Migrations
Moving from email order intake to an automated order pipeline
Many businesses still receive orders as emails and PDFs and retype them. An order pipeline reads them, checks them and puts them where they belong.
Last reviewed 14 November 2026
Move order intake out of the inbox when staff retype orders from emails and attachments, when orders get missed or duplicated, or when customers wait for confirmations. An automated pipeline reads each email, extracts lines with an AI step, checks prices and stock, asks a person to approve anything uncertain and creates the order in your ERP or order system.
Who this is for
Distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers receiving dozens to hundreds of orders a day by email, PDF or spreadsheet.
Signs it is time to move
- Staff spend hours a day retyping orders
- Orders get missed in a busy shared inbox
- Wrong product codes or prices make it into the ERP
- Customers chase for confirmations
What it costs on each side
The inbox costs nothing to run, and the cost sits in typing time and errors. The pipeline adds AI model usage per order, an automation platform and a build cost. We price it from your order volume and error rate in the audit.
The migration plan, step by step
- 01
Inventory
Collect a month of sample orders by customer and format, and note where each one ends up.
- 02
Map
Map fields from each format to your order record, including customer codes, product codes and delivery rules.
- 03
Rebuild
Build the intake workflow with AI extraction, validation against your product and price lists, and an approval screen for uncertain lines.
- 04
Parallel run
Run the pipeline on live orders while staff keep entering them, and compare results line by line.
- 05
Cut over
Switch customers over by confidence level, starting with the cleanest formats.
- 06
Monitor
Track extraction accuracy and approval rates weekly and add rules where the AI step is often corrected.
Risks and how we avoid them
| Risk | How we avoid it |
|---|---|
| Wrong quantities or products reach the ERP. | Hold anything below a confidence threshold for a person to approve before it is created. |
| Duplicate orders when a customer resends an email. | Check the customer PO number before creating an order. |
| New customer formats break extraction. | Route unknown formats to the approval queue and review them weekly. |
What we do and what it costs
We start with the $500 audit on your sample orders and give one fixed price, credited to the build. An order pipeline is usually a tools build from $3k or a multi-module build from $5k when it includes a portal. The Automation team plan at $999 a month covers new formats and changes as they come.
Questions
How accurate is AI extraction?
It depends on the formats. We measure it on your own orders during the parallel run and keep a person approving anything uncertain.
Which order systems do you connect to?
ERPs and accounting tools with an API, including SAP, NetSuite, Business Central, Odoo, Zoho Books and Shopify.
Do customers have to change how they order?
No. They keep emailing as they do now.
Related: Gmail, OpenAI, RFQ to quotation on SAP, Order management app, Glossary: human in the loop, Automate service, comparisons. All migrations.
We will tell you whether the move pays before you start
The audit lists what you run today, ranks it by cost and risk, and ends in one fixed price for the migration, credited to the build.
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