Connecting Managed Print Service Providers’ Legacy ERP with Odoo

Industry

Reprographics, Wide Format Printing & Imaging Supplies

Headquarters

United States

Operating Footprint

Print Production, Walk-In Counter, Customer Portal, eCommerce & Nationwide Drop-Ship Fulfilment

Core System of Record

ECI e-Automate

ERP Partner

Aktiv Software

Our Solution

Odoo 17

About J2 Blueprint Supply Co.

J2 Blueprint Supply Co. operates two connected businesses under one roof.

Its print operation produces architectural and engineering plans, wide-format prints, signage, banners, display graphics, business cards, labels and related finishing work such as binding, mounting and laminating.

Alongside this, J2B is an HP equipment and supplies reseller, selling printers, plotters, parts and consumables online, with orders fulfilled either from its own inventory or directly through TD Synnex.

ECI e-Automate already managed J2B’s customers, products, pricing, orders, inventory and receivables, and the company wanted to retain it as its financial system of record.

The gap was everything happening around it. Print requests arrived through disconnected channels, production lacked a shared queue, the online catalogue demanded constant maintenance, payments sat outside the order flow and distributor fulfilment involved repeated manual work.

The objective was therefore not to replace e-Automate, but to build a modern customer and operational layer around it.

The Challenges

Manual Print Job Intake

Jobs arrived by email, phone or at the counter, leaving staff to capture files, specifications and order details manually.

No Shared Production Queue

Job priorities, ownership, proof status and deadlines depended heavily on the production team's own knowledge.

e-Automate Working in Isolation

Core business data sat in e-Automate while customer, production and online activities happened outside it.

Disconnected Payments & Invoices

Card payments required manual reconciliation, while retrieving customer invoices meant switching to a separate reporting system.

HP Catalogue Maintained by Hand

More than 12,000 changing HP products made manual maintenance of specifications, media, documents and online filters unsustainable.

Manual Distributor & Drop-Ship Work

Pricing feeds, purchasing, receipts, shipments and tracking required repeated handling across J2B, e-Automate and TD Synnex.

Our Solution: Odoo 17

Customer & Production Operations

Digital print intake, file uploads, job specifications, proof approvals and one shared production queue.

e-Automate Integration

Customers, products, pricing, inventory and transactions kept aligned with J2B's existing financial system.

Payments & Invoice Access

Connected counter, phone and online payments with direct access to customer invoice documents.

eCommerce & Fulfilment

Automated HP catalogue management, distributor pricing, availability, drop-shipping and shipment updates.

Implementation Phases of J2 Blueprint

Phase 1

Discovery & Solution Blueprint

Aktiv Software began by documenting how work actually moved across J2B's print counter, production departments, online store and back office.

Key focus areas:

Print job intake and specifications by department
Customer and account management
e-Automate data ownership and transaction flow
Card payment and recurring billing practices
Crystal Report invoice handling
HP catalogue management
TD Synnex pricing and fulfilment
Business rules where systems or data sources overlapped

Each requirement was documented around the current process, expected future process and success criteria, giving both teams a shared blueprint before development began.

Phase 2

Integration & Data Foundation

Because e-Automate would remain the financial system of record, the implementation focused on creating a reliable connection rather than replacing or duplicating it.

Key Focus Areas:

Customers and contacts
Products and pricing
Inventory, warehouses and locations
Equipment and supporting master data
Payment terms, taxes and shipping methods
Sales and purchase transactions
Production updates
Invoice and payment status

The foundation ensured that Odoo could support modern customer and operational workflows while remaining aligned with the commercial information J2B already trusted.

Phase 3

Core Implementation & Customization

Odoo was then configured and tailored around the areas where J2B needed a modern operating experience.

Key Focus Areas:

Customer print-job submission
Production queue and proof approvals
Customer account verification and file uploads
e-Automate synchronization
Stax payment processing
Crystal Report invoice access
HP catalogue automation
TD Synnex pricing and drop-shipping
Customer notifications and operational reporting

Standard Odoo capabilities were used wherever suitable, with focused customization where J2B's processes needed to connect with its existing platforms.

