Automate warehouse orders and deliveries from email and PDFs
Stepwork turns emailed PDF orders into WMS orders, puts delivery emails on the dispatch calendar, and invoices shipped orders in QuickBooks, using the systems you already run.
- Use case
- Order and delivery operationsOps
- Best for
- Customer Service Lead, Dispatcher, Office Manager
- Applications used
WMS
Outlook
QuickBooks Desktop
- Business outcome
- About 20 hours a week back on orders, deliveries, and invoicing
The problem
Orders arrive as PDFs. Deliveries arrive as emails.
Not every customer sends orders through EDI. Some attach a PDF and write “ship this for us,” and someone retypes it into the WMS. Delivery times arrive the same way, buried in carrier and broker emails that dispatch tracks in their inbox and their head.
At the end of the day someone else exports what shipped and keys it into QuickBooks. Each step is small, but together they eat hours, and one missed email is a missed delivery.
The math
What the manual version costs a warehouse office
Example volumes for a warehouse shipping about 27 orders a day. Swap in yours.
| The manual task | Times a week | Minutes each | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key a PDF order into the WMS | 100 | 6 | 10 |
| Put a delivery email on the calendar | 45 | 3 | 2.3 |
| Invoice a shipped order | 135 | 3 | 6.8 |
| Build the past-due list | 1 | 45 | 0.8 |
- Hours a week
- 20
- Hours a year
- 988
- Of one full-time person
- 49%
Example volumes, not a customer's numbers. Minutes are the typical time to do each task by hand. Hours a year assume 50 working weeks.
Example procedures
Four order and delivery procedures
From the order email to the invoice. Each one shows the fields it reads, the rule that catches a bad order or a changed delivery, and the loops that work through a full inbox.
Emailed PDF order to an order in Custom WMS
A customer emails a PDF and asks you to ship it. AI reads the order, a rule holds anything incomplete for a person, and complete orders go straight into the WMS.
- Outlook
- Custom WMS
Swap in your systemsThe steps stay the same. Only the screens change.
Emailed PDF order to an order in Custom WMS
Webhook
Order email in the Outlook orders inbox
message received · orders inbox
Output variables
- pdf_attachment
- sender_email
AI
Read the order off the PDF
Input variables
- pdf_attachment
Output
- ship_to
- po_number
- order_lines
- ship_date
Rule logic
Is the order complete?
Input variables
- po_number
- order_lines
Paths
- If the PO number or the order lines are missingThen: Forward it to customer service
- OtherwiseThen: Create the order in Custom WMS
Execution
If a field is missingForward it to customer service
Input variables
- sender_email
Execution
If completeCreate the order in Custom WMS
Input variables
- ship_to
- po_number
- order_lines
- ship_date
Output
- wms_order_id
Execution
If completeReply with the order number
Input variables
- sender_email
- wms_order_id
Drag to explore · pinch to zoom
Step by step
- An order email arrivesA customer emails a PDF and asks you to ship it. The email landing in the orders inbox starts the run.
- AI reads the PDFThe AI card reads the ship-to, PO number, order lines, and ship date off the PDF, whatever layout that customer uses.
- The rule checks it's completeIf the PO number or the lines are missing, the order takes the top path. Complete orders go on to the WMS.
- If a field is missingForward it to customer service
- If completeCreate the order in Custom WMS
- Incomplete orders go to a personOnly when something is missing: Stepwork forwards the email to customer service, instead of putting a bad order into the WMS.Only on this path: If a field is missing
- The order goes into the WMSFor complete orders, the recorded flow enters the order in Custom WMS's screens, line by line, and hands back the order number.Only on this path: If complete
- The customer hears backStepwork replies to the customer's email with the order number, so they know it's in.Only on this path: If complete
Watch it run
Field map
| From | To |
|---|---|
| OutlookPDF: ship-to name and address | Custom WMSOrder: consignee |
| OutlookPDF: PO number | Custom WMSOrder: customer PO |
| OutlookPDF: items and quantities | Custom WMSOrder: linesMatched to your SKU list |
| OutlookPDF: requested ship date | Custom WMSOrder: ship date |
| OutlookEmail: sender address | Custom WMSOrder: customer accountMatched by the sender's email domain |
Delivery emails to the dispatch calendar
Delivery times buried in carrier and broker emails end up on the calendar dispatch uses. A loop handles every new email, and a rule decides whether each one is a change or a new load.
