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.
Stop retyping customer orders into ERP.
AI reads incoming orders, identifies customer and products, prepares the sales document and sends only the exceptions to a person.The question is whether your ERP already does enough, a specialist product is better, or your workflow 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 with an email that someone turns 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 solved in many stacks. The work is deciding which layer solves it for yours.
- 1
Use
Native capability
- 2
Extend
Connect the missing pieces
- 3
Buy
Specialist solution
- 4
Build
Own the differentiator
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
An order arrives
A customer emails a PDF order to your sales inbox, as they always have.
- 2
AI reads it
Customer identified, order lines extracted, their references mapped to your SKUs.
- 3
The draft order is prepared
Quantities, prices and availability are checked against ERP data.
- 4
Exceptions go to a person
An unclear line, unusual price or credit issue is routed for review — with context.
- 5
The order is confirmed
Clean orders go straight through; your team only touches the ones that need judgment.
What should we measure?
No promised percentages. We agree the baseline, 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
Straight to configuration or implementation with your partner, a specialist product or the right team.
If the route is uncertain
We compare the options or validate the workflow with a Minimal Viable Agent first.
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, documents and SaaS — not from a new platform.
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.
Where this fits
Every service works on its own. Unsure where to start? Begin with the free intake.
Accelerate AI on your existing enterprise platform
Get more from Microsoft, Salesforce or SAP before adding another AI stack.
Validate a use case with a Minimal Viable Agent
Evidence before scale: validate one use case end to end.
Take a validated use case into operation
Deploy, configure or build — the architecture follows the scope.
Explore the AI Field Sprint
Find the AI workflows worth deploying — inside the business.
Need structure before you spend more on AI?
One call. Clear priorities and a recommended path.