Functional & Operational Overview of J2 Blueprint's Odoo System

Customer Print Intake & Production Queue

Odoo & e-Automate Integration

Integrated Stax Payments

Crystal Report Invoice Access

HP Catalogue Automation

TD Synnex Pricing & Drop-Ship Automation

1 Customer Print Intake & Production Queue

Problem Statement

Print jobs could arrive through email, phone, at the counter or as files handed directly to staff.

Each print department also needed different information. A plan set, banner, business card, display graphic or label could require its own combination of size, media, finish, colour, folding, binding and other production instructions.

Staff had to interpret these requirements and turn them into production jobs manually.

Once production began, there was no single reliable view of:

What had just arrived

Who was working on it

What was urgent

What was waiting for approval

What was due or overdue

What was ready for pickup

Solution

Aktiv Software created a dedicated Production Queue that carries each job from customer submission through production, proofing, completion and pickup or shipment.

Customers can submit print jobs and upload files online.

Print options change according to the department and product being ordered.

A single job can contain multiple sets with different print specifications.

Both guest and registered customers can submit work.

Business customers can verify themselves against their existing J2B account.

Customers who forget their account number can recover it using their email.

Counter staff can send customers a secure upload link by email or text so files can be uploaded directly from the customer’s phone.

Job status is determined from the actual job condition and due date rather than relying on employees to keep it manually updated.

Production employees can claim jobs, making responsibility visible across the floor.

Proofs can be sent and customer approval recorded against the job.

Proof approvals and revised instructions are also reflected in e-Automate for counter staff.

Due dates and times are clearly recorded, with same-day rush pricing based on J2B’s product rules.

Customer files remain connected with the job and can be downloaded together for production.

Paid-job files can be cleared according to the defined retention process.

Pickup slips and production documents can be generated directly from the system.

Customers receive production, completion and pickup notifications through email or SMS.

Approved partner systems can also create or update relevant production and delivery jobs.

Impact

Customers provide specifications at the point of submission

Less manual re-entry and interpretation by staff

One shared queue across the production floor

Clear job ownership, priority and due-date visibility

Proofs, files and production history remain connected

Faster counter handling through mobile file uploads

More consistent customer communication

Measurable production activity instead of status held in people’s heads

2 Odoo & e-Automate Integration

Problem Statement

e-Automate remained J2B’s trusted system for customers, products, pricing, orders, inventory and receivables.

Introducing Odoo without a strong connection would have created two versions of the same business information.

Odoo therefore needed to stay current with e-Automate while ensuring orders and operational activity created in Odoo became real transactions in the existing ERP.

Solution

A two-way connection was established between Odoo and e-Automate.

Information kept synchronized includes:

Customers and contacts

Salespeople and users

Products and pricing

Inventory

Equipment and equipment information

Warehouses and storage locations

Payment terms

Taxes

Shipping methods

Other supporting business information

Customer hierarchies are preserved, so individual contacts remain connected to the correct company account.

Inactive records are handled appropriately rather than continuing to appear as active business records.

Transactions created through Odoo can also be carried into e-Automate, including:

Sales orders and order updates

Purchase orders

Goods receipts

Shipment records

Production events such as urgent requests, new instructions, revisions, proof readiness and customer approval are reflected in e-Automate so the counter and production floor see the same history.

Customers and contacts created through Odoo are also created in e-Automate with a consistent account identity.

Invoices originating from e-Automate can be shown through Odoo, and when an invoice is settled in e-Automate, its status is reflected accordingly so the customer-facing view and financial record agree.

Synchronization activity is logged, and individual data issues can be handled without stopping an entire update.

Impact

e-Automate remains J2B’s financial source of truth

No separate duplicate ERP was created

Reduced repeated data entry

Customers, products, prices and inventory stay aligned

Odoo-created transactions reach the existing ERP

Counter and production teams share the same order history

Customer invoice status stays consistent with accounting

J2B modernized operations while protecting its existing ERP investment

3 Integrated Stax Payments

Problem Statement

Card payments operated alongside the systems managing J2B’s orders and invoices.

Staff accepted cards by phone or through a counter reader and later matched those transactions with invoices manually.

