USE CASE
Customer Orders from Email, Excel or Messaging
Orders arrive as free text or attachments. Sales staff interpret items and quantities, then enter them again elsewhere.
In brief. This use case consists of assessing how to: extract SKUs and quantities, check customer, catalog, and stock, prepare the order, and flag shortages or ambiguity.
How it works today
Orders arrive as free text or attachments. Sales staff interpret items and quantities, then enter them again elsewhere.
Where time is lost
The order is interpreted twice: once in the message and again while entering each line into the system.
What can be automated
Extract SKUs and quantities, check customer, catalog, and stock, prepare the order, and flag shortages or ambiguity.
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
Sales staff confirm substitutions, special pricing, and orders that cannot be interpreted safely.
Systems that may be involved
Email, files, an authorized messaging channel, catalog, CRM, and ERP.
When it is worth assessing
When recurring orders arrive in different formats but must enter the same catalog or ERP.
What not to assume
WhatsApp access depends on the available channel, permissions, and provider.
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?
Sales staff confirm substitutions, special pricing, and orders that cannot be interpreted safely.
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.