Intelligent workflows for orders, quotations and exceptions.
Distribution operations involve a high volume of structured records arriving through very unstructured channels. Quotations, orders, substitutions, supplier notices and customer-specific terms create work between the systems of record.
What must be resolved before a document becomes an order?
Extraction creates a candidate record. Product identity, units, pricing and fulfillment commitments still need deterministic checks and an accountable review path before approved data reaches the ERP.
Illustrative order specimen and exception trace. The lines below are invented examples for explanation; no live ERP, customer order or processing result is shown.
Read the request. Resolve the differences.
A PDF can say what a customer requested without establishing what the distributor can commit. The system of record supplies the contracts against which that request is checked.
- Incoming request
- A part description without a product ID
- System-of-record check
- More than one catalog match
- Required disposition
- Review product identity
Do not select a plausible SKU merely because extraction is confident.
- Incoming request
- Quantity expressed in boxes
- System-of-record check
- Inventory and price recorded per unit
- Required disposition
- Confirm the conversion
Preserve the requested quantity and the approved unit of measure.
- Incoming request
- Customer-supplied price
- System-of-record check
- Different contract price
- Required disposition
- Resolve the commercial exception
The extracted price is evidence of the request, not authority to override terms.
- Incoming request
- Requested item unavailable
- System-of-record check
- A possible substitute exists
- Required disposition
- Obtain substitution approval
Product matching does not authorize a change to the customer's order.
Keep the request and the approved record connected.
Receive
Retain the source document and a duplicate-detection key.
Validate
Compare extracted candidates with product, unit and contract rules.
Review
Record corrections, unresolved exceptions and approval authority.
Write back
Submit only approved data; record acknowledgement and reconciliation.
The exception path is part of the workflow.
The same order arrives twice.
Identify the duplicate before a second write; send uncertain matches to review.
- Evidence to retain
- A retained source reference and duplicate decision.
The ERP response fails after submission.
Determine whether the first write took effect before retrying; avoid creating another order.
- Evidence to retain
- A request identifier, acknowledgement or reconciliation result.
A customer corrects an approved order.
Treat the correction as a controlled change with its own validation and authority.
- Evidence to retain
- The original record, approved changes and resulting order state.
Choose one order class.
Extend useful ERP and order software where possible. Bound the first workflow around a repeatable input and a realistic set of exceptions.
- Useful evidence for the first conversation
- Bring representative documents, manual rework observations and the ERP's actual read/write contract.
The order and exception argument in full
For COO, CIO, VP Operations
The situation behind the request
A customer sends a multi-line order as a PDF while the ERP holds product IDs, inventory, contract pricing and delivery commitments. A team reconciles the request, resolves unavailable items and re-enters approved data.
Where the obvious solution falls short
Extraction alone does not verify pricing, substitutions, units of measure or changes. A wrong record can affect fulfillment and customer trust.
How we would approach the work
Map intake formats and ERP contracts. Build extraction plus deterministic validation, a review queue and approved write-back, with clear reprocessing.
What the engagement may include
- Purchase order and quote intake workflows.
- Product matching and exception handling with human review.
- ERP, warehouse and CRM integration.
- Operational monitoring and audit history.
The choices worth making explicitly
Many distributors already have useful ERP and order software. Extend rather than replace where possible.
What we would test before calling it ready
Test ambiguous SKUs, units, duplicates, contract exceptions, partial API failures and order corrections.
A sensible first step
Start with one order class, baseline manual rework and a realistic dataset of exceptions.