Atelier 33 Case Study: Zoho Creator and Zoho CRM

At a glance

One master for every luminaire and supplier

A costed BOQ for each project

Supplier quotes validated before any PO

Spend and margin visible per project

The challenge

What Atelier 33 needed to fix

Atelier 33 is a Beirut-based firm providing architectural lighting design and supply for small and large projects, from apartments and villas to malls, museums and parks across Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Portugal. Every project turns a lighting design into a bill of quantities of luminaires sourced from international suppliers.

Thousands of luminaire itemsFixtures, drivers and accessories from many suppliers lived in scattered price sheets.
BOQs per projectEach lighting design had to become a project BOQ with accurate costing.
Quotes checked before orderingSupplier quotes had to be validated against the BOQ before any PO.
Spend and margin per projectManagement needed costs, margins and spend for every project in one place.

Globe pendant lights hanging from an interior ceiling. Photo credit

Before and after

What changed for the team

BeforeAfter

Luminaire items and supplier prices lived in scattered price sheets

One item and supplier master in Zoho Creator with linked price lists

Each lighting design had to become an accurately costed project BOQ

A costed BOQ built from the lighting design for every project

Supplier quotes had to be validated against the BOQ before ordering

Quotes validated against the BOQ before any purchase order is issued

Management needed project costs, margins and spend in one place

Spend and margin visible per project on Creator dashboards

How it works

The business process, step by step

01
Item and supplier master
The team maintains an item master in the Zoho Creator ERP for luminaires, drivers and accessories, each linked to its suppliers, plus a supplier master holding price lists and currencies.
02
Project BOQ
For each project, the lighting design is turned into a bill of quantities in Zoho Creator, linked to the project. Clients and enquiries for the project are held in Zoho CRM.
03
Costing
Each BOQ line is costed in Zoho Creator using supplier prices, freight and margin. Built-in financial calculations produce the totals and margins for the project before anything is ordered.
04
Quote validation
Supplier quotes are checked against the BOQ in Zoho Creator before any purchase order is raised, so differences from the costed items and quantities are caught at this stage.
05
Purchase orders
Once a quote is validated, Zoho Creator generates purchase orders per supplier directly from the validated BOQ, so each supplier receives an order covering only its own items.
06
Project and spend dashboard
Every BOQ line rolls up into project and spend dashboards in Zoho Creator, showing management the costs, margins and spend for each project in one place.

The solution

What we built for Atelier 33

Shyphan delivered the project on Zoho Creator and Zoho CRM, covering a 6-step process with 3 integration points.

Item master for luminaires, drivers and accessories with supplier links
Supplier master with price lists and currencies
Project-linked BOQs built from the lighting design
Costing with financial calculations for totals and margins
Quote validation against the BOQ before ordering
Purchase orders generated per supplier from the validated BOQ
Project and spend dashboards for management

Zoho Creator ERP interface — Zoho Creator ERP product screenshot, for illustration

Clients, enquiries and projects referenced in the proposal

Zoho CRM interface — Zoho CRM product screenshot, for illustration

Who uses it

Client and sales team

Keep clients and enquiries in Zoho CRM as the starting point for each lighting design and supply project.

Design and project team

Turn each lighting design into a project BOQ in Zoho Creator using items from the item master.

Estimating and costing

Apply supplier prices, freight and margin to each BOQ line to calculate project totals and margins.

Procurement team

Maintain supplier price lists and currencies, validate supplier quotes against the BOQ and issue purchase orders per supplier.

Management

Review project and spend dashboards in Zoho Creator to see costs, margins and spend for every project.

Architecture

How the systems connect

InputsSupplier price listsLighting designsClient enquiries

Delivered by Shyphan

OutputsSupplier purchase ordersManagement dashboards

Integrations

Project to BOQ to PO
Project, BOQ, supplier items and purchase orders connected inside one Creator app.
Costing to dashboards
Every BOQ line rolls up to project spend and margin.
Out of scope
External ERP and accounting integration was outside this phase.

Reports and dashboards

Project spend dashboard

Spend per project, built from BOQ lines and the supplier purchase orders raised in Zoho Creator.

Project margin

Totals and margins for each project, calculated from supplier prices, freight and margin.

Supplier purchase orders

Purchase orders issued per supplier from validated BOQs, grouped by project.

Quote validation status

Supplier quotes checked against each BOQ, showing which are validated and ready for ordering.

The results

What the system does now

One master for every luminaire and supplier
A costed BOQ for each project
Supplier quotes validated before any PO
Spend and margin visible per project

Delivery

Five phases, discovery to support

01
Discovery
Process mapping, documents and data reviewed with each team.
02
Design
Target flow agreed across 2 apps and 3 integration points.
03
Build
Apps configured, custom logic built and integrations connected.
04
Test and train
User acceptance testing with real scenarios and role-based training.
05
Go-live and support
Cut-over, hypercare and ongoing improvements.

Local rules built in

Lebanese VAT

VAT applied on invoices as required.

Multi-currency

USD and LBP handled side by side.

Access control

Role-based access with audit logs.

FAQ

Questions about this project

Why was the ERP built in Zoho Creator?

Atelier 33 needed one connected flow from item and supplier master through project BOQs, costing, quote validation and purchase orders. A Zoho Creator app holds all of these in one place and links them, so every BOQ line rolls up to project spend and margin.

How are supplier quotes validated before ordering?

Supplier quotes are checked against the project BOQ in the Creator ERP before any purchase order is raised. Only once a quote has been validated are purchase orders generated per supplier from the BOQ, so orders follow the costed design.

Was accounting integration included?

No. Integration with an external ERP or accounting system was outside this phase. The scope covered the Creator ERP from item and supplier master through to purchase orders and dashboards, with clients and enquiries held in Zoho CRM.

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Atelier 33

What Atelier 33 needed to fix

What changed for the team

The business process, step by step

Item and supplier master

Project BOQ

Costing

Quote validation

Purchase orders

Project and spend dashboard