For many organisations, handling sales orders from multiple channels—such as EDI, email, and fax—is a daily reality. Each channel comes with unique challenges and processes that require careful management. Without automation, multi-channel management can be time-consuming and prone to error. Implementing sales order automation helps businesses streamline these processes, reduce costs, and improve accuracy.
The Complexity of Multi-Channel Sales Order Management
Sales orders arrive in different formats depending on how your customers prefer to place their orders. Each channel requires specific handling and poses unique challenges:
- EDI Orders: These are structured, electronic transactions that integrate directly with your systems. While efficient, managing different EDI standards across trading partners can be complex.
- Email Orders: Customers often submit orders via E-Mail in PDF or spreadsheet formats. Extracting and processing these orders manually is time-consuming and increases the risk of data entry errors.
- Faxed Orders: Though declining in use, some industries still rely on faxed orders. These require manual processing, scanning, and data entry—adding to operational overhead.
Each channel requires a separate workflow, making it difficult to maintain consistency, track progress, and ensure data accuracy. Managing these channels manually does little to add value but consumes significant resources.
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How Sales Order Automation Simplifies Multi-Channel Management
Sales order automation centralises and streamlines the processing of orders from all channels, improving efficiency and reducing errors. Here’s how it works:
1. Unified Order Capture
Automation systems capture sales orders from all sources—EDI, email, and fax—and convert them into a consistent digital format. This reduces manual intervention and ensures every order follows the same process.
2. Intelligent Data Extraction
For non-EDI channels like email and fax, automation uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract key information. This allows for faster processing and minimises data entry mistakes.
3. Automated Validation and Processing
Orders are automatically validated against pre-set business rules—checking for missing data, duplicate orders, or incorrect pricing. This ensures only accurate, complete orders proceed to fulfilment.
4. Seamless Integration with ERP Systems
Once verified, orders are integrated directly into your ERP system. This real-time connection improves visibility across departments and accelerates the order-to-cash cycle.
5. Improved Tracking and Reporting
Sales order automation provides real-time tracking and reporting across all channels. This allows you to monitor order status, identify bottlenecks, and improve decision-making.
The Business Benefits of Sales Order Automation
By automating multi-channel order management, businesses can:
- Save Time and Reduce Errors: Eliminate manual data entry and the associated risks.
- Enhance Customer Satisfaction: Faster, more accurate order processing means fewer delays and errors.
- Lower Operational Costs: Reduce the resources required to manage multiple order channels.
- Increase Scalability: Handle higher order volumes without increasing headcount.
- Boost Visibility: Gain a single view of all incoming orders, improving operational transparency.
Is It Time to Automate Your Sales Order Process?
Managing EDI, email, and fax orders manually is no longer sustainable for growing businesses. Sales order automation reduces complexity, improves accuracy, and frees your team to focus on higher-value tasks. By integrating all your sales channels into a unified system, you can deliver a faster, more reliable experience to your customers while driving operational efficiency.
Learn more about B2BE’s Sales Order Automation solution.
About B2BE
B2BE delivers electronic supply chain solutions globally, helping organisations to better manage their supply chain processes, providing greater levels of visibility, auditability and control. We’re driven by a passion for what we do, inspired by innovation, and underpinned by a wealth of knowledge. With over 20+ years of experience, the B2BE teams operate worldwide.
For more information, visit www.b2be.com.