Sales order automation: the customer experience advantage

The challenge

Genpak has grown rapidly as a company in recent years and, as a result, its manual sales order process struggled to process orders in the most efficient way possible. One-third of Genpak’s orders were emailed directly to Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) who were spending roughly 75 hours per week manually keying in the often-complex orders.

“Doing it manually, you get a 60-line order, and it takes you several minutes to enter it in,” said Darlene Bardin, Director of Customer Service at Genpak. “It takes you several more minutes to proof it to ensure that what you entered is correct. So, it’s not just the typing, but also validating the order that takes a significant amount of time.”

The other two-thirds of Genpak’s orders, that were already in the system, usually required additional CSR support. Not surprisingly, the CSRs were stretched incredibly thin juggling the volume of new customer orders while tending to customer inquiries on the existing ones.

Genpak recognised the need for a complete, purpose-built document automation platform that would not only improve the efficiency, speed, and accuracy of its sales order process, but, equally important, elevate the company’s customer experience that CSRs delivered.

The solution

Genpak realised it could eliminate tedious manual data entry through Conexiom’s automation platform, which extracts the details from an order and transforms them - automatically and with 100% accuracy - into touchless documents that are delivered seamlessly into an existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Customers only notice faster and more accurate order processing as a result of the document automation.

The benefits of sales order automation were apparent right away to Genpak’s CSRs. With purpose-built sales order automation, a typical touchless order can be processed in under two minutes - without CSR support. As a result, the CSRs reclaimed 75 hours per week from their daily whirlwind that they were able to redeploy toward customer-oriented, revenue-driving activities.

Genpak’s timing to modernise proved fortuitous when the pandemic hit and ordering takeout became essential for so many people. Demand for food-service containers and dinnerware skyrocketed. By implementing sales order automation before the unexpected hit, Genpak had unknowingly prepared and positioned itself for the pandemic’s demand spikes.

“During the initial COVID-19 peak, the number of orders going through Conexiom was through the roof,” Bardin recalled. “Without Conexiom, our backlogs would have been much more significant.”

“The lesson here for manufacturers and distributors is automation is no longer considered a luxury - it’s an absolute necessity,” said Ray Grady, President and CEO of Conexiom. “To stay competitive in the current economic climate, companies can’t afford - literally or figuratively - to have valuable, expensive human capital tied up with manual, non-value-add activities. Sales order automation helps companies like Genpak protect revenue, win new customers, and turn the customer experience into a competitive advantage.”