The special feature of the solution from Evy Solutions is its AI-supported, text-based approach, thanks to which relevant information can be extracted and classified even from unstructured data - in other words, the solution does not care where the important information is located within the text. Depending on the application scenario, customers benefit from a degree of automation of almost 100 percent and cost and time savings of around 90 percent in document processing. Antalis has been using the software for order management since September 2020 - in the meantime not only throughout Germany but also at the company's Swiss location. IT system administrator Rouven Bartmann remembers the time before the introduction: “Before we started using Evy Solutions, an employee would grab the new order from the incoming folder, print it out, and then manually enter it into our SAP system.” From the time the order was received to the time it was visible in the system, the process took up to four minutes. In addition, manual processing was prone to errors.

Process orders in just 15 seconds instead of four minutes

Today, thanks to the automation provided by the software, the entire process takes only about 15 seconds and works like this: The Evy Xpact software reads the items necessary for processing from the orders - mostly PDF or Office files, but also pure e-mail texts. These items include quantity, item, and customer numbers. If no customer number can be found, for example, the solution automatically searches for the sales tax number instead and uses a stored table to determine the customer number. If no sales tax number is specified, this is also no problem; the software then determines this using the supplier number.

Once all order-critical information has been clarified, the software automatically reads out the delivery address and the delivery date, followed by the data on the order itself, such as the order number, order name, and item number and unit of measure. Here, too, there are some pitfalls to be aware of. An example: the customer orders three pieces of a certain item, but does not mean individual items, but boxes or rolls, which he has created in his system as pieces. Here, the solution must identify the correct unit of measure. “We have stored a matching table in Evy Xpact for this purpose, which keeps the correct units of measure ready for each customer from the order history,” explains Bartmann. If the software identifies missing information in the validation process that it cannot replace itself, it automatically sends an error message, and the order is processed manually.

The completed order is then uploaded to the existing EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) solution. There, the data is prepared by employees in such a way that it can subsequently be processed further in SAP. “This step could theoretically also be handled by the solution, but we decided to do it internally because it gives us more flexibility in terms of further processing for different departments and countries,” explains Bartmann. “In other words, we set up the solution in such a way that we don't have to rely on external support from Evy Solutions for adjustments that take place in SAP but can process and update that internally.”

Quickly ready for use thanks to self-learning artificial intelligence

As for the introduction and further development of the software, Bartmann says, “We hadn't set a fixed time frame for this but wanted to take our time to slowly approach automated order acceptance with AI, which was completely new territory for us.” But then everything went easier and faster than expected. “We were able to go live with the solution within just a few weeks. After just four weeks, the software processed the first order exactly as we needed it.” In the beginning, Antalis' IT department picked three or four test customers, but now orders from several hundred customers run smoothly through the software, and ten to 20 new cases that are eligible for the solution are added each month. Only orders from customers who do not send master data, such as article numbers, are not considered for conversion to the software. And although 700 orders are already being processed via Evy Xpact, Bartmann knows: “So far, we have only converted a small proportion of our customers and still have a huge potential that we will continue to exploit bit by bit.”

Transparent pricing and good support

Asked what he particularly likes about the solution, Bartmann cites the software's training mode, which users can easily expand and manage themselves using various keywords via the front end. One example is the order number: “There are customers who write order number, or order-number, order no., etc. In the meantime, we have trained the system to recognize over 30 different variants. And if the Antalis team also has customization requests, these are always quickly implemented by the manufacturer. Evy always does something immediately if something goes wrong and is constantly developing the AI so that it can analyze documents even more precisely,” says Bartmann.

From a financial point of view, at Antalis, the pay-per-use model is a positive feature. This means that, in addition to a monthly usage fee, customers only pay for the volume of documents they need. This also means that there are no additional costs for onboarding documents from new partners or customers. “There are solutions that charge an extra fee for each new format or order form, but that's not the case with Evy Solutions,” Bartmann is pleased to say.

Despite all the advantages, the changeover also took some convincing in the sales department, whose responsibilities include order processing. “Initially, there were definitely reservations about the solution from one or the other employee, combined with the fear of soon becoming superfluous,” says Bartmann. But a clear statement from the management that the solution was not intended to cancel any jobs, but on the contrary to make their work easier by taking over monotonous tasks and making time for higher-value work such as consulting sessions, quickly convinced the employees of the advantages of automation.

Outlook: New fields of application and a roll-out to other countries

Antalis is aware of the importance of AI for business processes and is focusing on innovative solutions that increase the efficiency of collaboration with customers as well as internal processes. Digitization is an important strategic factor that the company is focusing on - whether by means of AI support in order management, through partnerships with the software company Zaikio for more efficient customer orders, or with a consistent, customer-friendly expansion of its own web store.

Consequently, Antalis intends to handle even more business processes via Evy Xpact in the future. “Currently, we only use the solution for order processing, but we have many more ideas. For example, incoming goods delivery bills or invoices from our service providers are also to be processed via Evy Xpact in the future,” says Bartmann. Another goal is to roll out the solution's order processing across the entire Antalis Group. Switzerland is currently already on board, and other countries are to follow.