How a Wholesale Distributor Cut Order Processing Time by 75% and Eliminated Inventory Errors
A wholesale distributor operating three warehouses with over 8,000 SKUs faced a critical challenge: manual data entry between their legacy ERP system and new e-commerce platform was creating inventory discrepancies, delaying order fulfillment by days, and losing customers. Each order required manual stock checking across three locations, manual status updates, and duplicate data entry for invoicing. prAIor built a custom integration platform that automated the entire process from online order to invoice generation, synchronized inventory in real-time, and eliminated human errors.
Project Goals
Automate the entire workflow from online order to invoice without manual intervention
Achieve real-time inventory synchronization across all three warehouses and the e-commerce platform
Eliminate stock discrepancies and delivery date promise errors
Cut order-to-shipment time by at least half
Our Approach
**Deep process audit:** We mapped the entire order-to-invoice cycle, identified 17 manual steps, and documented all integration points between the legacy ERP (AS/400-based system) and modern e-commerce platform
**Phased integration architecture:** We designed a middleware solution with an API layer connecting the old ERP system to modern REST API endpoints, enabling bidirectional data synchronization without touching legacy code
**Single-warehouse pilot:** We started with automation of the busiest warehouse, tested the workflow with real orders, and refined the logic before expanding to the other two locations
**Real-time monitoring:** We implemented a dashboard for tracking synchronization, alerts for discrepancies, and detailed logs for every transaction
Solution
- **Automated order-to-invoice workflow:** We built an integration layer that automatically accepts online orders, checks real-time availability across three warehouses, reserves inventory, creates internal orders in the ERP system, tracks shipment, and generates invoices instantly after delivery confirmation
- **Real-time inventory synchronization:** We implemented bidirectional sync every 90 seconds between warehouse systems and the e-commerce platform, with intelligent logic for stock allocation and automatic product status updates
- **Intelligent order routing:** We created an algorithm for automatically determining the optimal warehouse for fulfillment based on availability, customer location, and delivery priority, reducing transportation costs by 15%
- **Centralized control panel:** We developed a web-based dashboard for the sales team and warehouses, showing real-time status of every order, inventory levels, and alerts for critical events
Results
- Order processing time dropped from an average of 52 minutes to 13 minutes, freeing up 4.5 FTE equivalent work time
- Delivery date promise errors were completely eliminated thanks to real-time inventory visibility
- Invoices are generated automatically within 2 hours after shipment instead of 24-48 hours, improving cash flow
- Customer satisfaction increased by 34% due to accurate timelines and faster order fulfillment
- Operational costs for order processing decreased by 41% due to eliminated manual data entry
Contact
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