In the construction business, it seems like delays are inevitable. In fact, most projects in North America experience delays. As a roofing supplier, you know that you can’t always deliver materials on time. Sometimes, it’s not your fault. Adverse weather conditions and supply chain disruptions happen. However, your internal processes shouldn’t be causing delayed orders.
Many roofing distributors experience order processing delays, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Eliminating common causes of these delays, such as manual data entry, lost paperwork, and disconnected systems, can transform your business. Fix your operational inefficiencies to build your reputation as a trusted roofing provider for all your clients. Here's how.
Bottleneck 1: Slow PO Intake and Confirmation
If you’re like other business owners in construction product distribution, you’re probably using an outdated purchase order intake process. About 46% of supply chain managers still use Excel spreadsheets to manage their operations, including purchase orders.
Relying on email, Excel spreadsheets, and other manual tools slows your order-to-cash workflow. Someone has to check for purchase orders multiple times a day and route them to the right department. This process is tedious and delays confirmation.
Manual purchase order intake also impacts your customer service. Your operators and your customers have no way to track their order until after someone has entered it into a digital system. If the order is sitting in limbo, there's no way for anyone to see if you've actually received it.
Bottleneck 2: Inaccurate or Delayed Invoicing
Emailing purchase orders and manually entering them into spreadsheets is time-consuming and tedious, particularly if your administrative team is backlogged. When your team is stressed out, it's more prone to errors. You may find yourself sending out invoices with incorrect quantities or sales tax calculations, for example.
Invoicing errors delay the accounts payable and receivable process. Your clients have to send your invoice back to you to correct it, and it takes longer to receive your payment. Frequent invoicing errors can also erode your clients’ trust in your company.
Bottleneck 3: Returns and RMAs
There are plenty of reasons your customers might choose to return a purchase or request a return material authorization (RMA). Maybe the tiles were cracked or damaged during the shipping process. Perhaps your order fulfillment team accidentally sent the wrong materials. Sometimes, a client changes their mind once the project is in process.
Whatever the reason, returns and RMAs slow your operational processes. You have to wait for the client to return the damaged or unused inventory before you ship out something new. Even if you ship the replacement right away, you still lose money on shipping, restocking, and potential loss of value.
How WorldView Fixes It
Many of these operational workflow bottlenecks are easy to manage with the right tools. These WorldView solutions can reduce or even eliminate these issues altogether.
Order Acknowledgment Automation
Instead of having them sit in an email inbox waiting for someone to enter the information into a spreadsheet, our AP Order Acknowledgment Automation matches purchase orders with acknowledgments in seconds. This tool will capture the data from each purchase order and verify the PO number, date, quantities, delivery information, and other pertinent data.
It also flags inconsistencies so your clients can quickly correct their purchase orders and you can route them to your distribution team.
RMA Document Linking
Manually processing RMAs takes time. Your customers may spend hours on the phone while your team tracks down their original purchase order and makes notes. With our RMA Request Workflow, you can set up a standard authorization form along with automated approval and tracking workflows.
Your customers can fill out the RMA form themselves online or send it to the sales team. You can then process RMAs faster, before your inventory loses value. You also have an auditable trail with valuable data. Track the data in a centralized location to identify potential return patterns. With better visibility into your RMAs, you may notice a high volume of returns from certain customers or products from specific lines.
Full Document Flow With Your ERP
Our solutions integrate with your ERP system to improve all your workflows. Your enterprise solutions can extract data from purchase orders and autopopulate invoices so you get paid faster. It can also match purchase orders with RMA requests to speed up the approval process.
Choosing a solution that integrates with your ERP minimizes your reliance on paper documents and enhances communication throughout your company.
Conclusion: Don’t Let Bottlenecks Hamper Your Growth
Operational bottlenecks are factors you can control to offer better customer service. Small delays caused by inefficient processes and human errors can erode your relationships with your customers.
Using digital platforms to automate parts of your operational and fulfillment workflows reduces these errors. Your existing customers get their roofing supplies on time, and your sales team can focus on finding new customers instead of repairing relationships with unhappy ones.
Fix your fulfillment process with document automation. Contact us today to find out how.
