In an industry as competitive and demanding as real estate construction, having a system that facilitates management and optimizes processes is key to growing successfully. Constructora Guiar, a specialist in high-rise buildings and land development in Córdoba (Argentina), found in Odoo the technological solution it needed to overcome challenges, integrate departments, and maintain complete control, from purchasing materials to the final delivery of its projects.
Constructora Guiar was founded more than 20 years ago as a family business led by brothers Guillermo and Ariel López, initially focused on basic construction and maintenance work. Gradually, they grew and professionalized the company, with Ariel studying business administration and his brother studying architecture.
This allowed them to take on larger-scale projects, such as residential buildings. Today, with around 85 employees, Constructora Guiar is a company dedicated exclusively to real estate development, from land selection to construction, sales, and, in some cases, the management of its own projects.
What sets Constructora Guiar apart is its specialization and commitment to quality. Unlike other groups that develop projects by outsourcing to third parties, they self-construct their developments, ensuring quality and meeting deadlines—an essential factor in their strong market positioning.
The Challenges before Odoo
Before implementing Odoo, Constructora Guiar faced significant internal integration challenges. The company’s departments worked in isolation without sharing information, which led to communication gaps and made efficient management difficult. The technical and administrative departments operated almost as separate worlds, with no data flow between them.
As for software, they initially used Excel with custom templates to manage information, a common but limited practice for a growing company. Later, they purchased a system developed on Access. While functional at the time, it was static, outdated, and did not support the company’s growth or allow for agile communication between teams.
“That software worked for what we needed at the time, but it wasn’t dynamic, and it didn’t allow us to communicate quickly between internal departments.”
Odoo, A Transformation in Business Management
It was through YouTube videos that Ariel discovered Odoo, particularly interested in its functionalities for private purchases and tenders. What caught his attention most was the system’s robustness and versatility. From the beginning of their implementation in 2021, they started with the Purchase module and quickly integrated almost all of Odoo’s key applications:
- In fact, the Purchase module was their first major success, as it allows them to centralize communication between site managers, who may even be in another country, the purchasing manager, and upper management. “This helped us eliminate distance barriers and made everything much simpler,” says Ariel.
- Another fundamental pillar has been the CRM integrated with Sales. Previously, much of the customer information remained within the various sales channels of different salespeople, making it difficult to access a complete and shared view of the sales process. With Odoo, this information is centralized in the CRM, making follow-up, collaboration, and decision-making easier. “This way, the information remains safeguarded within the company, which is a living entity that must protect not only its human capital but also the knowledge it generates,” he explains.
- Lastly, the Project module has been vital for managing the multidisciplinary complexity of their real estate developments. From land selection to the delivery of deeds, Odoo allows them to build a detailed timeline that helps measure deadlines, coordinate specialists, and ensure timely project completion. “The Project app allowed us to build a full roadmap of everything that needs to happen for each development to be successfully completed,” Ariel concludes.
Beyond the applications, Ariel highlights several Odoo functionalities that have been key to improving daily operations at Constructora Guiar. Among them, he especially values automated actions, which bring “life and movement” to processes, facilitating communication and task management.
For example, when a site manager creates a Purchase request, an automatic notification is sent to the purchasing manager for review and approval. Then, once the purchase is made, another automatic action alerts Ariel for his authorization.
They also greatly value Chatter, the integrated communication tool, which allows team members to exchange messages, tag people, and keep the entire communication history visible, speeding up both internal interaction and exchanges with external users, even if they don’t regularly use the system. This combination of automation and communication has been fundamental in making procedures flow efficiently and transparently.
"The greatest efficiency we’ve achieved with Odoo lies in communication and an organized workflow. Odoo allows us to work from anywhere, faster, and always connected with the rest of the company."
What’s Next for Constructora Guiar?
Recently, the company successfully expanded its operations to Uruguay, where it completed a high-rise building in Montevideo on time, receiving excellent feedback from its clients. This achievement has motivated them to continue growing in that market, further strengthening their regional presence.
Regarding Odoo, the company has a well-defined strategy to keep the system updated, opting to migrate every two years instead of following the annual version updates. This approach accounts for the complexity and time involved in each upgrade, as well as the need to refine certain details during the process.
While they’ve worked intensively on optimizing specific processes at the app and procedural level, their next goal is to focus on a broader perspective that integrates and enhances all areas globally, aiming to fully automate reports within Odoo to avoid manual data extraction and achieve instant or daily updates.
"We feel comfortable updating Odoo every two years because it requires time and adjustments. We’ve made great progress in perfecting specific processes, and now our goal is to take a more macro approach to consolidate everything we’ve built."
For other companies in the construction sector or related industries, Constructora Guiar’s experience demonstrates that adopting comprehensive solutions like Odoo not only facilitates day-to-day management but also serves as a driver of growth and professionalization. If you’re looking to integrate teams, improve communication, and optimize your processes, Odoo can be the technological partner you need to take your company to the next level.