The Role of AI in Reducing Order Processing Time

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When it comes to building a successful business, proper time management isn't the main thing; it's the only thing. This is particularly true in the fast-paced world of supply chain management, where every minute counts and delays can result in lost sales and unhappy customers. The traditional methods of manually entering data from emails and attachments and then updating ERP systems not only consume your valuable time but also leave room for errors and delays.

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But it doesn't mean that your business has to be buried under a pile of emails and tedious data entry tasks. There is a solution that can not only save you hundreds of hours but also streamline the entire process to ensure faster and more accurate order processing. This solution is AI, and it's the future of order management. From sales orders and quotes to compliance requests, AI can handle it all with speed and accuracy, freeing up your team to focus on more value-added tasks.

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In this blog post, we'll discuss the role of AI in reducing order processing time and how it can benefit your business in the long run. We'll also take a look at the challenges of manual order processing and how AI can address them to create a more efficient and productive workflow.

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What Is Order Processing?

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Order processing is the "heartbeat" of any supply chain management operation. It is a series of steps that begin when a customer places an order and ends with the delivery of goods. This critical workflow ensures that customer orders are properly prepared, managed, and fulfilled in a timely and accurate manner.

It serves as the bridge between sales and fulfillment, ensuring that the customer's demands are met and that the business operates efficiently. It involves various tasks, and each step is paramount for the overall success of the sales process. From order validation and entry to notifying customers of order status, these steps must be executed with precision to ensure a smooth and seamless experience for both the business and the customer.

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Challenges & Complexity of Manual Order Processing

As the name suggests, manual order processing is entirely dependent on human effort to add, edit, update, and manage orders. Everything from processing emails to updating data in your ERP system is done by hand. This tedious and time-consuming approach comes with a host of challenges & complexities that can significantly impact the efficiency of your order management process.

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1. Time-Consuming

No one wants to go to work just to do repetitive tasks that consume most of their time. Yet, this is what manual order processing entails – spending hundreds of hours keying in data from emails, attachments, and other sources into your system. Now, doing it for a few orders might not seem like a big deal, but when you have hundreds or even thousands of orders to process, it becomes a significant burden on your team. This not only slows down the entire process but also hinders your team's productivity and motivation levels.

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2. Prone to Errors

Humans are prone to errors; it's in our nature. Even the best employees can make mistakes when they are tired, overworked, or stressed. When it comes to manual order processing, these mistakes can be costly for your business. From typos errors to incorrect order details, a single mistake can result in a domino effect that impacts your entire supply chain. If you try to find and fix these errors, you'll end up wasting more time and resources that could have been put to better use.

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3. Lack of Real-Time Process Transparency

To grow your business, you need to have a clear and complete real-time picture of how your order process works. But with manual order processing, this is difficult. Since everything is done manually, it becomes challenging to keep track of orders, monitor performance, and identify bottlenecks in the process. Your team may spend hours digging through emails, spreadsheets, and other documents to find the information they need. This lack of real-time visibility not only hinders growth but also leads to delays, errors, and dissatisfied customers.

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4. Scalability Issues

As your business grows, so does the number of orders you receive. This increase in volume can quickly overwhelm your manual processing as these systems are not designed to handle high volumes of orders. It can lead to longer processing times and more errors, ultimately impacting the customer experience. This scalability issue can become a significant roadblock in your business's growth and, if not addressed in time, can result in lost opportunities and revenue.

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5. Inefficiency and High Costs

The manual order processing process is inefficient by nature. As we said earlier, it's time-consuming and prone to errors. This inefficiency not only affects your team's productivity but also leads to high costs associated with manual data entry and processing. The more time your team spends on these tasks, the less they can focus on other essential tasks that drive business growth. These high costs can significantly impact your bottom line, hindering your business's success in the long run.

Aside from these challenges, manual order processing also entails complexities like managing data across different ERP systems, maintaining accuracy, and keeping up with compliance requirements. All of these challenges can create a tangled web that slows down your entire order management process.

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The Role of AI in Reducing Order Processing Time

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The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in orders processing is to automate and optimize various tasks involved in the process, like sale order entry, sales order validation, and quote generation. This cutting-edge technology utilized Large Language Models (LLMs) to improve business operations' efficiency and efficacy.

An AI-powered order processing system is like a smart assistant that works 24/7, precision, and, with speed. In a word, AI can streamline the entire order process from start to finish. Here are some of the ways AI can reduce order processing time and empower your B2B operations.

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Automated Order Entry:

One of the main perks of having an AI-powered order processing system in place is that it eliminates the need for manual data entry. Unlike traditional systems that often require employees to spend hours inputting data from emails, PDFs, and other sources into your ERP system, AI automates this process. For instance, turian’s  AI assistant can understand the text in emails as well as attachments like PDFs, spreadsheets, or CSVs.

