Guides and research
How UK suppliers handle orders and quotes, and where AI fits.
Practical pages for owners and operations directors of distributors, wholesalers, merchants and manufacturers, built on what we found reading 209 UK supplier websites.
The Open Build. We’ll build one UK supplier an order desk or quote desk system, free and in public, measured on its own numbers. Everyone who applies gets a one-page read of their own workflow. Applications close at 5pm UK time on Friday 6 November. See the Open Build.
Try it on your own work
- Send us the order email your team dreads. We’ll send back the draft order.Forward one real order email, the kind your team dreads. By the end of the next working day you get back the order lines we read from it, what we would flag, and the questions we would ask. Free, no commitment.
- What does keying orders, or pricing quotes, cost you a year?Put in your own figures and see what keying orders, or pricing quotes, costs your business a year.
Research
- How UK suppliers take orders and quotes: what 209 company websites say.We read 209 UK wholesaler, distributor and manufacturer websites. 69% of manufacturers say nothing about how to order; 6 of 80 quoting firms say how fast they quote; 12% still list a fax number.
- What order cut-off times UK wholesalers publishWe read 108 UK wholesaler and distributor websites. 70 publish no order cut-off time. Of the 38 that do, half close orders between noon and 4pm.
- How fast UK printers, packaging makers and engineering firms promise to quoteWe read 80 UK printer, packaging and engineering websites. 6 say how fast they quote: five within 24 hours, one within 4 hours. 74 give no time.
Orders: distributors and wholesalers
- AI order entry for UK distributors and wholesalersAI order entry for UK distributors: email, PDF and photo orders read, checked against your prices and stock, and left as a draft order for one click.
- Sales order processing automation, starting where the time goesWhere the time goes in sales order processing, which steps to automate first, which to keep with your people, and how to measure the result.
- How to get email and PDF orders into your ERP without retyping themA practical guide to getting email and PDF purchase orders into your ERP as sales orders without retyping: the steps, the field mapping, the checks.
- AI for UK wholesale distributors: where it pays firstWhere AI pays first for a UK wholesale distributor: the order desk. Why it comes first, what it needs, what to avoid and how to measure it.
- What your 'how to order' page should tell trade customersA ten-point checklist for a trade supplier's how to order page, with figures from 209 UK supplier websites on what they publish and what they leave out.
Orders: by system
- Sage 200 order entry from email, checked and waiting for your approval.How emailed orders get into Sage 200 without rekeying: read, checked against your price bands and stock, approved by your team, then entered via the API.
- Email orders into Business Central as draft sales orders.How emailed orders become draft sales orders in Business Central: read, matched to customers and items, checked, and left Open for your team to release.
- AI order entry for SAP Business One: email orders in, checked and held as drafts.How emailed orders reach SAP Business One without rekeying: read, checked against items, price lists and stock, then held as drafts for your approval.
- Email orders into Unleashed or Cin7, checked and waiting for your approval.How emailed and texted orders reach Unleashed or Cin7 without rekeying: read, checked against products, prices and stock, then held for your approval.
Quotes: firms that make to order
- Quote automation for UK manufacturers that make to orderHow quote automation works for UK firms that make to order: requests read, checked against your rate tables, drafted for your estimator to approve.
- AI for print estimating: the step before your MISWe build the step before your print MIS: each enquiry read, the spec laid out in your MIS’s terms, gaps listed, then your estimator approves.
- Faster quotes for carton and corrugated packaging makersPackaging quote automation for UK carton and corrugated makers: enquiries read against your board, tooling and rates, drafted for your estimator.
- RFQ and quote handling for subcontract engineering firmsRFQ automation for UK subcontract engineering: drawings, revisions and materials read, checked against past jobs, drafted for your estimator.
- AI for UK manufacturers: start with the order and quote deskWhere a UK manufacturer with 50 to 500 staff can start with AI: the quote and order desk. How it works, what it connects to and how it is measured.
Retail
- Stock-gap alerts and replenishment for multi-store retailersA daily list for your buyer: which stores will run short, where spare stock sits, and the transfers and orders to approve. For UK multi-store retailers.