Automatic processing of Sales Orders in SAP
Within Mediq’s Order-to-Cash (O2C) process, processing Sales Orders is a critical process. Of the many millions of orders through portals and EDI, each year still 50,000+ sales orders in PDF or Word arrived in the mailbox. These orders sometimes contained more than 100 order lines, which meant that 4 to 6 employees were busy processing these orders in SAP.
Processing these orders was manual, error-prone and time-intensive. At the same time, fast processing was essential, especially for rush orders, and delays directly impact the customer experience and relationship. And so in such a process, you want to reduce employee dependency.
The central question was: how can Sales Orders be processed faster, more consistently and automatically in SAP, without loss of control?
Together with Tacstone, an AI-driven automation solution with UiPath was chosen, with AI, Robots and employees working closely together.
What technologies?
UiPath Document Understanding (AI), Robots (RPA) & Action Center (Employees)
Volume?
± 50,000 orders per year (Netherlands)
Result of the solution?
Faster processing, higher continuity, improved master data, cost savings
Reason
Mediq receives approximately 50,000 Sales Orders annually via email from customers who do not order through a portal or EDI. These orders vary greatly in size and complexity. Many orders contain dozens to hundreds of lines.
The main bottlenecks were:
- Matching sales order data is challenging (UoM, outdated data, customer-specific agreements)
- One mismatch blocks the entire order
- Manual input into User Interface of SAP is time consuming
- Input errors (typo’s) lead to re-work and high costs
- Process is critical to customer experience
Approach
We used het Sales Order Machine Learning model from UiPath Document Understanding. This model is able to read the data on the Sales Order without any training.
The solution goes through the following steps:
- Sales order received in mailbox
- Sales order reading (AI extraction)
- Validation employee through Action Center
- Determine delivery address based on customer master data
- Verifying product rules with product catalog
- Validation employee via App Actions
- Entering Sales Order in SAP
Crucial was the addition ofn a “human in the loop”. When the model is not 100% sure, employees check the data and matching with the order items in SAP. This check often takes as little as one minute, but allows for 100% automation of order entry into SAP. This manual and error-prone input by employees also previously took by far the most time.
How does it work?
Results of the solution
The automated processing of sales orders in SAP produces the following results:
- ± 50,000 orders processed per year (3-5FTE saved)
- Faster handling
- Higher continuity especially in peak periods
- Enhanced master data
- Scalable solution for rollout to other countries in EU
- Human-in-the-Loop ensures control and reliability
How can you apply this in your organization?
Do you want to be like Mediq automate your Sales Order process in SAP? automate? And also speed up the processing time, reduce errors and improven master data veImprove? Schedule a free consultation to explore how we can help your organization do just that.
