USE CASE
From Purchase Order to Stock Receipt
Purchasing issues an order; the supplier sends an invoice; the warehouse receives goods and a delivery note. Finance compares quantities and prices before updating the ERP.
In brief. This use case consists of assessing how to: capture invoice and delivery note, match them to the order, compare quantities and prices, record matching receipts, and separate discrepancies.
How it works today
Purchasing issues an order; the supplier sends an invoice; the warehouse receives goods and a delivery note. Finance compares quantities and prices before updating the ERP.
Where time is lost
A mismatch appears after receipt: purchasing, warehouse, and finance hunt for three versions of one transaction.
What can be automated
Capture invoice and delivery note, match them to the order, compare quantities and prices, record matching receipts, and separate discrepancies.
How a workflow could work
A practical flow takes inputs from the relevant sources, checks them against agreed rules, performs routine actions, and sends uncertain cases to a person.
What still needs a person
Purchasing or warehouse staff confirm partial receipts and resolve price, quantity, or quality discrepancies.
Systems that may be involved
Email, PDFs, purchase orders, ERP, and inventory system.
When it is worth assessing
When receiving and invoice volume makes manual matching a bottleneck for reliable inventory updates.
What not to assume
Integration and automatic posting depend on the data and access available in each ERP.
How Smartservices approaches it
We map the existing process, verify data and system access, define controls and a human review point, then scope an integration or automation around the actual workflow.
Questions to ask before starting
Can this work with our current systems?
It depends on available APIs, exports, permissions, and data quality. We check those constraints before choosing an integration.
Will people still review exceptions?
Purchasing or warehouse staff confirm partial receipts and resolve price, quantity, or quality discrepancies.
What is needed for an initial assessment?
A sample of the current inputs, the steps people perform, the systems involved, and the most common exceptions.