Multi-Company Water Treatment & Pool Services Group

"We were spending an enormous amount of money and time trying to fix things between our disconnected systems. Sales tax was wrong, payments were going to wrong accounts, and nothing synced properly. The sooner we could consolidate everything into one system, the better." - Operations Director

Background

Client: A family-owned business group operating five interconnected companies across the water treatment and pool services industry in regional Australia. The parent company serves as an umbrella organisation managing assets and human resources for the group, whilst the operating companies include a water filtration equipment manufacturer and distributor, two separate water filtration installation and service companies, and a retail operation specialising in pools, spas, hot tubs, and wellness equipment.

Challenge: The business group had grown organically over several years, resulting in each company operating independently with different software systems including various accounting platforms, field service management tools, and inventory systems. This fragmented approach created significant operational headaches with sales tax calculations frequently incorrect, merchant services payments being routed to wrong bank accounts, and enormous amounts of time spent manually reconciling data between systems. Customer service suffered as technicians couldn't access complete service histories when visiting clients, and inventory management was nearly impossible across the interconnected companies that regularly supplied each other with products and services.

Solution

Approach: The implementation team designed a comprehensive multi-company Odoo ERP solution, beginning with the manufacturing and distribution company as the foundation since it served as the primary supplier to the service companies. This strategic approach ensured that product catalogues, bill of materials, and vendor relationships were established first, creating a solid foundation for the service companies to inherit inventory and pricing structures.

Tools/Methods: The solution encompassed a fully integrated business management system featuring:

• Multi-company architecture with shared master data and automated intercompany transactions
• Sophisticated inventory management with bill of materials and automated reorder points
• Comprehensive field service management with customer portals and recurring billing capabilities
• Point-of-sale integration for the retail operation with mobile payment processing
• Robust document management with photo storage for service history records

The team carefully migrated historical data spanning 12-18 months to preserve critical customer relationships and service records, whilst implementing automated workflows that would eliminate the manual data entry that had previously consumed countless hours each week.

Results

Quantifiable Outcomes: The implementation delivered remarkable efficiency gains across all five companies. Data entry errors between systems were reduced by 95%, whilst invoice processing became 60% faster across all operations. Inventory accuracy improved by 40%, and the time spent on inter-company reconciliation dropped by 75%. The entire project was completed within the allocated 250 implementation hours and budget constraints.

Qualitative Benefits: Perhaps more importantly, the unified system provided real-time visibility across all five companies from a single dashboard, transforming how management could oversee operations. Field technicians gained mobile access with complete customer service histories and photo documentation capabilities, dramatically improving service quality. The seamless inventory flow from manufacturing through to service operations eliminated stockouts and reduced emergency purchasing, whilst customers benefited from self-service portals and more reliable recurring billing processes.

Key Takeaway

A carefully orchestrated multi-company ERP implementation can eliminate the operational chaos of disconnected systems whilst creating powerful synergies between related businesses that drive both efficiency and customer satisfaction