如何开始人工智能驱动的AI自动化

提高效率和创新:人工智能的变革性流程自动化优势。

销售订单输入以后，在多个接触点启动一系列复杂的流程，以实现您的业务承诺。销售订单管理挑战包括:

• 复杂多变的供应链环境。您的企业依赖于多个供应商，每个供应商都有自己的系统、流程和要求。

  
  

• 库存管理是同步的噩梦。不同的库存水平和补货周期需要仔细的计划和预测，以避免缺货或低效的积压。

  
  

• 订单规模和流程因渠道而异。您必须将尽可能多的工作流程系统化，同时允许处理订单大小、产品类型和不断变化的客户需求的灵活性。如果有1，000名销售代表每天完成30个订单，您的系统必须处理和协调30，000多个数据点，每个数据点都是唯一的。

  
  

• 速度和沟通是共生的。订单管理需要无缝沟通来解决影响客户的履行问题。退货和售后服务又增加了一层复杂性。

• 有效管理逆向物流以处理退货是一个问题。然而，你还必须确保客户满意——这是一个耗时而微妙的过程。

Each touchpoint in the chain is an opportunity for inefficiencies and errors, particularly if you rely on human workflows.

Despite technological advances, many companies continue to use manual processes, which create risks and are time-consuming. Consider that manual data entry has a generally accepted error rate of 1%. Many purchase orders (POs) arrive via email, requiring the customer service representative (CSR) to manually enter the data into an order management system (OMS). Even a 1% error rate can negatively affect a low-margin, high-competition business.

Some of the negative effects of manual sales order processing include:

• Errors. Manual order entry processes can be slower and more prone to errors, especially when compared with automated systems. Mistakes such as incorrect product selection or shipping address inaccuracies can lead to delays in order processing, resulting in longer lead times, dissatisfied customers, and an unhappy sales team.

• Kills repeat business. Keeping and growing an existing customer account is much more cost-effective than prospecting for new ones. Manual order entry and fulfillment processes may not provide the same speed, visibility, and accuracy that customers expect today, increasing the risk of a suboptimal customer experience.

• Harder to keep up with demand spikes. Manual processes may limit a company’s ability to handle large order volumes or sudden demand spikes. Manual data entry, order verification, and fulfillment create bottlenecks and capacity constraints.

• Custom orders are unwieldy. Complex or customized orders often result in delays, as manual processes make it harder to accurately capture and fulfill intricate product configurations, special requests, or order variations.

As customer demands grow and unexpected disruptions increase, organizations must adapt their internal operations to streamline processes and improve accuracy – both critical variables in determining the profitability of a business.

The answer is integrating AI-powered automation into these workflows. For example, documentation automation helps businesses manage unstructured documents, such as PDFs or scanned documents, more efficiently. Order entry automation reduces the risk of error by populating customer details, the latest pricing, and even real-time inventory data without toggling between systems. Process automation removes the need to key orders into the ERP system by hand, freeing customer service reps to spend more time building relationships with customers.

But how can organizations start the journey toward an automated order management strategy? It’s about more than technology. They must align their people and processes with the right technology to get the most from automation.

Start with a systems readiness check to ensure your existing systems are ready for a change; look at factors such as compatibility, sizing, integrations, and business processes.

Also, implement a data cleanse using tools that are designed to clean inaccurate customer and material data. If your data is inaccurate, inconsistent, or incomplete, you won’t get the ROI that you’re seeking from intelligent automation.

Conduct a custom code usage analysis to understand compatibility, performance impact, and quality. Most organizations use only a small percentage of their custom code.

As important as a solid technical foundation: You must prepare your people for the change. It’s human nature to default to the system we already know vs. leaning into a new solution. Implement change management strategies to increase buy-in; automation is not something you can stick your toe in the water with. The system learns with volume. Companies must take a leap of faith. Ongoing training is critical to get the most from intelligent automation.

Communicate the tangible benefits at the user level and calculate the costs of doing things the way they’ve always been done. Maintain clear goals. Make sure the team is reminded of why they are doing this:

• Fewer errors

• Reduced order processing time

• Reduced customer service costs

• Better customer experience

• Greater profitability

Outdated technologies lack integration and scalability, creating manual workflows and redundant tasks that serve as an anchor for companies seeking growth.

In the right areas of your business, automation can correct sales orders when they start to go wrong, improve processes, and boost your bottom line. Automation is an important piece of the solution, but organizations must be strategic in their adoption of these tools. They must recognize the challenges of implementing them, even as they reap the benefits of their use.