With the right tools and strategies, order processes can be streamlined, lead times reduced, and customer satisfaction increased. Here are some suggestions to help optimize your order management.
Contents:
- Game Changer: Manage order documents centrally
- Automate workflows in order processing
- Customer success stories – practical insights
Game Changer: Manage order documents centrally
The introduction of centralized customer or order files is the foundation for a new level of efficiency in order processing. The principle is simple yet effective: All documents related to an order – from quotes and purchase orders to emails, service reports, contracts and outgoing invoices – are stored centrally in DocuWare. Using a unique identifier, such as a process number, all documents are directly linked to each other, regardless of the source they originate from.
- Electronic forms: Flexible web forms reduce manual effort and enable the structured capture and processing of orders, complaints, maintenance and repair requests or handover protocols.
- Mobile upload: Order confirmations or warranty certificates can be digitized at the customer’s site and uploaded to a DocuWare archive for further processing .
- Email archiving: Important information from emails is integrated directly into business processes, making it immediately available for order processing and customer service.
- Integration into the ERP system: For continuous information flow and end-to-end processes, integrate DocuWare into your ERP system or other applications for central storage and seamless availability of customer documents.
Centralized organization of order documents enhances process efficiency and transparency. Information is easily accessible via links, full-text search and custom filters, and the lifecycle of each document is fully traceable, enabling your customer service team to provide information at any time.
Automate workflows in order processing
Once an order has been captured in DocuWare, numerous downstream information and processing workflows can be automated. Here’s a rough outline of what such an order process could look like:
- Order entry: Orders can be received into the company via various channels. For systematic capture, an online form can, as mentioned, be used. You can make this available via a link or in your order portal. Alternatively, intelligent import configurations or AI-driven automation can extract order data from physical orders or emails and transfer it directly to DocuWare. You can also integrate DocuWare into your ERP system to automatically synchronize and import order data.
- Order confirmation and execution: The order then progresses through the task lists of various departments, from sales and purchasing to production, providing reliable status updates to all stakeholders. The workflow controls, for example, the approval of special conditions and automates the dispatch of the order confirmation. If internal orders are required, this information is also linked to the order details in DocuWare.
- Invoicing: Once the order has been completed, all data is transferred directly to the accounting department for invoicing. When it’s created, the invoice is automatically filed according to the order and sent via the relevant accounting program.
Customer success stories – practical insights
Customers from various industries optimize and automate their order processing with DocuWare. While the specific steps can vary greatly across companies, order types and sector, the following examples provide further reading:
- ETC Holland Solutions, a logistics service provider, used to handle all documents manually, which was very time-consuming. With the introduction of DocuWare, they now process and archive orders, invoices, and freight documents electronically, significantly improving efficiency. Orders are scanned and stored in a central electronic document pool, and drivers use tablets to capture and index bills of lading. According to Finance Controller Coen van Dinther, this new system saves around 40 hours per week. [read more]
- Swagelok Manchester, a leading provider of fluid system solutions, faced significant challenges with their paper-based order processes, which were time-consuming and costly. By implementing DocuWare, they digitized their order documents and streamlined their workflows. Now, order processing involves four main steps: offer generation, order confirmation, receipt of packing slips, and invoice generation. This transformation has greatly improved efficiency and productivity. [read more]
Order processing is a complex process that involves many different steps and different departments. Manual processes, unclear workflows and delays can compromise quality and cause unnecessary costs and stress. DocuWare offers a flexible and versatile solution for order management, improving internal collaboration and customer service and ultimately boosting competitiveness.