Order Processing

Stop retyping customer orders into ERP.

AI can now read incoming order requests, identify the customer and products, prepare the sales document and send only the exceptions to a person.

The important question is whether your ERP already does enough, whether a specialist order-processing product is better, or whether your workflow genuinely needs custom logic.

Can AI automatically enter sales orders?

Yes. Modern AI can read orders from email and documents, identify customers and products, create draft sales orders and route uncertain cases for review. Some ERP platforms already include this capability. Specialist document-AI products are often stronger when formats, product mappings or exceptions are unusually complex.

The problem is rarely the ERP. It is everything before it.

Most order entry still starts the same way: a customer sends an email, and someone on your team turns it into an ERP record by hand.

  • A customer order arrives by email, often as a PDF or spreadsheet.
  • Product references on the order don't match your internal SKUs.
  • Quantities, units and delivery dates have to be interpreted.
  • Availability and pricing are checked in a second screen.
  • An employee retypes everything into ERP.
  • Exceptions are discovered late — after the order was promised.

Use · Extend · Buy · Build

Order capture is a solved problem in many stacks. The work is deciding which layer should solve it for yours.

  1. 1

    Use

    Native capability

  2. 2

    Extend

    Connect the missing pieces

  3. 3

    Buy

    Specialist solution

  4. 4

    Build

    Own the differentiator

Use

Your ERP already handles it

If your current ERP already handles the majority of incoming orders reliably, test that first. Business Central's Sales Order Agent, for example, covers relatively standard email and PDF order capture out of the box.

Extend

ERP is right, but context is missing

Sometimes the ERP is the right home for the order, but it can't see everything it needs. Then we connect what's missing:

  • an external product catalogue
  • customer-specific reference mapping
  • logistics and availability data
  • an approval workflow for unusual orders

Buy

Document complexity is the real problem

Specialist order-processing software can make more sense when you process high volumes of heterogeneous PDFs, spreadsheets, scans or customer-specific formats. Products like Klassif.ai exist precisely because reading messy documents well is a product in itself.

Build

The decision logic is proprietary

Build only when the thinking behind the order is yours: complex product configuration, custom bundling, customer-specific commercial rules or proprietary order validation. Don't rebuild basic order capture — build the logic that makes your process different.

In practice

What an automated order flow looks like

A typical flow for an industrial or distribution business processing email orders:

  1. 1

    An order arrives

    A customer emails a PDF order to your sales inbox, as they always have.

  2. 2

    AI reads it

    Customer identified, order lines extracted, their references mapped to your SKUs.

  3. 3

    The draft order is prepared

    Quantities, prices and availability are checked against ERP data.

  4. 4

    Exceptions go to a person

    An unclear line, unusual price or credit issue is routed for review — with context.

  5. 5

    The order is confirmed

    Clean orders go straight through; your team only touches the ones that need judgment.

What should we measure?

We don't promise percentages we can't back up. We agree the baseline first, then measure:

  • manual minutes per order
  • straight-through processing rate
  • exception rate
  • order-entry accuracy
  • order cycle time
  • cost per order

We don't force a strategy project in front of an obvious solution.

If the route is clear

We can move directly to configuration or implementation with your existing partner, a specialist product or the right delivery team.

If the route is uncertain

We compare the options or validate the workflow with a Minimal Viable Agent before committing larger budget.

If several opportunities compete

We prioritise them through a ScopeRight Scoping Workshop.

Works with the stack you already have

We start from your current CRM, ERP, email, document management, website and specialist SaaS — not from a new platform.

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Frequently asked questions

Our customers all send orders in different formats. Does that break this?

No — it decides the route. Standard formats are often handled natively by your ERP. High-volume, messy or customer-specific formats are usually where specialist document-AI products earn their place.

Does this replace our ERP order entry?

No. The ERP stays the system of record. Automation prepares validated draft orders in it; your team reviews only the exceptions.

We run Business Central. Do we need extra software at all?

Maybe not. Business Central now includes a Sales Order Agent for email and PDF order capture. We test whether native capability covers your order mix before proposing anything else.

What happens when the AI misreads an order?

Uncertain extractions are never auto-confirmed. They are routed to a person with the original document alongside, and the confidence thresholds are yours to set.

Can our existing Microsoft or ERP partner implement this?

Often yes, and we encourage it. ScopeRight defines what should be automated and which route fits; your existing partner can deliver the configuration where that's the fastest path.

All solutions

Define the right scope. Validate it. Implement it the right way.

Before you launch another pilot or commit to an implementation, let us determine what is actually worth validating. A free 30-minute intake, an honest read, a clear next step.

Brief usWorkshop details

Not sure which service fits? Start with a free intake. We'll tell you whether you need a scoping workshop, an outside-in benchmark, an MVA sprint, a proposal review, an implementation path — or nothing yet.