60-80% lower processing costs
Order Processing Automation: Email & PDF Orders Straight into Your TMS or ERP
100 orders a day at 7 minutes each is 11+ hours of retyping, daily, by staff you can barely find. Stratalytic builds custom AI that reads your order emails and posts them into your TMS or ERP in seconds. No EDI project, no SaaS subscription, human in the loop.
Updated: July 2026
5-10 min
Manual entry per order
90%
Straight-through (benchmark)
60-80%
Lower processing costs
0
Changes for your customers
No EDI project
Works with every sender
4-5 min → 1-3 sec
Per order
Quick answer
- AI reads orders from email and PDF and posts them into your TMS or ERP in seconds, manual entry takes 5-10 minutes per order.
- No EDI project needed: customers keep sending the emails they send today. Existing EDI links keep working.
- Custom-built: you own code and model, runs in your cloud. Fixed price or price per document, set after the feasibility study.
- Benchmark: a carrier automated 90% of its order flow; processing costs drop 60-80%.
The warehouse keeps moving. Order entry no longer has to be manual.
Every order retyped today can be booked in seconds tomorrow.
01
How email-to-TMS order processing works
Orders arrive by email, in the body, as PDF, sometimes as a photo of a form. The AI reads each message, recognises it as an order, extracts the fields your TMS or ERP needs, and validates them against your master data (customers, addresses, articles, rates).
Valid orders are created automatically; anything uncertain goes to a review screen for a human check that takes seconds. Your customers change nothing, they keep sending the emails they send today.
02
EDI vs AI order processing
| EDI | AI processing | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup per customer | Integration project each | None, reads existing emails |
| Demands on sender | Must implement EDI too | None |
| Time to live | Months per partner | Weeks, all partners at once |
| Format changes | Break the integration | Handled by the model |
Many SME logistics companies started EDI and stalled after a few partners: too expensive per integration, and most customers keep emailing anyway. AI processing covers exactly that long tail.
03
Why custom-built instead of a SaaS tool
Off-the-shelf order-entry tools assume your process fits their standard. Deviating order flows, specific validations or an uncommon TMS quickly become workarounds, while you keep paying per document, forever, on someone else's platform.
Stratalytic builds on your streams and systems: you own code and model, it runs in your own cloud, and pricing is a fixed project fee (or a per-document price if you prefer). Compare the options on custom vs SaaS or see the broader picture on document processing automation.
04
The business case in 2026
65% of Dutch road transport companies report staff shortages limiting growth; administrative roles are among the hardest to fill. Labour costs rise 6.1% in 2026, total costs 3.4-4.8%, on net margins of typically 2-4%.
Automating order entry attacks the one cost block you can actually reduce this year, removes a single point of failure in your administration, and cuts the typo risk that turns into rejected freight-damage claims on CMR waybills.
Process
How does it work?
Free consultation
One hour on your order streams: volumes, formats, systems. You get 3-5 concrete opportunities with an impact estimate.
Free feasibility study
We run the AI on a sample of your real order emails and report the achievable straight-through rate, before any investment.
Build & integrate
2-4 weeks: model, review screen, TMS/ERP integration. Fixed price or price per document.
Live with your team
Your team verifies exceptions, the model keeps learning, you own everything. Documented, no lock-in.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I get PDF orders into my ERP or TMS automatically?+
An AI model monitors your order inbox, reads the email and PDF attachment, extracts customer, items or shipment data, quantities, addresses and delivery date, validates them against your master data and creates the order via your ERP/TMS API or import. Your team only verifies exceptions. From 5-10 minutes of retyping to seconds.
Is EDI still necessary with AI order processing?+
No. EDI requires a technical integration per trading partner, expensive and slow, which is why many SME projects stall after 2-3 partners. AI order processing simply reads the emails and PDFs your customers already send. Existing EDI links keep running; the AI catches the rest.
What is a good EDI alternative for smaller transport companies?+
AI-based order processing is usually the most practical alternative for carriers with 10-250 employees: no integration project per customer, no demands on the sender, and live in weeks instead of months. Same end result as EDI, without the lead time.
How much time does automated order entry save per week?+
At 100 orders a day and 7 minutes per order, your team retypes for over 11 hours a day, roughly 58 hours a week. Automation reduces processing time by 60-80% in practice. One carrier that implemented this saw 90% of its order flow enter the TMS without manual work.
What about unusual order formats?+
Every field gets a confidence score. Low-confidence orders go to a review screen where your employee approves or completes them in seconds, human in the loop. Corrections continuously improve the model.
Can a small logistics company afford this?+
Yes. You choose between a one-off custom project or a price per processed document with no upfront investment. We set the exact investment together after the free feasibility study on your real orders. For comparison: one administrative FTE costs €45,000-55,000 per year, and is barely findable in the current labour market.
Do I need to replace my TMS or ERP?+
No. The AI layer sits next to your existing TMS or ERP (Boltrics/3PL Dynamics, Exact, AFAS, Dynamics 365 and others) and delivers orders through existing interfaces. Nothing changes for your planners.
What does order processing automation cost?+
It depends on your order streams and the TMS/ERP integration. We always start with a free feasibility study on your real orders, and set the fixed price together based on that. Prefer no upfront investment? A price-per-document model is possible.
Sources & official references
Verified information from authoritative sources
See how much of your order flow can run hands-free
Free consultation plus a free feasibility study on your real order emails. You know the achievable automation rate before you invest a euro.
