The work as it was
Purchasing raised orders in the ERP and waited. Some suppliers confirmed the same day, some a week later with a new date, some not until a buyer ran the open order list and wrote to ask.
The shared purchasing inboxes carried everything else: confirmations, invoices, delivery notes, price lists, questions, filed by whoever had the inbox open. A reply could sit unread for days.
What was built
- 01
Supplier follow-up
Each morning Elentaria reads the open purchase orders in the ERP and writes, in the company's wording, to every supplier overdue by the agreed number of days.
- 02
Reading the replies
Each reply is read and the confirmed date recorded on the order. A reply that moves a date, splits a delivery or asks a question goes to the buyer.
- 03
Clearing the shared inboxes
Every email in the shared inboxes is classified by the rules purchasing set and filed or passed to the right workflow. What needs a person stays in view.
- Reads
- Open purchase orders in the ERP, and every email in the shared purchasing inboxes
- Checks
- Which orders are past the agreed confirmation window, what each reply changes, where each email belongs
- Writes
- The follow-up to the supplier, the confirmed date on the order, each email into its folder
- To a person
- Replies that move a date, split a delivery or ask a question, and emails the rules cannot place
One ordinary day
- 07:30
The open order list is read from the ERP; follow-ups go out to every overdue supplier.
- 08:45
Overnight replies are read. Confirmed dates go onto the orders; one supplier has moved a date.
- 09:00
The buyer opens that order with the reply beside it, calls the supplier, records the outcome.
- 13:00
A delivery note, an invoice and a price list arrive and are filed to their folders.
- 17:00
Every follow-up, reply and filing is recorded against its order.
What changed
Buyers no longer run the open order list to find out who has gone quiet. The follow-up goes out on the agreed day, and the reply lands on the order.
A confirmation is on the order the day it arrives. The owner's estimate of the first-year value at this company's volumes, in hours saved, errors avoided and revenue protected, is €138k.
How it was delivered
Delivered as implementation partner behind another company that owned the client relationship, and live in two months. Rules first: when a supplier is chased, which replies a buyer sees, where each email belongs. The ERP was not changed and stays the system of record.