J2B’s B2B model added another challenge: one company card might legitimately be used by several contacts from the same customer account.

There was also no central handling for surcharges, recurring billing or different surcharge rules between states.

Solution

Stax payments were brought directly into Odoo’s customer and invoice workflow.

Cards can be securely saved at company level and used by authorized contacts of that account.

Card information is securely tokenized rather than stored directly in J2B’s system.

Counter staff can take card-present payments directly against an invoice or production job.

Payments can use either the counter card reader or an approved saved company card.

A customer-facing counter display supports a clearer payment and confirmation experience.

Online customers can pay the actual invoice directly from the portal.

Surcharge rules can account for percentage, limits and states where surcharging is restricted.

ACH can follow separate surcharge treatment where required.

Billing addresses are retained with saved payment methods.

Saved cards can be reassigned appropriately when account ownership changes.

Voids, reopenings and disputed transactions remain connected to the payment history.

Accounts billed on a regular cycle can be charged automatically on their billing day.

Stax transaction information synchronizes back into Odoo for easier reconciliation.

Critical scenarios including saved cards, recurring charges, removals, voids and reopenings were covered through automated validation.

Impact

Counter, phone and online payments follow one connected process

Payments are matched to the actual invoice

Reduced manual reconciliation

Company-level saved cards reflect how J2B’s B2B customers operate

More consistent handling of surcharge rules

Recurring customer accounts can be billed automatically

Clearer payment history and dispute visibility

Faster payment collection for customers and staff

4 Crystal Report Invoice Access

Problem Statement

Customer invoices were generated through SAP Crystal Reports on BusinessObjects.

To retrieve one, employees had to leave Odoo, open another system, find the correct report and search for the invoice manually.

Different e-Automate transaction types could also require different reports.

BusinessObjects operated with a limited number of user sessions, and sessions that remained open unnecessarily could eventually prevent other employees from accessing reports.

Solution

Invoice access was brought directly into Odoo.

A View Invoice action opens the Crystal Report from the relevant invoice.

The appropriate report is selected automatically according to the invoice type.

Different reports can be used for accounts receivable, sales order and service-related invoices.

Company-level defaults provide a fallback where required.

Reporting sessions are released after the document is rendered instead of remaining unnecessarily occupied.

Sessions are also released when a report fails to render.

If reporting capacity is temporarily full, employees receive a clear request to retry rather than an unexplained technical error.

Shared access can be maintained in the background to reduce repeated sign-ins and unnecessary session usage.

Impact

One-click customer invoice retrieval

No manual search through BusinessObjects

Correct invoice format selected automatically

Better use of available reporting sessions

Fewer technical errors presented to employees

Faster response when customers request invoice copies

5 HP Catalogue Automation

Problem Statement

J2B sells from an HP catalogue containing more than 12,000 products, with product information changing continuously.

Maintaining specifications, descriptions, images, videos, documents, related products and storefront filters manually was not sustainable.

Products could also reach the online store before valid pricing existed or remain available after HP had retired them.

When catalogue updates failed, there was little visibility into what had or had not been updated.

Solution

HP’s product information was connected with J2B’s Odoo storefront so the catalogue can stay current automatically.

Scheduled updates maintain:

Product information and descriptions

Technical specifications

Product hierarchy

Lifecycle information

Product images

Banners and video content

Product highlights

Datasheets and manuals

Companion and related products

Cross-sell and compatibility information

HP’s own product classification and specifications are also used to build storefront filters rather than maintaining thousands of filter relationships manually.

Large catalogue updates are designed to continue from where they stopped if interrupted rather than restarting from the beginning.

Products are published or removed according to their lifecycle and pricing status:

Unpriced products are kept offline.

Live products reaching a zero price can be withdrawn.

Products can be removed as they reach the end of their lifecycle.

Catalogue logs show what HP supplied, what was successfully updated and what requires attention.

The imported information also supports richer product pages, including tabs, supporting content and product relationships.

