When Ekofluid GmbH's first Odoo implementation failed due to broken customizations and poor vendor execution, their operations ground to a halt. This case study reveals how Portcities transformed their ERP crisis into a success story and delivered a clean Odoo v17 system that now powers daily operations across all departments.
- Company Name: Ekofluid GmbH
- Industry: Transformer Oil Treatment & Regeneration Equipment, Energy Equipment Manufacturing and Services
- Location: Vienna, Austria
- Company Size: Not publicly disclosed
- Current Scale: Serves grid operators, power generation companies, transformer service providers, and industrial customers worldwide with product lines such as FILOIL (treatment), REOIL (regeneration), and ECOIL (purification).
- Time of Implementation: 2023 – 2024 (1 year, phased go-lives and migration)
- Systems Implemented: CRM, Sales, Inventory, Projects, Manufacturing, Planning, Shop Floor, Quality, Accounting, Purchase
What Challenges Were Holding Ekofluid Back?
Before partnering with Portcities, Ekofluid struggled with a poorly executed Odoo implementation by a previous vendor. The system had become virtually unusable—employees couldn't complete basic tasks, and the ERP that should have accelerated growth was instead creating bottlenecks at every turn.
Key issues included:
- System-breaking customizations: Previous vendor's code modifications caused crashes and errors across core modules
- Zero user adoption: Without proper training, staff avoided the system entirely, reverting to manual processes
- Missing critical features: Bilingual RFQ, PO, and invoice templates (English and Slovak) had not been delivered
- Daily operational failures: System crashes interrupted production schedules and customer communications
Ekofluid faced a choice between abandoning Odoo entirely or finding a partner who could salvage their investment.
The Goals Behind Ekofluid’s Digital Transformation
Working with Portcities, Ekofluid aimed to:
- Correct errors from the previous partner’s implementation
- Standardize critical business workflows across CRM, Sales, Manufacturing, Inventory, Shop Floor, Quality, and Accounting
- Deliver multilingual templates for smoother client and vendor communications
- Train staff to confidently use Odoo in daily operations
- Migrate to Odoo Version 17 for long-term stability and scalability
How Portcities and Odoo Stepped In with Solutions?
Portcities worked closely with Ekofluid to roll out Odoo ERP in phases, ensuring stability while introducing critical improvements.
Odoo Modules Used:
- Sales
- CRM
- Inventory
- Projects
- Manufacturing
- Planning
- Shop Floor
- Quality
- Accounting
- Purchase
Departments Involved:
- Purchasing
- Sales & CRM
- Accounting/Finance
- Manufacturing (shop-floor workers and administrators)
From Kick-off to Go-Live: A One-Year Journey
The project was executed over the course of one year:
- Phase 1: Implementation, training, requirement gathering for further improvements, development & testing, Go-live/releases
- Phase 2: Migration from Odoo 16 to Odoo 17 for a future-ready, clean system
Tailoring Odoo to Ekofluid’s unique workflows
To make Odoo fit seamlessly into Ekofluid’s global workflows, Portcities delivered targeted customizations:
- Bilingual templates (EN/SK) for RFQ, PO, and invoices
- Custom fields & menu (Payment, Scope, Expected Delivery Date)
- Verification pop-up before sending messages from records
- Role-based UI behavior for Work Orders (workers restricted from “Mark as Done”)
- Clean-up of unnecessary or faulty customizations left behind by the previous implementer
System Integrations:
No third-party integrations were implemented; focus was on stabilizing and standardizing the ERP.
Building A Single System For Every Department
- Lead-to-quote and quote-to-order (CRM & Sales)
- Order-to-cash (Sales & Invoicing)
- Procure-to-pay (Purchasing & Accounting)
- Manufacturing execution (Work Orders with role-based approvals)
- Document generation and distribution in English and Slovak
A Reliable Infrastructure to Power Daily Operations
Ekofluid’s Odoo instance was migrated from their previous vendor’s server to Odoo.sh.
Portcities was responsible for the migration and stabilization of the system but did not manage day-to-day infrastructure.
What Are the Implementation Challenges?
The biggest challenge was migrating Ekofluid’s system from their previous vendor. Poorly developed custom modules caused errors and instability when transferred.
How Portcities resolved it:
Through careful analysis and testing, the Portcities team rebuilt the system environment, migrated critical data, and ensured all modules ran smoothly on Odoo.sh. After stabilization, the system was upgraded cleanly to Odoo 17—giving Ekofluid a stable foundation for the future.
The Measurable Impact of Odoo at Ekofluid
With Portcities delivered concrete, measurable improvements:
- System stability: From daily crashes to zero downtime—a clean and stable ERP environment on Odoo 17
- International readiness: Bilingual document generation enabled smooth communication with clients and suppliers across Central and Eastern Europe
- Process control: 100% process standardization across sales, purchasing, accounting, and manufacturing
- User adoption: From zero usage to full adoption—staff now confidently use Odoo through proper training and intuitive role-based access
- Business impact: Manufacturing lead times reduced through integrated planning and shop floor coordination
The transformation is complete: What was once a failed system threatening operations is now the backbone of Ekofluid's international business.
Growing together: What’s Next for Ekofluid and Portcities?
While Portcities no longer provides continuous support, our team delivered corrective maintenance, small change requests, and user enablement to ensure Ekofluid could operate independently.
More Than a Vendor: Portcities as a Trusted Partner
This case demonstrates Portcities' unique expertise in ERP recovery. Where others see a failed system, we see an opportunity to deliver transformation. Ekofluid's journey from complete system failure to full adoption proves that with the right partner, even the most broken implementations can become success stories.
Is your ERP implementation holding you back? If you're struggling with a failed or poorly executed system, you don't have to start from scratch. Portcities specializes in ERP recovery—turning system failures into operational success.
Schedule your recovery assessment to discover how we can salvage your ERP investment and deliver the system you originally envisioned.