Transform Your Supply Chain with RPA: Simplify Sales Order Management and Enhance Efficiency! 

A supply chain includes every step of commodities production and distribution, from the acquisition of raw materials to production, storage, distribution, delivery, and recovery. The need for automation has changed the game. With supply chain automation, companies may shift employees' attention away from tedious, time-consuming duties and towards jobs that demand human interaction. Tasks such as generating essential documents, processing orders, assigning picking slots, and paying out invoices can be extremely time-consuming. 

Supply chain management is significantly impacted by digital transformation. This is also changing how businesses distribute goods, run businesses, and complete orders. This blog discusses the results of implementing RPA in supply chain management. In supply chain management, RPA is used to automate and expedite processes that were previously completed by hand. RPA redefines the corporate supply chain process as a crucial component of the current digital transformation and reduces inefficiency throughout the company. Organizations can use RPA to integrate and automate data-driven activities and tedious administrative processes. Let us examine supply chain management RPA application cases. 

One such leading RPA platform is UiPath which enables software users to build "bots" that mimic, learn, and carry out rule-based business processes. By analysing human behaviour, users of RPA automation can build bots. Give instructions to your bots, then let them do the task. Robotic process automation (RPA) software bots can communicate with any application or system in the same way that people do, with the exception that RPA bots can work continuously, nonstop, far more quickly, and with 100% accuracy and reliability.  

Following are some of the use cases that can be automated using RPA -  

1. Order Fulfilment 

The act of receiving, packing, and shipping orders is known as order fulfilment. When a buyer purchases a product, the process starts, and it concludes when they receive the product. To establish confidence and trust, the company maintains constant, open communication throughout pressing circumstances, such as delivery delays or order fulfilment problems. Most of this task is completed manually. However, businesses can easily automate this entire communication process with RPA supply chain management. 

RPA automates email replies if an order has been requested, shipped, half-finished, delayed, or received. This makes it possible for everyone in the supply chain to get notifications in real-time. Additionally, bots can read emails, interpret content, and act. In addition to freeing up human resources, this also eliminates the possibility of human error. 

Automate email responses when an order has been requested, shipped, halfway finished, delayed, or received. This is done by using UiPath email automation activities like the get mail activity and Send exchange mail message activity. This makes it possible for everyone in the supply chain to get notifications in real-time. Additionally, bots can read emails, interpret content, and act. In addition to freeing up human resources, this also eliminates the possibility of human error. 

SAP-integrated supply chain management tool, SAP SCM, improves corporate agility to adjust to market demand changes. SAP SCM is a complete software suite covering supply chain networking, supply chain planning and coordination, and supply chain execution. UiPath's SAP automation features offer pre-built official actions to simplify process creation. Supply chain management use cases for SAP automation utilizing UiPath are listed below. 

2. Sales Order Creation: 

A sales order is a document created by the seller that contains information about the goods or services the consumer requests. Sales orders include information such as price, quantity, terms, and conditions, in addition to information about the product and service. 

RPA developers can call an SAP Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) using the SAP BAPI Activities package in UiPath. The package includes a scope activity called SAP Application Scope that enables the user to connect to an SAP system. It uses a different activity named Invoke SAP BAPI to invoke a particular BAPI. ‘BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2’ is responsible for creating sales orders. The SAP FIORI app or SAP GUI can be used to download sales orders through a variety of UI automation activities in UiPath. 

3. Sales Order Processing: 

Sales order processing is the process a business uses to complete a customer order. Customer requests for the delivery of goods or services at a specific time are handled by sales order processing. Upon receiving a request, the sales area is responsible for fulfilling it. Information about the sales order is retrieved via SAP(BAPI_SALESORDER_GETSTATUS), and the bot uses those details to determine whether to make a partial or complete delivery by checking stock balances for different materials in a specific warehouse. 

4. Creating a Delivery: 

Deliveries involve transferring goods along a supply chain from one place to another. As the final step in the distribution of goods from the supplier to the client, it is a crucial part of the supply chain process. BAPI ‘BAPI_OUTB_DELIVERY_CREATE_SLS’ creates a delivery document in SAP. With this BAPI bot, a delivery will be created by providing stock information, a delivery date, and a shipping address. In addition, an email confirming delivery with a downloaded PDF. 

Automating repetitive tasks allows businesses to control sourcing prices, safeguarding margins. Robots can handle master data management and approval requests. Refresh your ERP and other systems. Create replenishment requests. Publish and send purchase orders. And that liberates people to address problems and establish connections with suppliers. 

The firm can experience a significant increase in order quantity, an improvement in order fulfilment accuracy, and a decrease in shipment delays. This is done by implementing robotic process automation in the supply chain process. Companies that want to stay competitive should reap the rewards of increased productivity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and employee and customer happiness. 

Conclusion  

In conclusion, supply chain management has undergone a significant transformation with the advent of digital technologies. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has revolutionized supply chain automation by enabling businesses to streamline and expedite their processes, reducing inefficiencies, and improving accuracy. From order fulfilment to sales order creation and processing, RPA can automate tedious administrative tasks, freeing up human resources to focus on value-added activities. By implementing RPA in the supply chain process, organizations can experience increased productivity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and improved employee and customer satisfaction. As digital transformation continues to reshape supply chain management, businesses that embrace RPA are likely to stay competitive and thrive in the market.