Impact

More than 12,000 HP products can be maintained at scale

Far less manual catalogue administration

More complete product specifications and media

Current datasheets and manuals available to customers

Better product filtering and compatibility guidance

Improved cross-selling

Unpriced products kept off the storefront

Retired products removed more consistently

Interrupted updates can resume rather than restart

Catalogue issues become visible before customers discover them

6 TD Synnex Pricing & Drop-Ship Automation

Problem Statement

TD Synnex supports J2B in two critical areas: daily product pricing and availability, and fulfilment for items J2B does not stock locally.

Both processes required significant manual work.

Daily distributor pricing also created a business risk: automatically accepting it could overwrite prices J2B had already negotiated and maintained in e-Automate.

For drop-shipped orders, purchase orders, receipts, shipments and tracking information were also being entered or updated multiple times.

Solution

Pricing & Availability

The TD Synnex feed is processed automatically on a scheduled basis.

Before distributor pricing is applied, J2B’s approved e-Automate pricing is checked first.

Where a valid J2B price already exists, it remains authoritative. TD Synnex pricing fills gaps rather than overwriting negotiated pricing.

The distributor update maintains information such as:

Cost

List price

Product availability

Distributor part number

Vendor purchasing information

Large distributor feeds are processed in manageable stages so updates can run reliably without disrupting normal operations.

Drop-Ship Fulfilment

When a customer order is confirmed, available, allocated and unavailable stock is checked to determine which lines genuinely require drop-shipping.

For those lines:

The required purchase transaction is created in e-Automate.

A corresponding purchase order is maintained in Odoo.

Each purchase line stays linked to the exact sales line that created it.

The relationship is preserved even when the same item appears multiple times on one customer order.

Once tracking becomes available, receipt and shipment information can be recorded from the same process.

Customer tracking details are sent automatically.

Previously completed receipt or shipment steps are recognized so the same action does not accidentally post them twice.

Serialized products cannot be shipped without the required serial number.

Every important fulfilment step remains logged against the order.

Impact

Distributor pricing and availability update automatically

Negotiated pricing remains protected

Less manual distributor-feed administration

Drop-ship purchasing no longer needs to be keyed repeatedly

Lower risk of duplicate receipts or shipments

Sales and purchasing remain connected line by line

Better control over serialized products

Shipment status and tracking remain visible

Customers receive tracking information consistently

J2B and e-Automate remain aligned throughout fulfilment

What Changed for J2 Blueprint Post Implementation?

Results & Business Impact

J2B connected customer ordering, production, eCommerce, payments and fulfilment through one operational platform while retaining e-Automate as its financial backbone.

Customers submit files and production requirements themselves instead of staff rebuilding jobs from emails or conversations.

Jobs move from intake through claiming, proofing, production and pickup with clear ownership and current status.

Customers, products, inventory and transactions remain aligned with J2B's existing financial system.

Counter, phone and online payments are tied directly to customer invoices, with company cards and recurring billing supported.

Employees reach the correct Crystal Report directly from Odoo without manually searching BusinessObjects.

More than 12,000 HP products stay current with specifications, media, documents, relationships, filters and lifecycle controls.

TD Synnex updates product information without automatically replacing J2B's negotiated pricing.

Purchasing, receipts, shipments and customer tracking flow from the original order with safeguards against duplicate processing.

Production volumes, job ownership, completions and receivable follow-up can be reviewed from current business data.

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Customer Success Stories

Not to flex, but these are some Real results. Real wins.

4.7

is our

average

Aktiv Software Pvt. Ltd. followed up on the project as promised.

Bjorn Midtlien

CEO, Digitus Nordic AS

Rather than focusing on short-term fixes, their approach is pragmatic, focused on sustainable, long-term results.

Kasper G

Owner, Nordic by Choice

Their solution has helped us reduce our project managers' time for invoicing from a week to two days.

Kateryna Mykhailenko

Manager, ToxMinds

On a scale of 1-10, we would rate Aktiv’s partnership as 11.

Fabrice Beaux

CEO, InterHyve Sàrl

About Us

Aktiv is Odoo certified partner offering end-to-end implementation services.

We don’t just implement ERP, we bridge the gap between technology and your workforce, ensuring smooth adoption, empowered employees, and maximized ROI.

With over 10+ years of experience implementing Odoo for SME and Enterprise clients, we know how to assist you in your digital transformation journey. It’s what we do the best!