Project snapshot
The automated order cancellation solution for the wholesale and supply chain line of business allowed our client’s multinational corporation to reduce processing time tenfold and minimize human error, thus achieving six-figure savings (in USD), optimizing processes and resource use, and boosting customer satisfaction.
Business сhallenge
Our client is a leading multi-brand technology solutions business providing integrated information technology solutions and services to more than 250,000 business, government, education, and healthcare customers globally. As with most enterprise software, a warehouse management system is a great tool as long as it works efficiently. But it becomes counterproductive if it’s too complex to operate or requires more effort for actual management instead of fulfilling orders.
Our client critically needed to increase the efficiency of their order management system. Due to the need for fast processing of canceled orders across geographies and time zones, cancelling orders had become a lengthy administrative burden. With dozens of cancellation tickets coming in every minute, operators could not manage their timely processing manually in the mainframe application on top of processing every ticket in the internal enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Delayed manual processing of canceled orders created more pressure on operators, raised total system costs by making inventory hard to predict, increased resource/insurance expenses, and led to supply chain complications.
Solution delivered
With a project duration of two months, the Intellias team assisted the client’s in-house experts by providing:
- Business analysis and end-to-end development of automated order cancellation, reducing the processing time from ten minutes down to one
- Web app automation, mainframe automation, direct database integrations, as well as all necessary technical documentation
- A robust and scalable solution that operates efficiently, especially during peak periods, resulting in checking order status every five minutes
Business outcomes
Due to the complexity of warehouse management systems, particular tasks are more aptly performed via software algorithms.
- Previously, employees had to go through every cancelled notification in the inbox, then process tickets by hand as well as communicate each step with supply chain participants and manually enter data into a user-hostile mainframe app. The new automation bot does the job 10 times faster than a human could.
- By optimizing workflows, the solution frees up time for five or more employees, allowing them to focus on their core tasks of growing sales and improving customer relations.
- On top of the standard automation approach, the team implemented mainframe application automation, which removed human transcription errors by eliminating the need for a UI.
- Automations surrounding canceled orders eliminate most of the administrative hassle from the order cancellation process and also minimize excessive customer notifications providing order status updates, as ticket statuses are now transparent and traceable.
- The solution helped to improve the bottom line resulting in savings reaching six figures. It was achieved through streamlined workflows and the elimination of both direct and indirect expenses related to returns, inventory, stockouts, and overdue ticket processing in logistics operations.