Is OFBiz for me?

[sebastianscheid]

Hi,

I am still trying to understand the functional concepts of OFBiz to find out if it is the right product for me. I find that quite difficult, because documentation is not complete and there are so many functions of which I think, not all are necessary for me. So I want to ask if someone could show me the direction where to search.

I am trying to map the following business process to OFBiz:
My company sells services. There are no physical goods to be produced or to be managed in a warehouse. There is no need for a webshop, the app would only be used by the backoffice.

For the most services we provide, we in turn have to order other services from external service providers. These providers may produce a physical product that is shipped to the customer (I have already found the drop shipment in OFBiz).

The major task I want to do with OFBiz is to
- create orders for customers
- plan which services we have to buy from external providers to fulfill a sales order
- plan when certain activities have to be done by us, the customer or an external provider
- track the status of these activities

So, a sales order seems appropriate to start with. Purchase orders could be used for other service providers and work efforts seem to be useful for activities. My problem is, I don't get it all work together.

My idea was to use this pretty cool drop shipment feature to link purchase orders (for the external providers) to sales orders. But it seems to be not implemented yet (see earlier posts) and I don't know how to link a new purchase order to an existing sales order. Furthermore a drop shipment has to be declared before the sales order is actually created. But I want to create the sales order (perhaps from a proposal) and later assign any purchase orders to it.
The next problem is to plan the activities. I can create Work Efforts which I can see in the task list (type task) or in the calendar (type event). But I don't know how to assign a task to an order, so I could track the fulfillment of the order.

Another question: can I define alternative products in a proposal? I.e. assign an alternative product to a proposal item whose price is not calculated in the sum of the proposal. So the customer knows he can choose from these two items (and can calculate the price itself, or perhaps it would be cool if only the difference for the alternative product is shown in the proposal).

Two last questions:
1. Can I attach external files (like received invoice pdfs) to an order or any other object?
2. I have recognized that the party entities have a historization feature (the name in the profile has a history). Is this a generic feature which can be enabled for e.g. sales orders, too?


Thanks a lot for reading so far and for giving me any advice
With best regards
Sebastian

[BJ Freeman]

short answers:
OOTB does not direct support services, but has bee modified in the past
to do this.
OOTB you can not yet do project(activity) planning though a lot has been
done in this area.
OOTB you can do quotes and turn them into sales.

some of the things you looking for can be added.

Don't see a problem in accomplishing what you want.

Suggest you go through the demo and see what is there and not there.

sebastianscheid sent the following on 4/28/2008 7:15 AM:

> Hi,
>
> I am still trying to understand the functional concepts of OFBiz to find out
> if it is the right product for me. I find that quite difficult, because
> documentation is not complete and there are so many functions of which I
> think, not all are necessary for me. So I want to ask if someone could show
> me the direction where to search.
>
> I am trying to map the following business process to OFBiz:
> My company sells services. There are no physical goods to be produced or to
> be managed in a warehouse. There is no need for a webshop, the app would
> only be used by the backoffice.
>
> For the most services we provide, we in turn have to order other services
> from external service providers. These providers may produce a physical
> product that is shipped to the customer (I have already found the drop
> shipment in OFBiz).
>
> The major task I want to do with OFBiz is to
> - create orders for customers
> - plan which services we have to buy from external providers to fulfill a
> sales order
> - plan when certain activities have to be done by us, the customer or an
> external provider
> - track the status of these activities
>
> So, a sales order seems appropriate to start with. Purchase orders could be
> used for other service providers and work efforts seem to be useful for
> activities. My problem is, I don't get it all work together.
>
> My idea was to use this pretty cool drop shipment feature to link purchase
> orders (for the external providers) to sales orders. But it seems to be not
> implemented yet (see earlier posts) and I don't know how to link a new
> purchase order to an existing sales order. Furthermore a drop shipment has
> to be declared before the sales order is actually created. But I want to
> create the sales order (perhaps from a proposal) and later assign any
> purchase orders to it.
> The next problem is to plan the activities. I can create Work Efforts which
> I can see in the task list (type task) or in the calendar (type event). But
> I don't know how to assign a task to an order, so I could track the
> fulfillment of the order.
>
> Another question: can I define alternative products in a proposal? I.e.
> assign an alternative product to a proposal item whose price is not
> calculated in the sum of the proposal. So the customer knows he can choose
> from these two items (and can calculate the price itself, or perhaps it
> would be cool if only the difference for the alternative product is shown in
> the proposal).
>
> Two last questions:
> 1. Can I attach external files (like received invoice pdfs) to an order or
> any other object?
> 2. I have recognized that the party entities have a historization feature
> (the name in the profile has a history). Is this a generic feature which can
> be enabled for e.g. sales orders, too?
>
>
> Thanks a lot for reading so far and for giving me any advice
> With best regards
> Sebastian

