Capability 01 · Automation
An order arrives by email.
The workflow takes it from there.
A practical automation flow for companies that still receive orders, invoices, requests, or documents through email — and rely on people to read, check, forward, approve, and update the system manually.
The situation
The work starts in the inbox.
A customer sends an order by email. Sometimes it is a PDF. Sometimes it is an Excel file. Sometimes the details are written directly in the message.
One person opens the email, reads the order, checks if the customer exists, checks the order rows, looks for missing information, and decides what should happen next.
If everything looks right, they prepare the order for the ERP. If something is missing, they reply to the customer or ask a colleague.
The process works. But every order starts with someone doing the same reading and checking again.
The challenge
The problem is not the order. It's everything around it.
A clean order is easy. The slow work starts when the customer uses a different format, skips a field, sends the wrong article number, adds a note in the email body, or attaches an updated file later.
Then the order stops. Someone has to compare the details, ask for clarification, track the latest version, and remember not to import anything too early.
This is where time disappears. Not in one big failure — in twenty small checks repeated every day.
The capability
The workflow prepares the order before a person touches it.
The automation reads the incoming email and attachments. It extracts the order details, checks required fields, matches customer and product data against the business system, and prepares a review screen.
If the order is complete, the reviewer sees a clean summary. If something is missing or unclear, the workflow flags it before the order reaches the ERP.
The person does not rebuild the order. They review what the workflow prepared.
How the flow works
Before / after
A person opens every order email, reads the attachment, checks the details, copies values, follows up on missing information, and prepares the ERP update manually.
The inbox is the workflow. The person is the control system.
The order is captured, checked, and prepared before review. Complete orders move faster.
Incomplete orders are held with a clear reason. The team spends time on exceptions, not repeated reading and copying.
Controls
- Only approved inboxes are processed
- Required fields must be present before ERP preparation
- Customer and product data are matched against system records
- Missing values stop the flow
- Price, quantity, and delivery rules can trigger review
- No order is posted without approval
- Every change is logged
- The final update goes to the agreed business system
Where this applies
What changes
Questions about automation
Which workflows are worth automating first?
The ones that run often, follow the same steps each time, and currently move by email or by hand. If an order, a request or an approval passes through several people before anything happens, most of that time is waiting rather than work. Start there, not with the most complicated process in the business.