Definition
Sales order automation
Automatically converting inbound customer purchase orders into sales orders in the ERP, without manual re-keying.
Sales order automation is the process of turning a customer's purchase order — usually arriving by email as a PDF, scan, or text — into a sales order in your ERP automatically. It removes the manual step where a CSR reads the document and types it in.
Modern sales order automation uses AI to extract the order data, validates it against the ERP, and creates the order, flagging anything uncertain for review. It differs from EDI, which standardizes orders but requires onboarding each trading partner.