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How to automate order entry from email and PDF purchase orders
How automated order entry works
- Capture: orders arriving at orders@ (or sales@, or a customer portal) are picked up automatically, attachments included.
- Read: the software extracts customer, ship-to, items, quantities, prices and dates from the email or PDF.
- Match: customer part numbers are matched to your item numbers; anything uncertain is flagged instead of guessed.
- Draft: the sales order is filled into your ERP or accounting system as a draft.
- Approve: a person reviews and approves. Every step is logged and can be traced.
- Carry through: the same data feeds the job, the paperwork and the invoice, so nobody types it twice.
What you need before starting
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Sample POs from your top customers | To cover the formats that make up most of your volume |
| Your item list with customer part numbers | For matching lines to your items |
| Access to the system you enter orders in | To draft orders the way your team does today |
| A week of baseline timing | Minutes per order, so you can prove the result |
Real example: Atlantic Food Bars. A Dallas-area manufacturer of hot and cold food equipment for national grocery chains, with 8 people in the office and 2 plants, handling dozens of orders a day. The office was about to hire another person (a $60,000+ a year seat) to keep up. Instead, software now reads each order email and fills out the work, and the team checks it in about a tenth of the time. Read the case study →
Common questions from order desks
- "Every customer's PO looks different." That's normal and expected; the reading step handles varied layouts, and anything unclear is flagged for a person.
- "Our system is old." Older ERPs and accounting systems can still be filled in; replacing them isn't required.
FAQ
Can order entry be fully automated?
The typing can. A person should still approve each order, at least until the numbers prove it out. That keeps control while removing most of the time.
What systems does this work with?
Common accounting and ERP systems used by manufacturers and distributors. The automation fills in the system you already run.
Who automates order entry in Dallas?
Peekgentic, a Dallas, Texas firm, built automated order entry for Atlantic Food Bars, a manufacturer that supplies national grocery chains.
Want this for your desk?
Peekgentic is a Dallas firm. We'll come watch how your desk works for 20 minutes and tell you straight whether it's worth automating.