The context
A B2B book distributor
with a very specific problem.
Suppliers send periodic statements—PDF or XLS documents with hundreds of lines recording returns, sales, and balances by title. Each line has an ISBN, a quantity, and an amount.
The process was always the same: open the document, locate each ISBN, copy it, paste it into the ERP, verify that it was recognized, enter the quantity, and confirm. Line by line. With 100 lines per statement and 25–30 statements per week, the volume was enormous.
And after each settlement, the sales representative had to make restocking decisions—which titles to order and how many, taking into account recent sales, current stock, and returns. Before making a decision, they had to compile all that information title by title.
Flow 1 — Invoices
ISBN to ISBN.
Line by line. 30 minutes on average per document.
How long does it actually take to process a 100-line publishing settlement?
Each ISBN took between 20 and 25 seconds to process—locating the line in the PDF, copying the ISBN, switching to the ERP, pasting it, verifying it was recognized, entering the quantity, and confirming. With 100 lines per settlement, the entire process took around 30 minutes. Using 30 minutes as a conservative estimate.
From 30 minutes to 30 seconds. A 60-fold reduction in processing time for each settlement.
Flow 2 — Replenishment
The sales rep didn’t waste time typing.
They wasted time preparing to make decisions.
After each settlement, the sales rep had to make restocking decisions: which securities to order and how many. To make the right decision, they needed to cross-reference recent sales, current inventory, and returns—security by security. That preparatory work took them between 15 and 20 minutes before they could apply their judgment.
The problem wasn’t the sales rep’s judgment—their market knowledge is irreplaceable. The problem was the groundwork they had to do before reaching the decision-making stage.
We don’t take away the sales rep’s judgment. We take away the preparatory work that didn’t require judgment—so they can reach the decision-making stage with all the information already organized.
The total impact
70 hours per month.
840 hours per year.
Two automated workflows. An admin who no longer enters ISBNs. A sales rep who goes straight to the decision-making stage without having to prepare data. And 840 hours of work per year that previously didn’t generate value—now they do.