Many companies struggle with where and how to implement artificial intelligence (AI) into their workflows. We suggest applying AI to the highest-value processes in your company — sales and order entry — because the return on investment (ROI) can be fast and substantial.

With AI, quote turnaround can go from 12 hours to 20 minutes, training time drops by 90%, and sales productivity goes through the roof. A simple, single-line order goes from 40 clicks to five, and 10 screens to four. It’s a compelling argument for applying AI to the customer interactions that get you paid.

The problem, however, is that many companies approach AI with outdated data and a limited understanding of data mapping, data matching and data labeling.

At DataXstream, we do this upfront – before AI is applied – so we can create the right machine learning models tailored to your business, and then apply them to the highest-value processes in your company to drive sales. This goes beyond the lift and shift integration of data from the legacy system to the new platform. By applying AI, DataXstream’s OMS+IA goes beyond the traditional ways of handling information to customize and automate your transition. Here’s how it works.

Traditional data mapping requires manually manipulating information to migrate it to the new platform. Typically, we see companies take digitized data and apply a standard tagging model that requires continuous adjustments as you go along. Companies may say they can give you 100% accuracy using their AI solution “right out of the gate,” but that is not entirely true. Most solutions require significant human rework to run smoothly.

DataXstream’s OMS+IA’s biggest differentiator is that we personalize our matching models based on how the customer looks for materials when building an order or a quote. For example:

• Do they punch in the manufacturer’s number first?
• Do they always look up the material by the UPC?
• Do they have simple customer descriptions, or are they complex?

Why is this important? When it comes to document automation using machine learning technology and AI to start automating the order process, material matching models must align with how the company searches for their materials.

We look at how our customers sell, their business practices, typical product queries, the complexity of product descriptions, and more. It’s a process that sets the stage for the data migration, go-live and ultimate success of OMS+IA.

While data may be similar by industry segment, each distributor runs their business differently. We look for these points of differentiation. For example, DataXstream can tweak the OMS+IA application to prioritize how a customer query returns product data. You may want a list of brands first. Or you may want the list prioritized by what’s in stock. The data returned to a customer query can be personalized based on how the customer searches and what’s important to them.

This personalization applies across SAP SD order documents, whether a quote, an email inquiry, a return, a credit or the order itself. We design the solution to accommodate your business. That’s unusual in an off-the-shelf product.

In addition to saving time, AI is a hedge against bad or poorly maintained data, typos and other complicating factors in distributors’ datasets.

AI algorithms can:

• Identify the patterns, relationships and structures between datasets to lessen their complexity.
• “Learn” from existing models to increase accuracy over time.
• Spot and correct errors and inconsistencies in the data for more accurate labeling.
• Automatically adapt to changes in the data to ensure labels remain accurate.
• Improve the accuracy and speed of data matching, cutting time spent on manual tasks.
• Scale as the volume of data increases.

DataXstream customers work with our data scientists to model the data, personalizing it to their business. With AI, this process is strategic, not manual. Human decision-making remains at the forefront of this approach. However, you don’t waste time on manual data mapping—AI does the heavy lifting. In this scenario, AI and automation are not replacing human expertise but elevating it.

With this approach, DataXstream can achieve highly accurate output accuracy at go-live while removing many manual, time-consuming data mapping processes. DataXstream’s AI model is designed for oversite to allow for human correction to further train the model with the goal of 100% accuracy.

Let’s apply OMS+IA to some real-world distribution scenarios.

DataXstream’s software streamlines transactional data at the point of order entry, whether at the counter, on the phone, online or on a mobile device. The platform is embedded within existing or new SAP ERP platforms to reduce manual sales processes. It tackles one of the biggest problems in distribution—the variances in product descriptions between companies and customers. With OMS+IA, a distributor can automatically process an emailed order in Excel or PDF, capturing and converting that data into an order in your ERP. Humans can review the order, but the time savings is huge. Even if you only achieve a 75% match on the conversion from a thousand-line order – AI and automation saves three-quarters of the time normally spent on manual order processing.

For example, we can match all product attributes, not just to a 1:1 field. OMS+IA can match on CMIR, customer description, by SKU or serial number — and more. The software allows for various matches based on multiple search criteria. It has an immediate and enormous impact on the end-user experience.

On the front end of the order, OMS+IA eliminates manual rekeying. Orders come in, and the software matches the data in the order to a distributor’s inventory records. Even if the system matches 75% on a thousand-line order, it eliminates the manual work down to one-quarter of a formerly labor-intensive, manual process. It significantly improves the quote-to-order conversion time. Errors lessen. The bottom line improves.

Customers do not have to rekey mapping each time the data set changes, either. OMS+IA was purpose-built for the non-data scientist; anyone can use it.

The difference between DataXstream and an off-the-shelf product isn’t just automation and the level of personalization we provide but also the degree of transparency we bring to the deployment.

DataXstream takes the ambiguity out so that the customer service rep on the front end can envision how the software can improve their daily work. They don’t need to be data science experts. They just need to be experts in their field. We translate these suggestions into interventions in the product application so that the tool continuously improves.

OMS+IA is the answer to better efficiencies, improving the customer experience and increasing your bottom line. Contact our team today to find out how we can help your company apply AI—and improve sales.