[David E Jones]

On Apr 28, 2008, at 8:54 AM, BJ Freeman wrote:
> short answers:
> OOTB does not direct support services, but has bee modified in the  
> past
> to do this.

I wouldn't agree with this... you can manage the whole process of  
taking requests, planning/performing services, billing for them, etc.

> OOTB you can not yet do project(activity) planning though a lot has  
> been
> done in this area.

Yes, quite a bit has been done in this area and it is currently  
possible to do a lot of these sorts of things, including complex task  
hierarchies, multiple hierarchies for a project and other ways to  
manage it and report on it differently, even a gantt chart based on  
the hierarchies and such.

> OOTB you can do quotes and turn them into sales.
>
> some of the things you looking for can be added.
>
> Don't see a problem in accomplishing what you want.
>
> Suggest you go through the demo and see what is there and not there.
>
> sebastianscheid sent the following on 4/28/2008 7:15 AM:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am still trying to understand the functional concepts of OFBiz to  
>> find out
>> if it is the right product for me. I find that quite difficult,  
>> because
>> documentation is not complete and there are so many functions of  
>> which I
>> think, not all are necessary for me. So I want to ask if someone  
>> could show
>> me the direction where to search.
>>
>> I am trying to map the following business process to OFBiz:
>> My company sells services. There are no physical goods to be  
>> produced or to
>> be managed in a warehouse. There is no need for a webshop, the app  
>> would
>> only be used by the backoffice.
>>
>> For the most services we provide, we in turn have to order other  
>> services
>> from external service providers. These providers may produce a  
>> physical
>> product that is shipped to the customer (I have already found the  
>> drop
>> shipment in OFBiz).
>>
>> The major task I want to do with OFBiz is to
>> - create orders for customers
>> - plan which services we have to buy from external providers to  
>> fulfill a
>> sales order
>> - plan when certain activities have to be done by us, the customer  
>> or an
>> external provider
>> - track the status of these activities
>>
>> So, a sales order seems appropriate to start with. Purchase orders  
>> could be
>> used for other service providers and work efforts seem to be useful  
>> for
>> activities. My problem is, I don't get it all work together.
>>
>> My idea was to use this pretty cool drop shipment feature to link  
>> purchase
>> orders (for the external providers) to sales orders. But it seems  
>> to be not
>> implemented yet (see earlier posts) and I don't know how to link a  
>> new
>> purchase order to an existing sales order. Furthermore a drop  
>> shipment has
>> to be declared before the sales order is actually created. But I  
>> want to
>> create the sales order (perhaps from a proposal) and later assign any
>> purchase orders to it.
>> The next problem is to plan the activities. I can create Work  
>> Efforts which
>> I can see in the task list (type task) or in the calendar (type  
>> event). But
>> I don't know how to assign a task to an order, so I could track the
>> fulfillment of the order.
>>
>> Another question: can I define alternative products in a proposal?  
>> I.e.
>> assign an alternative product to a proposal item whose price is not
>> calculated in the sum of the proposal. So the customer knows he can  
>> choose
>> from these two items (and can calculate the price itself, or  
>> perhaps it
>> would be cool if only the difference for the alternative product is  
>> shown in
>> the proposal).
>>
>> Two last questions:
>> 1. Can I attach external files (like received invoice pdfs) to an  
>> order or
>> any other object?
>> 2. I have recognized that the party entities have a historization  
>> feature
>> (the name in the profile has a history). Is this a generic feature  
>> which can
>> be enabled for e.g. sales orders, too?
>>
>>
>> Thanks a lot for reading so far and for giving me any advice
>> With best regards
>> Sebastian
>

[BJ Freeman]

and your thoughts and the rest he said.

