Let’s say a company struggles to keep track of its products because they are very complex and have many components, such as hardware, software, licences, warranties, and more.
A CMDB (configuration management database) does just that.
It tracks every product and its components pre- and post-sale for maintenance, repairs, and upsells.
However, product tracking is often disconnected from core business operations. This means that companies have to juggle multiple systems just to function.
By building a CMDB within their Odoo ERP, businesses can integrate granular product tracking with their standard business processes like sales, maintenance, and accounting.
Learn how we did it for one of our customers by building a CMDB inside a standard Odoo database.
What is a CMDB?
A CMDB is the master database for your product’s entire technical makeup.
The CMDB's greatest power is its hierarchical structure. It lets businesses manage product hardware, software, and configurations under a single view.
It starts at a product category level and narrows down to the smallest component, allowing you to:
- Manage product parts, configurations, warranties, and digital components
- Track necessary repairs and maintenance cycles
- Know when to conduct software updates or renew licenses
- Pull up related processes like upsells or invoicing via smart buttons, all linked back to the specific product.
Key concepts of a CMDB
Configuration Item (CI): Every tracked product or asset is a CI. It includes hardware, software, licenses, and linked business documents such as maintenance orders or sales contracts
Active Components: These are all sub-components that make up a CI: hardware parts, software versions, licenses, and warranties.
Odoo is the ideal foundation to build a CMDB
Odoo already manages core business operations through apps like Sales, Inventory, Manufacturing, Maintenance, and Accounting. These are all processes that heavily interact with a CMDB.
Still, Odoo’s native tracking isn’t designed for deep configuration management.
It handles product, stock, and warranty data well, but it does not inherently support hierarchical product structures with granular component-level relationships.
However, Odoo is also open-source and therefore highly extendable. This makes it a strong foundation for adding a CMDB layer that enhances product traceability while remaining fully integrated with existing business processes.
How a CMDB integrates with an Odoo database
By adding a CMDB layer inside the standard Odoo database, companies can combine Odoo’s operational data with detailed configuration tracking.
Sales, manufacturing orders, maintenance tickets, and accounting entries flow into the CMDB automatically.
Each update reinforces the Configuration Item record, which acts as the central hub for understanding the product’s current state.
Standard Odoo database | CMDB layer | |
Product tracking | Tracks the main product's logistics, financials, and general warranty. | Tracks the operational configuration, including specific firmware, license keys, and the precise warranty status of each component. |
Traceability | Uses Lot/Serial numbers to track where the main product came from and its current location/customer. | Uses the main serial number to build a hierarchy showing component dependencies (what software is connected, what hardware is inside). |
Incident management | Records repair tickets and accounting records linked to the main product's serial number. | Identifies the failed product component (e.g., the exact power supply, not just the display unit) and reports back to the main Odoo database. |
Example: Tracking train displays for a mobility company
To see this in practice, take one of our clients: a mobility company that manufactures and manages display screens used across European train networks.
Reliability and passenger safety depend on knowing the exact status of every display unit.
Yet the company struggled to maintain visibility across thousands of components deployed over long distances.
They also needed this information to connect seamlessly with sales, invoicing, and maintenance processes.
A train display is far more than a screen. It is a structured collection of assets, such as:
- Train routes, for example, Zurich to Munich
- Individual carriages where each screen is installed
- The display unit itself, tracked by its Odoo serial number
- Active components, including motherboards, power supplies, casing, wiring, software versions, licenses, and warranties.
This complexity made a CMDB essential.
How we implemented the CMDB in an Odoo database
We used Odoo’s Serial Number Tracking feature within the Inventory app as the base.
From there, we structured product categories to represent the full hierarchy of assets from route to individual screen.
- Every serial number became a Configuration Item
- Custom fields captured lifecycle data, including warranties, traceability, and past invoices
- Each CI was connected directly to related operational and commercial documents.
The result: perfect tracking of every train display component
With the setup complete, our Enhanced Traceability module added component-level tracking and post-sale monitoring.
If a screen fails on the Zurich–Munich route:
- The system immediately identifies the exact carriage and screen location
- It highlights the specific component that failed, not just the display unit
- It creates a maintenance order with the precise part needed for the repair.
The company can now anticipate product interventions, assess the impact of component changes, and maintain consistency between product configurations and operational decisions.
Let’s discuss your product tracking setup in Odoo
Talk to our Odoo experts to manage every product detail, starting with the initial sale through to post-sale operations.