© 2013 Esker, Inc.

Sales Order Processing

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence

and Competitiveness

Steve Smith

www.esker.com

May 2013

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Downside of Manual Order Processing

How is it hurting your company?

Affects customer & employee satisfaction.Time spent manually entering orders interferes with time spent servicing high-value customers

Slows / complicates process.Manual order entry is a slow, labor-intensive process that often leads to poor data quality and increased errors

Reduces visibility and control.In an “untamed” sales order process, poor visibility affects your ability to accurately track and report orders

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Challenge No. 1 — Customers

Why can’t they just be electronic?

Electronic documents are not that simple

– No one can agree on 1 standard format

– Fax & email are easy– Built into all ERP solutions

– Anyone can receive and read them

Many customers have an unwillingness or inability to use EDI

– Force customers to EDI?– Are you ready for EDI?– Customers do as they please … and

who’s going to refuse an order?

EDI

Customers

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Challenge No. 2 — Semi-Structured Forms

Consider the complexities of order formats …

Number of line-items on the average orderAbility to update document capture formatsHandling multiple orders within a single transmissionSend to Bill-to or Ship-to?

– Sometimes multiple Bill-to or Ship-to locations

Shipping requirementsEarly payment discount?Inaccurate data on order

– Wrong part numbers– Wrong pricing– Customer does not exist in your database

Order confirmation issues– Customer calls asking if order is received and

processed.

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Avoid saddling your infrastructure with too many tools and technologies

Multiple point-to-point systems

– Fax, imaging, OCR, capture, formatting

– Email– Validation, workflow,

exception handling– EDI, data conversion,

archiving

High costs– Administration– Knowledge– Maintenance– Hardware

Application modification is

costly and time-consuming

Challenge No. 3 — IT Landscape

Customers Your Company

Fax Machines

POs manually gathered and filed

Manager

CSRs

EDI

EDI

Customer Service

Fax Server & OCR

EDI Software

& VAN

Archive Solution

& Scanning

Email Distribution

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Challenge No. 4 — Other Pitfalls

What other considerations should businesses understand before automating orders into your ERP?

Historic automation limitations– Basic OCR and imaging vs. intelligent capture

– Accuracy rate

– Handwriting

– Templates impractical for variations in order format• Paper and manual intervention often still required

Limited connectivity with your ERP– Lack of integration with your ERP can create inaccurate data

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Upside of Automated Order Processing

According to research by IT industry analyst, IDC, the benefits of automated order processing can be organized in three categories:

1)Enhanced productivity– Reduced number of errors and returns

– Reduced time spent on order management

2)Increased market competitiveness– Better cost management and cash flow

– Reduced customer order processing and storage costs

3)Improved customer satisfaction– On-time shipping and delivery

– Ability to track orders and attend to customers’ requests

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Upside of Automated Order ProcessingContinued …

Why is now an opportune time to implement an automated order processing solution instead of adding headcount?

Even with order volumes rising for many businesses, economic uncertainty has caused a reluctance to increase headcount

Companies are looking for ways to become more efficient to manage growth

Automation is a much more cost-effective and resourceful solution for businesses ordering products on an “as-needed” basis

Better Order Management: A Path to OTC Excellence and Competitiveness SALES ORDER PROCESSING

Find Out More by Watching our Recorded Webinar…

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