It then compares this data with your existing ERP / CRM systems and updates them accordingly without any human intervention. This means your supply chain teams don't have to spend countless hours opening and reading emails, copying data, and updating systems manually. Here's the benefits of automated order entry with AI:

• It mitigates the possibility of keystroke errors and ensures data accuracy.
• It saves valuable time that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks.
• It allows your teams to focus on more strategic and value-added activities.
• It can handle high volumes of orders without compromising on accuracy or speed.
• It works 24/7 without any breaks, ensuring continuous order processing.

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Intelligent Data Validation:

For any B2B business, maintaining accurate and consistent data is crucial, as it affects the entire supply chain. With the manual process, it's hard and costly to guarantee data accuracy. However, AI-powered order processing systems use intelligent validation capabilities to ensure all information is accurate and consistent across all systems.

The AI assistant can extract all relevant details, like product information, customer data, and commercial terms, and then compare this data with your system's existing information. If there are any discrepancies or missing information, the AI system alerts your team to correct them before proceeding with order processing. With AI order processing, you can also add custom validations, such as checking stock availability or earliest delivery dates, before processing the order.

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Compliance:

Navigating the complex landscape of regulatory compliance is a challenge not only for procurement teams, but also for sales teams. What if a customer asks about how your products or raw materials comply with certain laws? Until now, teams needed to manually do these compliance assessments themselves or try to push it onto their suppliers - which rarely makes friends. With the advent of powerful LLMs that can be integrated in your database,  AI systems can evaluate compliance by running checks against various regulatory requirements like CBAM, REACH/RoHS, or CSDDD. These systems can also identify and flag any potential non-compliances, allowing your team to make necessary corrections. This not only ensures a smooth supply chain but also protects your business from any penalties or legal consequences that may arise from non-compliance.

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Data-Driven Insights & Predictive Analytics:

AI order processing system is not just limited to automating and validating orders; it also provides valuable data-driven insights through data visualization and predictive analytics. These insights can help you understand your business's order patterns, identify any bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the process, and make data-driven decisions to improve overall efficiency. By using Large Language Models (LLMs), AI can analyze large volumes of data and provide real-time insights into your business operations. With this information in hand, you can optimize your supply chain and increase productivity by addressing any recurring issues.

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Improved Customer Satisfaction:

What is the ultimate goal of any B2B business? To keep customers happy and loyal. And that's exactly what AI-powered order processing systems can help with. By streamlining the process, reducing processing time, and ensuring accuracy and compliance, AI systems can provide a seamless customer experience.

Aside from quote generation, AI assistants can also intelligently process email text and attachments. It can draft responses, request additional information, and even send the final quote or order confirmation back to the customer. This level of speed and efficiency leaves a positive impression on customers, increasing their satisfaction and loyalty towards your business.

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Reduce Cost and Increase Profitability:

By streamlining order processing workflows and automating routine tasks, businesses can process large volumes of orders with fewer resources. This cost reduction not only improves profitability but also allows businesses to invest in other areas of growth like marketing, product development, or customer service.

In simple words, the role of AI in reducing order processing time is to speed up the process, improve your data quality, and improve efficiency. By leveraging the power of AI, businesses can ensure a seamless, accurate, and timely order-processing experience that leads to happy customers and a thriving supply chain.

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Implement AI in Order Processing with turian

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If you've been bogged down by the tedious and time-consuming method of manual order processing and looking for a smart solution to streamline your business operations, then we have just the right tool for you: turian. Our intelligent AI-based processing assistant provides a cutting-edge solution for B2B businesses looking to eliminate manual data entry, reduce processing time, and increase efficiency and accuracy. With turian, you can remove up to 80% of your team's admin work and save hundreds of hours that can now be utilized for more critical tasks. From quote generation to order confirmation, our AI assistant offers a seamless and automated process that speeds up your B2B operations and empowers your business for growth.

The best thing about turian is that you don't have to invest in lengthy model training processes or use a supplier portal. It runs right next to your e-mail inbox and can be easily integrated with your ERP or CRM systems and email clients; within just a few days, it's ready to use. With turian, you'll have a super easy-to-use and intuitive user interface (UI) integrated directly into your email client (e.g. Outlook or Gmail) that helps your team to spend less time on recurring tasks and more on value-adding activities.

Our AI assistant has human-level understanding, so you don't have to worry about the accuracy of data processing. Whether you're looking to manage POs or delivery updates, speed up your B2B order intake, or automate supplier emails with compliance information, turian is the ultimate solution for all your supply chain  processing needs. If you want to test the efficiency and power of our AI assistant, then you can book a demo today and see for yourself how turian can streamline your order processing.

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