentation; it also allows for the integration of strategic marketing elements, such as customer testimonials, case studies, or limited time offers, to enhance the appeal of the proposal. By clearly and engagingly showcasing the benefits of their offerings, businesses can capture their customers' interest and increase their signing rates.
Creating tailored quotes becomes a smooth and intuitive process thanks to the revamped interface of the sales application. Product management is more seamless, with an optimized form and the integration of Barcode Lookup, reducing the time required for data entry. Quotes are generated intuitively, allowing for the inclusion of personalized information for each product.
Transform your multi-platform and multi-channel marketing strategy with Odoo 18
Multi-Platform Communication
With the social marketing module, you can manage your social media directly within Odoo. Version 18 introduces a new button called "Spilled per media". This feature makes it easy to distribute your messages across various social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and to tailor them for each platform with just one click. In addition to simplifying sharing, Odoo allows you to track how many people have clicked on your posts, helping you assess the impact of your communication on each platform. This provides you with an overview of the reach of your marketing campaigns.
Marketing cards
Another new feature is the "Marketing Cards" application. This functionality helps businesses create dynamic promotional cards that can be customized for each brand ambassador. These cards include information such as the name, photo, and specific messages, making each promotion unique. This enhances the impact of communication on social media, as each ambassador can easily share these cards with their own network, thereby increasing your brand's visibility.
Marketing automation
Marketing automation involves using software to automate marketing tasks such as sending emails, managing social media, tracking leads, and more. Odoo provides a dashboard that summarizes all actions taken as part of your marketing campaigns. For example, you can see how many emails were sent, how many people opened those emails, and how many clicks were generated on your links. This summary helps you understand the effectiveness of your efforts.
Odoo 18 offers clear action summaries that indicate what has been done, what is planned, and how each action contributes to your marketing goals. With new templates, creating campaigns becomes simpler and faster. This allows businesses to save time while ensuring that all necessary steps are followed to effectively reach their customers.
Upgrade your website with the features of Odoo 18
Before the release of Odoo 18, creating and managing websites was already made easier with intuitive features and a diverse library of snippets. Users could design appealing and functional sites without requiring in-depth technical skills.
Odoo already offered a library of snippets for building web pages, but with the addition of 80 new building blocks organized into clear categories, customization becomes even faster and more intuitive. The real-time preview allows users to instantly visualize how each block will look with the theme settings before adding it to their page. The updated 30 professional themes modernize the site's design, while enhancements such as support for custom fonts, real-time SEO tips, and import tools further simplify the creation of polished and high-performing websites.
The integration of AI translation with ChatGPT in Odoo 18 transforms how businesses manage the creation and adaptation of their content. With this advanced feature, users can now quickly generate content in different languages, which is especially valuable for companies operating internationally or looking to reach a diverse audience. This AI translation capability goes beyond simple literal translation; it allows for content adaptation that considers cultural context and tone, ensuring smoother and more relevant communication with target audiences. For instance, a company aiming to promote a product in multiple countries can use ChatGPT not only to translate the product description but also to adjust marketing messages so that they resonate with local preferences and expectations.
With Odoo 18, setting up a professional website is not only more accessible but also enhanced by advanced features that meet the needs of modern businesses.
Customization and tracking with email marketing
Odoo's new email marketing feature allows users to separate the first names and last names of contacts in their mailing lists. This means that when sending an email, you can use the recipient's first name, making the message more personal and engaging. For example, instead of saying "Hello, Mr. Dupont," you could say "Hello, Jean," creating a warmer connection with the recipient. Additionally, Odoo provides a comprehensive dashboard displaying key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs help you track the effectiveness of your campaigns through metrics such as email open rates, click counts, and other interactions, allowing you to adjust your marketing strategy based on the results.
Stay up to date with the latest version of Odoo
Odoo once again demonstrates its commitment to improvement and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Whether in component management, the precision of manufacturing orders, streamlined inventory updates, or the creation of customized quotes, the enhancements in this version 18 signal a promising future.
Stay tuned, as this was just a general overview of what Odoo 18 can achieve. In our upcoming articles, you'll discover the new features of this version for each module.