Digitilise the order management process

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Digitilise the order management process

Digitilise the order management process

OEZ is a complex supplier of products and services in the field of the low-voltage electrical circuits. With around 2,000 employees, more than 70 years on the Czech market and, most recently, a 10-year partnership with Siemens, it currently has one of the most modern production plants in the Czech Republic. OEZ has introduced Industry 4.0, a system representing the fourth stage of industrial revolution characterised by the digitalisation of production technology. OEZ has a certification for an integrated system of quality, environmental, occupational health and safety management.

 

Time-consuming manual input 

OEZ receives orders from its vendors as a PDF email at­tachment. Orders are then manually rewritten by six sales assistants assigned to specific customers into the SAP ERP system. SAP stores all the information necessary to execute the order, such as customer ID, VAT number, order number, delivery terms, date of receipt, items (code and quantity) etc. Documents must be processed as quickly as possible within about three hours. This current state is time-consuming due to manual transcription, checks and code repairs. The pressure on fast order execution in meeting the above requirements causes inaccuracies in the inputs for production and conse­quently necessitates their search and repair. 

 

Streamlining the process 

Konica Minolta has therefore provided process optimisation analysis to automate the processing of data in incoming orders. An incoming email with an order in PDF format under­goes automatic extraction. All required data such as header data, order codes and line items are recognised and their accuracy is compared with the internal database. Data is automatically checked and codes are converted into the standardised format that is required by OEZ. Each order is automatically routed to the appropriate assistant who “only” performs a check or minor correction. Such verified orders are then automatically passed to SAP. 
 

As OEZ had very limited capabilities to modify his current systems, a proof of concept first had to confirm that it was possible to integrate the solution with existing interfaces (SAP). After the proof of concept successfully verified the system’s competences and capabilities, OEZ purchased the software licence for the final implementation consisting of automatic order assignment, authentication by the relevant assistant, integration with the third-party database and user training.

 

Faster input and fewer errors 

The new solution delivers great time savings and reduced error rates in the order process, and consequently the savings that result from the elimination of misplaced orders. Konica Minolta helped significantly reduce the total time needed to enter an order into the system. The rate of automation increased and the error rate decreased. At the same time, order verification is today carried out by three people, or four at peak times. This is a significant improvement over the previous situation, where 6 people were fully occupied throughout the day. The output of automatic order extraction is also a searchable PDF that is suitable for digital archiving and efficient full-text search. This way, metadata documents are prepared for future deployment of the document management system with trusted archiving.

quotation marks

During the implementation, we repeatedly confirmed that the choice of a proven supplier, and especially a partner such as Konica Minolta, was crucial to the successful deployment and launch of the entire project. We appreciated the professional approach and patience during the fine-tuning of the project and the integrations, which were very time-consuming due to worldwide spread IT infrastructure and safety policy at our side

Zbyněk Ludka

IT Manager, OEZ S.R.O.

Advantages

Advantages
  • Increased rate of automation: reduced number of assistants engaged in the process and decreased time needed to enter an order into the system
  • Reduced error rate

Challenge

Challenge
  • High number of orders
  • Orders received via e-mail in PDF format
  • Pressure for fast order execution
  • Manual transcription of data caused inaccuracies

Solution

Solution
  • Process optimisation analysis
  • Implementation of automatic extraction system
  • SAP integration
  • Proof of concept phase before licence purchase