Outcome
Within the first few months the company achieved:
- 35% faster processing of standard invoices
- approximately 40% less manual work on checking and data entry
- significantly fewer data transfer errors
- faster routing of problem cases to the right person
- better visibility of blocked invoices and delayed approvals
Business impact
At 1,200 invoices per month, even a moderate reduction in manual work frees up real administrative capacity. That capacity can go toward supplier oversight, cost review, and exception management — instead of mechanical data re-entry.
The benefit isn't just faster posting. The benefit is a better-connected process between procurement, warehousing, and finance.
What AIIA actually did
AIIA didn't just switch on automation.
The team designed the entire workflow, defined the rules, built the extraction and matching logic, connected the process to the ERP system, and set clear metrics for operational improvement.
The end result isn't automation of a single task. The end result is an invoice-to-payment process that runs faster, more accurately, and with less friction.
In brief
AIIA helped this manufacturing company automate invoice, purchase order, and document processing, reduce manual work, and speed up all administrative flow — without replacing existing systems.
Details
Document automation for a mid-sized manufacturing company
Summary
A mid-sized manufacturing company worked with dozens of suppliers and processed a large number of incoming invoices, delivery orders, and warehouse documents each month, but much of the process was manual. Data was being transferred between emails, PDFs, the ERP system, and Excel. This slowed approvals, created errors, burdened the finance and procurement teams, and caused unnecessary delays.
AIIA designed and deployed an automation layer that handles incoming invoices, matches them against purchase orders and deliveries, routes problem cases, and posts them to the ERP system. The result: a faster, more accurate, and significantly less manual process from invoice to payment.
Client
- Mid-sized manufacturing company
- 320 employees
- 2 production sites
- 18 people across finance, procurement, and administrative logistics
- Approximately 1,200 incoming invoices per month
- Established ERP system with procurement, warehouse, and payment processes
Challenge
The company had a solid operational foundation, but the administration around deliveries and payments wasn't running smoothly enough.
Invoices arrived in different formats. Some needed to be matched against pre-created purchase orders and against data for actually received deliveries. When there was a discrepancy, staff searched through emails, the ERP system, scanned documents, and separate spreadsheets. Approvals were slow. Some invoices were sent back for correction too late. The finance team spent an excessive amount of time on manual entry and checking instead of oversight and managing complex cases.
The company wasn't looking for a document reading tool. They were looking for a better-working process with less manual work and fewer delays.
Solution
AIIA deployed an automation layer built around the actual process from document receipt to posting and payment.
The solution had three main parts:
Automatic data extraction from invoices and accompanying documents The system handled incoming documents from email and shared folders, extracted key fields, and prepared data for checking and recording. This was especially important because documents arrived in different formats and with varying quality.
Matching and automatic routing of problem cases The system compared invoice data against the purchase order and received delivery information. On a match, the document moved forward automatically. On a discrepancy, the case went to the right person with clear context about the problem.
Automatic ERP posting and traceability After confirmation, data was posted to the ERP system, status was updated, and a clear trail remained of what was processed, when, and by whom. Manual work shifted from bulk processing to oversight and exception resolution.
Why this approach worked
The goal wasn't to speed up a single administrative task.
AIIA started from the entire operational process between procurement, warehousing, and finance. This meant automation was applied not just to data entry, but at the slowest points:
- document receipt
- matching
- approval
- discrepancy handling
- system posting
The effect isn't in one step — it's across the entire invoice-to-payment chain.
Implementation
AIIA delivered the project in five steps:
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Current process analysis Mapping incoming documents, approval steps, matching logic, manual activities, and the most common causes of delay.
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Automation rules Defining which documents can pass through automatically, which require human review, and how problem cases are managed.
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Intake flow and data extraction Setting up automatic intake points for invoices and accompanying documents, extraction logic, and quality control.
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ERP matching and posting Process for comparison against purchase order and delivery data, automatic posting, and status tracking in the ERP system.
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Tuning against key metrics After go-live: monitoring processing time, share of problem cases, errors, and team workload.
Starting point
Before the deployment:
- the company processed approximately 1,200 incoming invoices per month
- approximately 60% of invoices required manual entry or checking in more than one system
- average processing time for a standard invoice was 8 to 10 minutes
- approximately 10% of invoices were blocked due to a missing purchase order, delivery data discrepancy, or incomplete document
- finance and procurement teams spent over 160 hours per month copying data, matching, and searching for information by email
- approval delays affected payments to suppliers and created friction between departments