Connect completed work with accurate billing
LocMaint in Dortmund uses Odoo to manage locomotive maintenance orders across Europe, along with customers and projects. Its parent company, Nexrail Lease, uses Helpdesk for customer enquiries. These projects illustrate Odoo’s role in logistics: connecting orders, maintenance, enquiries, inventory and billing. Route optimisation and GPS tracking remain the responsibility of transport software, with the existing TMS connected to Odoo.
The role of Odoo alongside your TMS
Odoo complements the transport management system with business and operational processes: orders, inventory, vehicles, workshop jobs, invoicing and accounting.
Odoo standard:
- Warehouses with several sites, bin locations and barcode scanners
- Delivery slips signed by the recipient on a tablet
- Fleet with vehicles, contracts, odometer readings and service entries
- Maintenance plans by time interval for vehicles and equipment
- Helpdesk for customer requests, with a customer portal
- Invoicing from delivered quantities, DATEV export for the tax adviser
- Parcel shipping with labels and tracking numbers through connected carriers
Not in Odoo, and not worth rebuilding:
- Route planning with optimisation
- GPS tracking and telematics for your own trucks
- Toll calculation and freight pricing from tariff tables
- A driver app that works offline
Your existing system continues handling these tasks. An interface transfers orders to Odoo and returns invoices and accounting entries. We develop this integration and estimate its scope before quoting.
Five handovers between dispatch and accounting
| What happens today | What Odoo does with it | Standard or built |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatch plans in one program, accounting re-keys it | Order, delivery and invoice hang on one record | Standard; link to your TMS is built |
| Proof of delivery comes back to the office on paper | The recipient signs on a tablet and the slip is attached | Standard |
| Vehicle servicing and inspection dates live in Excel | The maintenance plan creates appointments; fleet shows contracts and costs per vehicle | Standard |
| Invoices go out weeks after delivery | The invoice is created from the confirmed delivery, by rule if you want | Standard; the rule is configuration |
| Customers call to ask about status | Customers see orders, delivery slips and invoices in the portal; requests go to Helpdesk | Standard; live location is not |
When the warehouse is the core
Warehouse operators can use a range of standard functions: one-, two- or three-step receipts, rule-based putaway, wave picking, cross-docking and consignment stock. Scanning records movements and assigns stock to bin locations. Per-pallet, per-day storage billing is not standard and requires customisation.
What LocMaint and Nexrail do in Odoo
LocMaint GmbH, Dortmund: The company maintains locomotives across Europe under strict availability requirements. Customer, project and communication data was previously held in separate tools. Teams now plan maintenance work in Odoo, with CRM, project history, communications and management reporting available in one database.
Nexrail Lease: LocMaint’s parent company operates in rail leasing. Customer enquiries are now recorded as Odoo Helpdesk tickets, connected to escalation handling, CRM and the customer’s communication history.
Ruetech advised LocMaint and supported its implementation. We advised Nexrail on Helpdesk and CRM. Project figures are published only with client approval.
Who this page is for
Odoo is suited to contract logistics and warehouse operators, as well as businesses maintaining or leasing vehicles and equipment. Carriers can use it alongside a TMS for purchasing, workshop operations and accounting. We do not currently have a published carrier reference; reference conversations are available on request.
Your first step: one delivery slip and its invoice
A delivery note or workshop order with its corresponding invoice gives us a starting point. Add the time between delivery and billing and the systems involved. Send the details through the contact form. We reply within one business day and demonstrate the process in Odoo, including any interfaces required.