Case Study

How Arcadia Engineering Unified 100+ Job Work Vendors and Global Exports on One ERP

Odoo Partner - Arcadia
Client Profile

Arcadia Engineering Private Limited

IndustryAerospace Parts Manufacturing & Export
ProductsPrecision Aerospace Components & Space Parts
Primary LocationPune, Maharashtra, India
Secondary LocationSurat, Gujarat, India
Team Size25+ employees
Export MarketsEurope & North America
Production Model50% In-house · 50% Job Work (100+ vendors)
PlatformFull Odoo ERP Suite

Arcadia Engineering Private Limited manufactures precision aerospace components for buyers across Europe and North America, parts where tolerance is measured in microns, documentation is non-negotiable, and delivery reliability is a fundamental supplier qualification criterion.

Their production model is inherently complex: 50% of manufacturing happens in-house across Pune and Surat, while the remaining 50% is outsourced to a network of 100+ job work vendors, specialist machinists, finishers, heat treatment shops, and coating vendors spread across India.

Managing this network, while simultaneously running export shipments to demanding international buyers, required an ERP that could handle the full complexity of a global precision parts business. Arcadia brought full operational control under Odoo ERP.

100+
Job Work Vendors Managed
2
Pune & Surat
45%
Faster Job Work Turnaround
100%
Shipment Traceability
B2B
Customer Portal Live
The Operating Reality

A Business Built on Precision, Across Two Locations and 100+ Partners

Before solutions, it helps to understand the operational complexity Arcadia was managing, and why generic tools simply couldn't keep up.

🏭
50 / 50
In-house vs. Job Work
Half of every component's journey happens outside Arcadia's walls, across 100+ external vendors with varying lead times, quality standards, and communication styles.
✈️
2
Export Continents
Europe and North America, buyers with strict documentation requirements, zero tolerance for shipment delays, and full traceability expectations from raw material to dispatch.
🔩
Micron
Tolerance Level
Aerospace-grade components leave no margin for quality escapes. Every job work batch must be inspected, approved, and documented before it enters the in-house production flow.
The Challenge

What Running a Precision Export Business Without the Right ERP Actually Looks Like

Each challenge below carries real risk in aerospace supply chains. Missed deliveries, quality escapes, and lost buyer confidence are the stakes.

Job Work
100+ vendors, zero central visibility
Material sent out to job work vendors was tracked through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and personal memory. Which batch was at which vendor, in what stage of processing, and when it would return, nobody had a single reliable answer. Lost material, delayed returns, and duplicate dispatches happened regularly.
Job Work
No job work costing or vendor accountability
Job work charges from vendors were reconciled manually at month-end, often after disputes. There was no system to compare quoted job work cost against actual charged cost per batch, and no vendor performance data to inform which vendors to prioritise or phase out.
Export
Shipment management across two locations was fragmented
With production split between Pune and Surat, consolidating finished components for export shipments required manual coordination between teams. Packing lists, shipping documentation, and courier bookings were handled in separate tools with no unified shipment status visible to management or buyers.
Customer Communication
B2B buyers had no self-service visibility
European and North American buyers routinely asked for order status, shipment tracking, and quality certificates. Each request generated internal chasing across production, logistics, and quality teams before a response could be given. For buyers managing their own production schedules around Arcadia's deliveries, this was a persistent frustration.
Task Management
Internal tasks and cross-location coordination was informal
With teams split across Pune and Surat, task allocation and follow-through happened over calls and WhatsApp. Accountability was personal, not systemic. Deadlines slipped unnoticed until a delivery was at risk, and management had no structured view of what each team member was working on at any given time.
Quality & Documentation
Traceability documentation built manually per export
Aerospace buyers require full traceability (material certificates, job work inspection records, in-house QC sign-offs, and packing documentation) for every shipment. Assembling this manually per order was time-consuming, error-prone, and created anxiety before every export dispatch.
Finance
No real-time cost visibility per order or component
With job work costs, in-house machining costs, material costs, and logistics all flowing into each export order, the true cost per component was difficult to calculate in real time. Pricing decisions for new inquiries were based on outdated assumptions rather than live cost data.
Inventory
Raw material and WIP spread across two locations
Raw material at Pune, semi-finished components in transit to job work vendors, and finished goods at Surat. The true inventory position at any moment required calls to three different people. Over-ordering to compensate for uncertainty was quietly consuming working capital.
The Solution

Full Odoo ERP Across Every Function, One Platform, Two Locations

Not a partial deployment. Every function from job work dispatch to export documentation to buyer self-service was brought onto Odoo, creating a single operational truth for the entire business.

