Unstructured Purchase Order
Frelan received customer orders through email in PDF and CSV formats without standardized templates, making automated processing difficult.
Frelan Hardware Leveraged OCR Engine
and Boomi for Automated Order Processing
Client Overview
Founded in 1973, Frelan Hardware Ltd is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of ironmongery products for builders, timber merchants, architectural ironmongers, and DIY retailers. The company offers a wide range of high-quality hardware products for both domestic and commercial applications. With a strong reputation for reliability and competitive pricing, Frelan continues to expand its operations while maintaining efficient order fulfilment and customer service processes.Business Objective
Frelan Hardware Ltd aimed to modernize its order processing operations by eliminating manual data entry and automating the entire purchase order workflow. The company wanted to extract order data from customer emails, validate pricing against its internal MySQL database, and automatically submit verified orders into its ERP system. By implementing automation, Frelan sought to reduce human errors, improve processing speed, and create a scalable system capable of handling large volumes of orders from multiple customers with different document formats.Industry
Distribution
Platform
Boomi
Service
Intelligent Document Processing
Nick Owen
CTO
We are thrilled to share our positive experience with NeosAlpha. Initially engaging them for their...
Read More Challenges
Manual Data Extraction
The operations team had to manually download and review each file, significantly slowing the order processing cycle.
Complex Pricing Validation
Every order line had to be manually verified against SKU and pricing data stored in the company’s MySQL database.
Manual ERP Order Entry
Orders were manually entered into the ERP system, increasing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
Operational Inefficiencies
The manual process limited the ability to process large volumes of orders quickly, delaying fulfilment and impacting productivity.
Want to automate document-heavy order processing and eliminate manual data entry? NeosAlpha helps manufacturers and distributors streamline operations using OCR-driven automation and Boomi integration solutions.
Explore our Boomi Integration ServicesSolutions
OCR-Powered Document Processing
NeosAlpha implemented its proprietary OCR Engine integrated with the Boomi platform to automatically extract data from incoming purchase orders received via email.
Email-to-Disk Integration
A Boomi integration process was developed to filter incoming emails and extract only relevant PDF attachments while ignoring other files, such as images or signatures. The filtered documents were automatically saved to the local processing environment.
Automated Data Extraction and Standardization
The OCR engine processed PDF and CSV files to identify and extract key information, including SKU numbers, quantities, and pricing details. The extracted information was then converted into a standardized JSON structure to enable automated processing regardless of document format.
SKU and Pricing Validation
Once the order data was converted to JSON, Boomi processed the validated information against the client’s MySQL database. Any discrepancies, such as invalid SKUs or incorrect pricing, were automatically flagged for review.
EDI Conversion and Automated Order Processing
Validated purchase order data was transformed into EDI format and delivered to the required systems. Depending on customer preferences, the processed orders were sent either to disk or via automated email workflows.
Error Handling and Reporting
Detailed validation reports were automatically generated and emailed to the operations team whenever discrepancies were detected, ensuring transparency and quick issue resolution.
Results
Significant Accuracy Improvement
Automation eliminated manual data entry errors and improved the reliability of order processing.
Faster Order Processing
Automated extraction and validation drastically reduced the time required to process incoming orders.
Operational Cost Savings
The reduction in manual workload allowed the operations team to focus on higher-value activities.
Scalable Order Processing System
The automated workflow enabled Frelan to process bulk orders efficiently regardless of document format.
End-to-End Order Automation
The fully integrated solution streamlined the entire process from email ingestion to ERP order entry, creating a seamless digital workflow.
Technology Stack
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