Year after year, Canadian families gather to brave the winter cold and admire the Christmas lighting and decorations that bring cities to life. The joy and warmth of the season are at the heart of Dekra-Lite’s business, which brightens cities, malls, and storefronts with stunning displays. And now, Odoo powers that magic, ensuring smooth and efficient operations behind the scenes.
Dekra-Lite specializes in commercial Christmas decor, providing cities, municipalities, and businesses with lighting and display solutions that elevate the holiday experience. Whether it’s large Christmas trees, mall Santa sets, or decorative street pole displays, Dekra Lite serves as a one-stop shop for everything Christmas.
Founded in 1986 in North Carolina as a franchise, Dekra-Lite expanded to Anaheim, California, and later to Canada. When the original franchisor went under, the Canadian and U.S. branches became independent sister companies. Over time, Dekra-Lite transitioned from installing residential Christmas lights to designing and manufacturing its own products, serving commercial clients nationwide.
"We enhance the holiday season with decor, lighting, and displays, making it easy for cities and businesses to light up their spaces."
Overcoming operational hurdles
Before Odoo, Dekra-Lite relied on a combination of disconnected tools, including DocuSign, QuoteWerks, and Act. Their inventory was managed manually using Excel sheets, which led to significant inefficiencies and costly errors, especially during their peak season from August to January.
In a nutshell, they faced three major issues:
- Lack of barcode tracking resulted in frequent shipping errors.
- Inventory mismanagement led to both overstocking and stock-outs, causing lost sales.
- Manual order processing created delays and inefficiencies in fulfilling customer requests.
While exploring ERP solutions, Dekra-Lite considered SAP Business One and other options. However, these systems came with high implementation costs, ranging from $100,000 to $150,000 per year, plus an additional $80,000 to $100,000 in setup costs. When they saw a billboard ad for Odoo in Vancouver, they decided to investigate further.
"We were shocked by Odoo’s pricing and the all-in-one features it had to offer. It was the perfect start for transitioning into an ERP system."
The Odoo advantage
Dekra-Lite officially started its Odoo implementation in February and went live by July 5, 2024. With guidance from Odoo’s team, they quickly transitioned to a unified platform that integrated many process seamlessly.
Increased efficiency in Accounting: Their bookkeeper now works 60% less on manual entries, as Odoo automatically integrates sales and purchase orders into the system, eliminating redundant data entry.
Optimized inventory management: Odoo reduced their shipment error rate to less than 1%, ensuring customers receive the correct products on time. The inventory system also provides real-time tracking of stock levels and locations.
Improved sales process: With Sign, quotes can be accepted within two minutes, significantly speeding up the sales cycle and increasing conversions.
Warehouse efficiency gains: Previously, employees spent hours manually searching for items. Now, with Odoo’s barcode scanning and storage location system, Dekra-Lite saves approximately five hours per week, time that is redirected toward revenue-generating activities.
"Before Odoo, we had to manually count stock multiple times a day. Now, we instantly know where everything is, saving us an hour every day during peak season."
Expanding horizons
What’s next? Dekra Lite is focused on expanding its footprint across Canada. While they currently serve clients nationwide from their Western Canada base, they plan to establish a presence in Ontario, complete with additional warehousing support.
On the technology front, they aim to unlock more of Odoo’s potential, exploring apps like Marketing Automation for email campaigns and Manufacturing for in-house product development. Currently, they estimate they are using only 40% of Odoo’s capabilities and are excited to leverage more features as they scale.
Dekra-Lite’s journey with Odoo highlights how an all-in-one ERP solution can revolutionize operations, reduce inefficiencies, and drive business growth.If your company struggles with manual processes, disconnected systems, or inefficiencies, Odoo has the tools to help streamline your operations, just as it did for Dekra-Lite.