🔧
Job Work Management, 100+ Vendors Under Full Control
The job work management module was the most critical and complex part of the implementation. Every material dispatch to a job work vendor now generates a job work order in Odoo, capturing the material quantity, specification, vendor name, process required (machining, heat treatment, coating, grinding), and expected return date. The status of every batch (at vendor, in process, quality hold, or returned) is visible in real time. Automated follow-up reminders are triggered as due dates approach. Vendor-wise turnaround performance is tracked, creating an accountability layer that simply didn't exist before.
💸
Job Work Costing & Vendor Performance Tracking
Every job work order carries the agreed rate per process. When the vendor raises their charge, the system matches it against the agreed rate, flagging any deviation before payment. Job work cost is automatically absorbed into the component's running cost, giving Arcadia a real-time cost-per-component that includes all external processing. Vendor performance reports (turnaround time, rejection rate, cost variance) are now part of quarterly vendor reviews, and have already led to a strategic rationalisation of the vendor base.
🚢
Export Shipment Management Across Pune & Surat
The Odoo Inventory and Logistics module was configured to manage the consolidation of finished components from both locations into a single export shipment. Packing lists are system-generated against confirmed sales orders. Shipping documentation (commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin) is produced within Odoo. Each shipment has a tracking record visible to both management and the buyer. The days of manually assembling shipment documentation from three different tools are gone.
Task Management Across Both Locations
The Odoo Project and Task module replaced the WhatsApp and call coordination system that had been holding cross-location collaboration together. Every internal task, from a production milestone to a quality inspection to a documentation deadline, is raised in Odoo, assigned to a named person, and tracked to completion. Krutik and the management team have a live view of what every team member is working on across Pune and Surat. Nothing falls through the gaps between locations anymore.
🏭
Manufacturing & Quality Control Integration
In-house production work orders are linked directly to the sales order and BOM. As components move through the in-house machining, assembly, and quality inspection stages, each step is logged in Odoo with the responsible operator and timestamp. Quality control checkpoints are built into the work order routing. A component cannot move to the next stage until the preceding QC step is signed off. This creates the full traceability record that aerospace buyers require, generated automatically as a by-product of normal production operations.
💰
Real-Time Order Costing & Finance Visibility
The Odoo Finance module absorbs material costs, in-house machining costs, job work charges, and logistics against each sales order in real time. Management can see the running cost of any active order at any point during production, and compare it against the quoted price. Margin visibility per order, per customer, and per component family is now a live dashboard, not a month-end exercise. Pricing decisions for new inquiries are now backed by actual cost data.

🌐 B2B Customer Portal, What Buyers in Europe & North America See

Arcadia's European and North American buyers can now log into a branded customer portal, without calling or emailing, and get real-time answers to the questions they ask most frequently. This single capability has transformed how Arcadia is perceived by its international buyers.

📦
Order Status
Live production stage for every active order
🚚
Shipment Tracking
Dispatch date, courier details, and delivery ETA
📄
Quality Documents
Certificates and inspection reports, downloadable on demand
🧾
Invoice & Payment History
Full transaction history, outstanding invoices, and statements
The Results

Before and After, Across Every Function

"Running a precision aerospace parts business with 100+ job work vendors and export customers in Europe and America, all on WhatsApp and Excel, was getting to a point where one slip could cost us a major buyer. Odoo gave us control we didn't know we were missing. Our buyers now have a portal to check their order status themselves. Our job work vendors have clear dispatch and return schedules. And I can see the cost of every order in real time. The business feels completely different to manage."
Job Work
Vendor Visibility & Turnaround
Phone calls and WhatsApp, no central status across 100+ vendors
↓ 45% faster job work turnaround with live tracking
Export
Shipment Documentation
Manual assembly across tools, anxiety before every dispatch
System-generated, 100% complete every shipment
Customer Experience
Buyer Order & Shipment Queries
Each query triggered internal chasing across 3 teams
Self-service portal, buyers get answers without calling
Finance
Cost Visibility Per Order
Month-end estimate, pricing decisions based on assumptions
Live cost per order, margin visibility in real time
Task Management
Cross-Location Coordination
WhatsApp groups, tasks missed, accountability unclear
Structured task system, 100% visibility across Pune & Surat
Inventory
Multi-Location Stock Visibility
Three phone calls to know the true inventory position
Live unified view across Pune, Surat, and in-transit with vendors
What Was Implemented

Full Odoo Suite at Arcadia Engineering

Odoo Manufacturing & MRP
Work orders, BOM management, production scheduling, QC checkpoints
Job Work Management (Custom)
Vendor dispatch, return tracking, costing, turnaround performance
Odoo Inventory
Multi-location stock, WIP tracking, material allocation across vendors
Odoo Sales & Export
Order management, shipment documentation, packing list generation
B2B Customer Portal
Order status, shipment tracking, quality documents, invoice history
Odoo Project & Tasks
Cross-location task management, deadlines, team accountability
Odoo Finance & Accounting
Real-time order costing, margin per job, vendor payment reconciliation
Odoo Purchase
Raw material procurement, vendor management, 3-way matching
Quality Control Module
Inspection checkpoints, certificates, traceability per component
The Bigger Picture

Why Aerospace Parts Exporters Can't Afford Informal Systems

In aerospace and precision engineering supply chains, the cost of an information failure is not measured in hours but in customer relationships. A European aerospace buyer who can't get a clear answer on delivery status, or finds a documentation gap in a shipment, doesn't just raise a complaint. They begin qualifying alternative suppliers. In a market where supplier qualification takes months and switching costs are high for buyers, the reverse is also true, as suppliers that demonstrate operational credibility become deeply embedded. The B2B customer portal alone has changed how Arcadia is perceived by its international buyers.

The job work management challenge is a structural reality of Indian precision manufacturing. Very few companies of Arcadia's size have the in-house capability to handle every process (turning, milling, heat treatment, surface coating, and precision grinding) under one roof. The outsourced model is economically rational. But managing 100+ external vendors without a structured ERP for job work management means the efficiency gains from specialisation are eaten up by coordination overhead, material losses, and quality escapes.

For precision parts exporters managing hybrid production models, in-house plus job work, and serving demanding international buyers in Europe and North America, Odoo ERP with the right customisation provides the operational infrastructure to compete at a level that was previously only accessible to much larger manufacturers. Arcadia Engineering is proof of that.

Built for precision manufacturers

Managing job work vendors and export buyers on WhatsApp?

If your production is split between in-house and external vendors, your buyers are chasing you for shipment updates, and your cost visibility only arrives at month-end, we've built exactly this. Let's talk.

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About Pratik Akbari

Pratik Akbari is an Odoo ERP expert and content writer specializing in Odoo implementation, customization, integration, and business automation solutions. He shares valuable insights, practical guides, and industry updates to help businesses optimize their operations with Odoo.