Wasting $38K on Manual Tasks? Automate with Odoo 18 Studio

Operations manager spends Monday morning manually updating 47 sales orders: Change stage to "Confirmed" → Assign salesperson → Create follow-up activity → Send email to customer. Takes 3.7 hours weekly. Forgets to update 8 orders (customer complains: "Nobody followed up"). Developer says: "I can code this automation." Estimate: 2 weeks, $14,200. Manager thinks: "Too expensive for simple workflow." Keeps doing manually. Lost: $8,947 annually + customer satisfaction.

Your manual workflow disaster: Repetitive tasks done manually (update stage → assign user → create activity = 47 times weekly). Team forgets steps (inconsistent process execution). No standardization (each person does it differently). Custom code too expensive ($14K per workflow). Developers backlogged (3-month wait for simple automation). Users create messy workarounds (Excel tracking, sticky notes, calendar reminders). Mistakes compound (8 forgotten follow-ups = angry customers).

Cost: Manual repetitive tasks = 3.7 hours weekly × 52 weeks × $67/hour = $12,892/year per person × 3 people = $38,676. Forgotten tasks = 8 weekly × 52 weeks × $147 avg lost deal = $61,152 revenue lost. Developer backlog for simple automations = 23 workflow requests × 2 weeks × $95/hour × 40 hours = $174,800 wasted (or never built). Inconsistent execution = compliance violations, audit findings, customer complaints. Data quality poor (filters show wrong records, manual cleanup 4.2 hours monthly).

Odoo 18 Studio Automation & Filter Rules fix this: No-code automation builder—click to create rules. Trigger: "When stage changes to Confirmed" → Actions: Assign salesperson, create activity, send email. Runs automatically 24/7. Filter rules: Save custom filters, apply by default (show only "My Open Orders" when user opens sales). No programming required. Build in 15 minutes vs 2 weeks coding. Cost: $0 (included in Studio). Here's how to automate workflows so you stop losing $38K annually to manual tasks.

What Studio Automation & Filter Rules Do

Automation: No-code workflow builder. Set trigger (when something happens) → Define actions (what to do automatically). Filter Rules: Save custom filters, apply by default to list views.

Access Odoo 18 Studio

1. Go to any Odoo module (Sales, CRM, Inventory, etc.)
2. Click Toggle Studio icon (top-right corner, looks like pencil/wrench)
3. Studio editing mode activates (screen background changes slightly)
4. Access automation: Click Automation tab (top menu)
5. Access filter rules: Click Filter Rules tab (top menu)

Create Automated Action

Step 1: Create Pipeline Stages (If Needed)

If automating stage-based workflow, first create stages.

1. In Studio mode, open form view
2. Click "Add a pipeline status bar" button (top of form)
3. Field Properties popup appears
4. Add stages:
   • Type stage names: "New", "Confirmed", "Ordered", "Cancelled"
   • Click "Add new value" for each stage
   • Click pencil icon to edit existing stage
5. Click CONFIRM
6. Pipeline status bar appears on form

Step 2: Open Automation Builder

1. Click on stage field (or any field you want to automate)
2. Left sidebar opens with field properties
3. Click Automation tab
4. Automated Actions dashboard opens (initially empty)
5. Click NEW to create automation rule

Step 3: Configure Automation Rule

Basic Details

Trigger Configuration

Choose when automation fires. Multiple trigger types available:

Trigger Fields (Optional)

If trigger is "On Update", specify which fields to monitor:

1. Click Trigger Fields field
2. Select fields from dropdown (e.g., "Stage", "Salesperson", "Total Amount")
3. Multiple fields can be selected
4. Automation fires only when these specific fields change

Apply On (Filter Domain)

Narrow automation to specific records matching conditions:

# Only confirmed orders
[('state', '=', 'sale')]

# Orders over $10,000
[('amount_total', '>', 10000)]

# Specific customer
[('partner_id.name', '=', 'Acme Corp')]

# Multiple conditions (AND)
[('state', '=', 'sale'), ('amount_total', '>', 5000)]

# OR conditions
['|', ('state', '=', 'sale'), ('state', '=', 'done')]

Step 4: Define Actions

Choose what happens when trigger fires. Can add multiple actions.

Example: Update Record Action

1. In Actions To Do, select Update Record
2. Click Add a line
3. Select field to update (e.g., "Salesperson")
4. Choose evaluation type:
   • Value: Static value (select user from dropdown)
   • Python Expression: Dynamic (e.g., user = current user)
5. Enter value
6. Repeat for additional fields

Step 5: Save and Test

1. Click Save icon (top-left)
2. Exit Studio mode (click Toggle Studio again)
3. Test automation:
   • Create/update record to trigger automation
   • Verify actions executed (field updated, email sent, activity created)
4. Debug if needed:
   • Settings → Technical → Automated Actions (view execution log)
   • Check domain filter syntax
   • Verify trigger field configuration

Create Filter Rules

Step 1: Access Filter Rules

1. Enable Studio mode (Toggle Studio icon)
2. Click Filter Rules tab (top menu)
3. Dashboard shows existing filters (or empty if none)
4. Click NEW

Step 2: Configure Filter

Step 3: Define Domain (Filter Criteria)

Domain = Odoo's filter syntax using Python list format.

# My records only
[('user_id', '=', uid)]

# Inactive contacts
[('active', '=', False)]

# Orders from last 30 days
[('create_date', '>=', (context_today() - relativedelta(days=30)).strftime('%Y-%m-%d'))]

# High-value customers
[('customer_rank', '>', 0), ('total_invoiced', '>', 50000)]

# Specific stage
[('stage_id.name', '=', 'Confirmed')]

# Not cancelled or done
[('state', 'not in', ['cancel', 'done'])]

# Complex: My team's open leads
[('user_id.id', 'in', [uid, team_members]), ('type', '=', 'lead'), ('active', '=', True)]

Step 4: Set Context & Sort (Optional)

Step 5: Save and Test

1. Click Save
2. Exit Studio mode
3. Navigate to menu where filter applies (e.g., Sales → Orders)
4. If Default Filter enabled: Records auto-filtered
5. If not default: Filter appears in Filters dropdown

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Sales Order Auto-Assignment

Example 2: Lead Inactivity Alert

Example 3: "My Team's Open Orders" Filter

Best Practices