Task: From Manual entry to AI precision –– Automating PO working for FnB Company
For FnB and FMCG companies, time is money, especially when numerous Purchase Orders (POS) keep flooding daily, requiring quick processing. The client that approached us (FnB company) faced the same challenge. This FnB company was receiving almost 1000 POS every day. Most of them were arriving near the time of their cut, that is, 3 PM. To keep up with the target, they had the team of 13 members having the task to manually enter PO in the ERP system to ensure delivery the next morning. The process was off-course, slow, costly, and not error-free.
The Challenge
- Manually entering the PO
- Large operations team, hence the higher labor cost
- Inefficiency in the timely delivery of the task
AI-Powered Automation Solution
We fully automate the email-to-ERP workflow by building a custom AI solution. Here’s how the proposed solution worked:
Parsing Emails using the Microsoft Graph API
The Microsoft Graph API is used by the AI system to establish a connection with the client’s Microsoft 365 mailbox. It searches for fresh emails that have attachments, such as HTML, PDF, or Excel files.
Intelligent Data Extraction
Even if various customers use different naming conventions, the AI nevertheless retrieves important information from the attachments, including the customer ID, PO number, delivery address, and item descriptions.
Database-Based Product Matching
No matter how the products are named in the PO, the system finds the relevant SKUs by cross-referencing item descriptions with the company’s internal product database.
Order Creation and ERP Integration
The entire order, which is now exact and tidy, is then sent straight into the client’s NetSuite ERP system after validation.
The Results
- The team was reduced from 13 to just 6 members by reallocating the other employees to more strategic roles.
- The AI processes 90% majority of orders without intervention. The 10% are flagged because of missing data and unreadable files.
- The system started separating duplicate and spam emails.
- The system seamlessly integrates into the client’s current workflow without requiring any disruptive changes because it is built directly on top of NetSuite and Microsoft Office 365.