David E Jones sent the following on 4/28/2008 8:08 AM:

>
> On Apr 28, 2008, at 8:54 AM, BJ Freeman wrote:
>> short answers:
>> OOTB does not direct support services, but has bee modified in the past
>> to do this.
>
> I wouldn't agree with this... you can manage the whole process of taking
> requests, planning/performing services, billing for them, etc.
>
>> OOTB you can not yet do project(activity) planning though a lot has been
>> done in this area.
>
> Yes, quite a bit has been done in this area and it is currently possible
> to do a lot of these sorts of things, including complex task
> hierarchies, multiple hierarchies for a project and other ways to manage
> it and report on it differently, even a gantt chart based on the
> hierarchies and such.
>
>> OOTB you can do quotes and turn them into sales.
>>
>> some of the things you looking for can be added.
>>
>> Don't see a problem in accomplishing what you want.
>>
>> Suggest you go through the demo and see what is there and not there.
>>
>> sebastianscheid sent the following on 4/28/2008 7:15 AM:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I am still trying to understand the functional concepts of OFBiz to
>>> find out
>>> if it is the right product for me. I find that quite difficult, because
>>> documentation is not complete and there are so many functions of which I
>>> think, not all are necessary for me. So I want to ask if someone
>>> could show
>>> me the direction where to search.
>>>
>>> I am trying to map the following business process to OFBiz:
>>> My company sells services. There are no physical goods to be produced
>>> or to
>>> be managed in a warehouse. There is no need for a webshop, the app would
>>> only be used by the backoffice.
>>>
>>> For the most services we provide, we in turn have to order other
>>> services
>>> from external service providers. These providers may produce a physical
>>> product that is shipped to the customer (I have already found the drop
>>> shipment in OFBiz).
>>>
>>> The major task I want to do with OFBiz is to
>>> - create orders for customers
>>> - plan which services we have to buy from external providers to
>>> fulfill a
>>> sales order
>>> - plan when certain activities have to be done by us, the customer or an
>>> external provider
>>> - track the status of these activities
>>>
>>> So, a sales order seems appropriate to start with. Purchase orders
>>> could be
>>> used for other service providers and work efforts seem to be useful for
>>> activities. My problem is, I don't get it all work together.
>>>
>>> My idea was to use this pretty cool drop shipment feature to link
>>> purchase
>>> orders (for the external providers) to sales orders. But it seems to
>>> be not
>>> implemented yet (see earlier posts) and I don't know how to link a new
>>> purchase order to an existing sales order. Furthermore a drop
>>> shipment has
>>> to be declared before the sales order is actually created. But I want to
>>> create the sales order (perhaps from a proposal) and later assign any
>>> purchase orders to it.
>>> The next problem is to plan the activities. I can create Work Efforts
>>> which
>>> I can see in the task list (type task) or in the calendar (type
>>> event). But
>>> I don't know how to assign a task to an order, so I could track the
>>> fulfillment of the order.
>>>
>>> Another question: can I define alternative products in a proposal? I.e.
>>> assign an alternative product to a proposal item whose price is not
>>> calculated in the sum of the proposal. So the customer knows he can
>>> choose
>>> from these two items (and can calculate the price itself, or perhaps it
>>> would be cool if only the difference for the alternative product is
>>> shown in
>>> the proposal).
>>>
>>> Two last questions:
>>> 1. Can I attach external files (like received invoice pdfs) to an
>>> order or
>>> any other object?
>>> 2. I have recognized that the party entities have a historization
>>> feature
>>> (the name in the profile has a history). Is this a generic feature
>>> which can
>>> be enabled for e.g. sales orders, too?
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks a lot for reading so far and for giving me any advice
>>> With best regards
>>> Sebastian
>>
>
>
>
>