Jobs AI can do / Sales and customers
Customer POs into sales orders, without retyping every line.
AI can read customer purchase orders from your orders inbox, check each line against your ERP, and prepare the sales order for a person to approve. At 1,000 order lines a week, that is worth about $34,300 a year in order entry time at the low end. Below about 600 lines a week, it usually doesn't pay for itself in a year.
Why it's hard
What's actually in the way.
Most companies think the problem is typing speed, or that they need EDI with every customer.
The real problem is that each customer sends POs in their own format, uses their own part numbers, and sometimes lists a price that isn't the agreed one. Your team retypes and double-checks because the ERP is the only place those things get caught.
So we check first how many formats you get, whether customer part numbers map to yours, and whether agreed prices actually live in the ERP.
Today
How it's done by hand.
Customer service opens each PO from email, a PDF, a spreadsheet or a portal, and keys it into the ERP line by line. They check part numbers, prices and units as they go. Vendor data puts a hand-keyed order at about 11 minutes, roughly 3 minutes a line. Mistakes show up later as wrong parts shipped, credits and rebills.
With AI
What the workflow does, and where a person decides.
- Reads each POPulls the customer, PO number, ship-to, and each line's part, quantity, unit and price, with a confidence score for each field. Anything unsure goes to a person.
- Checks each lineConfirms the part exists and is active, the price matches the agreed price, the unit is valid, and the customer isn't on credit hold.
- Sorts itEvery line lands in one group: clean, unknown part, price mismatch, unit issue, credit hold, or needs a person. It also flags duplicate POs, changes and cancellations.
- A person approvesClean orders go into an import file that a person approves before it is loaded. New part mappings are only learned when a person confirms them.
The math
What it's worth, at the low end.
| Input | Value | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Order lines typed in each weekExample company | 1,000 | Example company |
| Minutes to type and check one lineOur assumption until the Scan times it. Vendor data (Esker) puts a hand-keyed order at about 11 minutes | 3 min | Our assumption until the Scan times it. Vendor data (Esker) puts a hand-keyed order at about 11 minutes |
| Cost of an hour of order entry time, with benefitsBLS order clerk median pay, $46,170 a year (May 2025), with benefits | $33 | BLS order clerk median pay, $46,170 a year (May 2025), with benefits |
| Share of lines handled without retypingLow end. Vendor data (Esker) reports 67% of orders touchless for mature installs | 40% | Low end. Vendor data (Esker) reports 67% of orders touchless for mature installs |
| Worth each yearPays for itself in about 8.5 months | $34,300 a year | Pays for itself in about 8.5 months |
Payback counts the full cost of the build. Wrong-part credits, rebills and return freight are left out, so the real number may be higher. Your own numbers will differ. Move the sliders for this job to see yours.
When it doesn't pay
When we'd tell you not to build it.
The Scan
What we'd need from you.
The Rapid Scan tests this job on exports from your systems. We never connect to them. You get a verdict and a payback number within 10 business days of getting your data. It costs $5,000, credited toward the build.
- 3 months of sales order lines
- 50 to 100 customer POs from one month, covering at least 15 customers and every format
- Your customer list and item list
- Price lists and contract prices
- Customer part number cross-reference, if you have one
- Credits, rebills and returns with reason codes
Questions
What people ask us.
Will it write orders straight into our ERP?
Not by default. It prepares an import file that a person approves. Direct write-back is a separate option, priced after we see your ERP.
What about customers who use their own part numbers?
It keeps a cross-reference of their numbers to yours. New matches are added only when a person confirms them.
Does this mean we cut customer service staff?
Usually not. The time saved is real, but it turns into cash only if you avoid a hire or move people to other work.
How do we know it's accurate?
Before go-live it runs next to your team for 2 weeks. You stop keying a PO format by hand only after that format passes.
See your own number. A 30-minute call goes through your volume and how your team does this today. If it doesn't fit, we say so.