Workshop: getting started
Corvus Workshop connects a vehicle visit to its inspection, estimate revisions, customer decisions, workshop operations, parts, resource bookings and quality checks. The repair order is the starting record. Different teams work from queues suited to their responsibilities while retaining links to the same visit.
Start with intake through estimate approval, then use planning, repair and quality checks. These guides describe the reviewed Odoo 20 source. Existing introductory UI scenes provide supporting evidence of selected screens; they do not establish that every workflow, role or optional integration has passed complete acceptance testing. No new runtime test was performed for these guides.
Choose the parts of the suite you need
The reviewed project contains 13 addons. Installing Corvus Workshop Suite composes three core addons: Workshop, Workshop Operations and Workshop Capacity. It does not install every extension in the project.
| Component | Main purpose |
|---|---|
| Workshop | Customer vehicles, repair orders, inspection templates and responses, findings, estimates, decisions, delivery records and reviewed customer publications. |
| Workshop Operations | Operations, technician assignments and work sessions, parts execution, dependencies, holds, QC, handoffs and rework. |
| Workshop Capacity | Sites, areas, bays, equipment, capability requirements, bookings and dispatch recommendations. |
| Collision | Collision cases, blueprints, supplements, production-release review and related customer/payer evidence. |
| Asset Operations | Workshop equipment identity, custody, condition, calibration and maintenance-related work. |
| Communications | Controlled notification and delivery records. The reviewed beta records in-app outcomes for permitted internal recipients; outbound email transport is disabled. |
| Project and Timesheet bridges | Links to native Project tasks and export of recorded Workshop sessions into Timesheets. |
| Command Center and its providers | Operational dashboards, with separate asset, finance, and Enterprise asset/budget extensions. |
The documentation target is Odoo 20 Enterprise. Have your implementer select packages matching that major version and confirm their native dependencies. Core Workshop uses Contacts, Mail, Portal, Product and Sales; Operations adds Inventory and Purchase; Capacity adds Resources, Maintenance and Skills. The optional Project and Timesheet bridges require their corresponding native applications.
The optional Enterprise asset/budget provider additionally requires account_asset and account_budget. Its compatibility remains a separate check before enabling it. The retained UI work did not establish that provider as operational. Financial cost views should not be treated as repair-order profit reports.
Give each person the right access
Ask your administrator to assign roles for actual duties, then verify access with ordinary users in the correct company. The role labels include Service Advisor, Estimator, Technician, Quality Inspector, Parts User, Workshop Dispatcher, Financial User, Workshop Manager and Workshop Administrator.
A Service Advisor records intake and customer decisions; an Estimator manages estimates. Technicians, quality staff and parts staff have scoped access to the relevant orders and work. A dispatcher plans and assigns operations. Manager and administrator roles have broader configuration responsibilities. These are distinct roles: their position in the role list does not mean each one inherits every preceding role.
Order assignments and explicit access grants matter in addition to role membership and company access. A missing record may require the correct assignment, rather than a broader administrator role. With Operations installed, Parts User also implies ordinary native Inventory and Purchase user access; include that in your access review.
Prepare a small working setup
- Confirm the company and people. Create the customer/contact records and arrange staff roles, order access and responsibility assignments. Identify who records customer authorization and who performs QC.
- Prepare vehicle reference data. Under Workshop → Configuration, review Vehicle Makes and Vehicle Models. Use Customers & Intake → Customer Vehicles to maintain each vehicle's customer, owner and identifying details.
- Publish an inspection template. Managers or administrators maintain Inspection Templates and Inspection Conditions. An inspection must use a published template version in the same company as its repair order.
- Prepare execution rules. Set up Operation Types and, where required, active QC Templates. Decide which parts, dependencies and handoffs must be ready before work starts.
- Prepare capacity. Under Configuration → Capacity, review Sites, Areas, Bays and Workstations, Equipment, Capabilities, Operation Requirements, Certifications and Responsibilities. Configure the resources you actually use.
- Walk through one fictional visit. Use a controlled test environment and the two workflow guides. Verify the intended role handoffs, visible blockers and resulting records before applying the setup to live work.
Find today's work
| Need | Workspace |
|---|---|
| Receive a vehicle | Home → Front Desk Today or Customers & Intake → Vehicle Intake |
| Prepare or review an estimate | Home → Estimator Work |
| Record customer approval, decline or deferral | Home → Customer Decisions |
| Plan resources | Planning → Schedule and Dispatch Recommendations |
| Start assigned technician work | Work Execution → My Work Queue or Ready to Start |
| Investigate work that cannot proceed | Work Execution → Visible Blockers; dispatchers also have Blocked Operations |
| Prepare parts | Parts & Supply → Parts Execution and Parts Exceptions |
| Complete quality review | Quality & Customer → Quality Control or Open QC |
| Arrange the customer handoff | Home → Delivery & Follow-up |
Menus depend on the installed addons and the user's roles. Use the repair order's smart buttons to inspect linked records without losing the context of the visit.
Keep the operating boundaries clear
A published estimate revision records a quotation snapshot; customer authorization records a decision about that revision or a specific line. These records do not by themselves create invoices, collect payment or settle an insurer claim. Continue to use your separately configured Sales and Accounting procedures for those tasks.
Customer-facing information is prepared as a reviewed publication with selected recipients and evidence. Internal findings are not automatically a live customer portal feed. The reviewed Communications beta records in-app outcomes for permitted active internal users. It disables actual outbound email even when a policy and template are approved, and does not establish SMS or WhatsApp transport.
Dispatch presents recommendations for a person to accept. A booking does not prove physical arrival, parts receipt, completed repair or successful QC. Each responsible team should complete its own records and investigate blockers before the visit moves forward.