Orders get typed in two or three times
Customers order by email, phone, PDF and WhatsApp. Someone types each order into the ERP, then into the warehouse sheet, then again for the invoice. And the stock numbers still don’t match.
Typical in: B2B wholesale and distribution, food supply, manufacturing, e-commerce, contractors with material stock
What it looks like
Orders arrive in every format your customers like: an email with a list, a PDF purchase order, a photo of a handwritten note, a phone call before 14:00. Someone types each one into the ERP. Then the warehouse needs a pick list, the driver needs a route and accounting needs an invoice, and each of those is often typed or copied again.
Every copy takes time and is a chance to get the quantity, item code, price or address wrong. Because stock is updated in several places at different times, the online shop, the ERP and the shelf all show different numbers. People stop trusting the system and keep their own lists.
How many of these sound familiar?
- Order clerks have a queue every morning, and Monday is the worst.
- Wrong items, wrong pack sizes or old prices go out every week.
- You sell items you don’t have, then cancel or apologise.
- Taking on more customers means hiring another person to type.
What the research says
Three companies, same problem
Pērle Foods
Around 300 cafés and shops order by phone until 14:00 or by email, sometimes as photos of handwritten lists. Two order clerks type everything into the ERP. The warehouse works from a printout and drivers from another list. On Monday mornings there’s a four-hour queue, and wrong pack sizes cause returns every week.
Brīvkalns Hardware
Two warehouses, an online shop and field sales reps. The shop syncs with the ERP once a night, so daytime sales oversell and three to five orders a week are cancelled. Reps phone the warehouse to check stock before every larger offer.
Mīksti Textiles
The company sells through its own online shop, two marketplaces and to 60 boutiques. Boutique orders come by email. Marketplace orders are copied into the accounting system by hand, and customer service spends its mornings answering “where is my order?” emails.
Illustrative examples. The companies are fictional; the situations are typical of the industries we work with.
How we fix it
- 01
One order inbox.
Email and PDF orders are read automatically, with a person checking anything unclear. Phone orders are entered once in a simple form. Repeat customers can order through a B2B portal.
- 02
Checks at the door.
Item codes, customer prices, discounts and available stock are checked when the order is entered, not when the goods are packed.
- 03
One stock record.
Every channel reads stock from one source of truth in near real time. Receiving, returns and transfers are booked on a phone at the moment they happen.
- 04
Passed on automatically.
The confirmed order goes to the ERP or accounting, the pick list and the delivery plan without being typed again, and customers get automatic status updates.
What changes
Before
After
A typical first project
An order inbox for your main channel (usually email or PDF), checks against your ERP, and automatic pick lists and confirmations. Stock sync and a B2B portal can follow in the next sprints. First working version in about four weeks. It starts with a free Process Mapping session.
Apply for a free Process MappingFind out what’s slowing your business down.
Start with a free analysis to identify your biggest bottlenecks and discover where improvements will have the greatest impact.