Outproduce
AI EmployeeBook a call

For operations and commercial managers in make to order manufacturing and distribution.

Why does a simple order take so long? Because the enquiry, the quote, the purchase order and the despatch note never meet in the same place.

Enquiries and purchase orders arrive as email, attachments and portal documents, and someone keys them into the order system. Outproduce installs the path from the enquiry to a quote, from the customer purchase order to a confirmed sales order, and from despatch to invoice, with supplier acknowledgements and shortages raised as exceptions. Pricing outside the agreed rules and anything that changes a commitment wait for a named approver.

Book a callSee the workflows
  • Order management system
  • Inbox
  • Accounting software
  • Stock records
  • Customer portal

By hand today

What your team does by hand, and what we build.

You do this by hand

An enquiry is read, specifications are interpreted, and a quote is built in a spreadsheet.

We build this

An enquiry to quote path that reads the requirement, applies the agreed price rules, and names anything needing judgement.

What changes

Quotes go out faster and are consistent with the price rules.

You do this by hand

Customer purchase orders are keyed into the order system and checked against the quote by eye.

We build this

A purchase order intake path that reads the document, compares it with the quote, and prepares the sales order.

What changes

Order entry stops being a typing task and differences are caught at intake.

You do this by hand

Order acknowledgements and lead time updates are written individually by the internal sales team.

We build this

An acknowledgement path that confirms the order from the record and updates the customer when the plan changes.

What changes

Customers are told from the record, not when somebody has time.

You do this by hand

Supplier acknowledgements and shortages are tracked in a spreadsheet and chased by email.

We build this

A supply confirmation path that matches supplier responses to purchase orders and raises shortages against the sales order.

What changes

Shortages reach the people who promised a date before the date is missed.

You do this by hand

Despatch notes and invoices are reconciled at month end against what actually shipped.

We build this

A despatch to invoice path that builds the invoice from the confirmed despatch and holds differences.

What changes

Invoicing follows the shipment and differences are visible immediately.

Order to cash is the core workflow, and it is still carried by internal sales staff moving documents between an inbox and an order system. The constraint is the handover, not the factory.

Customers increasingly send structured documents and expect structured confirmation. That favours companies whose intake and acknowledgement run from the order record rather than from individual habit.

Lifecycle

Where the system runs and where a person decides.

Typical lifecycle in this sector
  1. 1Enquiry or purchase order arrives
  2. 2Document read and matched to the customer and quoteAutomated
  3. 3Price and term differences raisedAutomated
  4. 4Internal sales approves the order termsHuman approvalPricing outside the rules waits here.
  5. 5Sales order confirmed and acknowledgedAutomated
  6. 6Supply and stock position checkedAutomated
  7. 7Shortage or date change raised to the account ownerHuman approval
  8. 8Despatch confirmed and invoice preparedAutomated

Workflows

The workflows we install first.

Each one names the manual version, the installed version, and the approval point that stays with a person. Figures show sample records, never client data.

01

Enquiry to quote

The requirement is read, the agreed price rules are applied, and anything needing commercial judgement is named. The quote is released by internal sales.

Expected impactExpected impact: quotes leave sooner and hold to the price rules.
Illustrative ladder for quotingIllustrative
  1. Requirement readSpecification, quantity and delivery need captured from the enquiry.
    Automated
  2. Price rules appliedCustomer terms, volume rules and cost basis used to draft the quote.
    Automated
  3. Outside the rulesNon standard specification or discount held for commercial decision.
    Escalated
  4. Internal sales releases the quoteNamed approval before it reaches the customer.
    Human approval
02

Purchase order to confirmed sales order

The customer document is read and compared with the quote, and the sales order is prepared. Differences in price, quantity or terms are raised.

Expected impactExpected impact: order entry errors fall and acknowledgements go out reliably.
Illustrative purchase order check · Illustrative
ElementChecked againstWhen it is held
Part and specificationQuoted item recordUnknown or substituted part
PriceQuote and customer termsAny difference from the quoted price
Quantity and delivery dateQuoted basis and current supplyDate that cannot be met
Terms and referencesAccount recordNew terms or missing required reference
03

Supply confirmation and shortage handling

Supplier acknowledgements are matched to purchase orders, and any shortage or date change is raised against the affected sales orders.

Expected impactExpected impact: promised dates are defended before they are missed.
Illustrative trace of a supply exceptionIllustrative
  1. 01
    Supplier response read

    Matched to the purchase order line.

    Automated
  2. 02
    Date change detected

    Affected sales orders identified from the linkage.

    Automated
  3. 03
    Customer impact raised

    The account owner is given the affected orders and the new position.

    Escalated
  4. 04
    Customer update released

    Named approval before any revised date is promised.

    Human approval
04

Despatch to invoice

The invoice is built from the confirmed despatch and the order, with any difference between ordered, shipped and priced held as an exception.

Expected impactExpected impact: invoicing follows the shipment and credit notes fall.
Illustrative comparison of invoicing
CaseBy hand todayInside the installed path
Full shipmentKeyed and checked laterInvoice prepared from the despatch record
Part shipmentOften invoiced in errorInvoice limited to despatched lines
Price differenceFound by the customerHeld before release with both values shown

Go live

How it reaches production in your firm.

  1. 01

    Fit Review with internal sales

    We follow enquiries and purchase orders through the desk that handles them today.

    Free
  2. 02

    Operating Map

    The map names the order records, the price rules, the supply linkage and every approval point.

    Paid, yours to keep
  3. 03

    Production Install on a scoped product group

    A chosen product group or customer group goes live first, with an agreed acceptance test on real orders.

    Human approves
  4. 04

    Managed operation or handover

    We run the exception queue with your team, or hand over the documented system with an owner named.

    Monitored

What we measure

Baseline first, then the delta.

We record each of these before anything switches on, so the result is measured against your numbers, not a benchmark.

first builds: enquiry to released quote · purchase order to confirmed sales order · despatch to invoice with held differences

Related

Questions from manufacturing and wholesale.

Can it quote without a person?

Only inside the price rules you set in writing. Anything outside them is prepared and held for a commercial decision.

Do we need to replace the order system?

No. It stays the record of truth, and the installed path works inside it.

Other sectors

Start here

Show us the workflow.

Tell us what starts it, who owns the result, which tools carry it, and where it stalls. We will tell you whether it is ready to map.

Book a 20-minute callOr send it in writing
Strong fit

The workflow repeats

One person owns the result

The records exist

Several tools carry the work