- Outlook
Swap in your systemsThe steps stay the same. Only the screens change.
Step by step
- Stepwork checks the inboxEvery 15 minutes it collects new emails in the transportation inbox. Each one becomes a pass through the loop.
- AI pulls out the detailsInside the loop, the AI card reads the load number, delivery date, time, and location, whether the email came from a carrier, a broker, or a customer.Repeats: For each delivery email found · 9 new emails
- It looks for the loadStepwork searches the dispatch calendar for an entry with the same load number.Repeats: For each delivery email found · 9 new emails
- The rule decides: update or addIf the load is already scheduled, the email is a change, so the run takes the update path. A new load gets added instead.
- If already scheduledUpdate the calendar entry
- If new loadAdd the delivery to the calendar
Repeats: For each delivery email found · 9 new emails - Changes update the entryWhen a follow-up email moves the time, the existing entry is updated, so dispatch never works from an old time.Only on this path: If already scheduledRepeats: For each delivery email found · 9 new emails
- New loads get addedNew loads go on the calendar with their location. Then the loop moves on to the next email.Only on this path: If new loadRepeats: For each delivery email found · 9 new emails
Watch it run
Field map
| From | To |
|---|---|
| OutlookEmail: load or PO number | OutlookCalendar event: titleAlso how follow-up emails find the entry |
| OutlookEmail: delivery date and time | OutlookCalendar event: start |
| OutlookEmail: delivery location | OutlookCalendar event: location |
Shipped orders to invoices in QuickBooks Desktop
The daily export nobody likes doing: today's shipped orders become invoices in QuickBooks Desktop, one per order in a loop, and accounting gets a single summary.
- Custom WMS
- QuickBooks Desktop
- Outlook
Swap in your systemsThe steps stay the same. Only the screens change.
Step by step
- The day's shipments come outAt 6 pm, Stepwork runs the shipped-orders report in Custom WMS. Each order on it is one pass through the loop.
- Each order becomes an invoiceInside the loop, the recorded QuickBooks Desktop flow creates an invoice for the order's customer, with its lines, its ship date, and the order number as the reference.Repeats: For each order shipped today · 27 orders
- The day gets totalledAfter the last order, the Summary card adds up what was invoiced and lists anything that failed.
- Accounting gets one emailThe summary goes to accounting, so the day's invoicing is done before anyone asks for it.
Watch it run
Field map
| From | To |
|---|---|
| Custom WMSShipped order: customer | QuickBooks DesktopInvoice: customer |
| Custom WMSShipped order: lines (SKU, quantity) | QuickBooks DesktopInvoice lines: product, qty |
| Custom WMSShipped order: ship date | QuickBooks DesktopInvoice: invoice date |
| Custom WMSShipped order: order number | QuickBooks DesktopInvoice: P.O. number |
Past-due invoice list for collections
The smallest shape: three cards, run every Monday, so collections never depends on someone remembering to dig through QuickBooks Desktop.
- QuickBooks Desktop
- Outlook
Swap in your systemsThe steps stay the same. Only the screens change.
Step by step
- The past-due list comes outEvery Monday, Stepwork pulls every open invoice past its due date from QuickBooks Desktop as one table.
- A script groups themThe Script card sorts the invoices into 30, 60, and 90+ day buckets with a total per customer. It is the same calculation every week, written once.
- Collections gets the listThe grouped list goes to whoever owns collections, so follow-up starts on Monday morning.
Watch it run
Field map
| From | To |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks DesktopInvoice: customer, amount | OutlookAging list: customer, amount |
| QuickBooks DesktopInvoice: due date | OutlookAging list: bucketDays overdue, counted from the due date |
Flows
The flows behind these procedures
Each flow is one recorded job in one system. The WMS and inbox flows are recorded on your own screens, since every warehouse runs its own setup.
- QuickBooks Online
Create invoice from approved order
Creates the customer invoice in QuickBooks Online with line items, terms, and PO reference from the approved order details. - QuickBooks Online
Extract unpaid invoices for collections
Extracts open invoices past due with customer, amount, and days overdue from QuickBooks Online. - QuickBooks Online
Extract P&L by class for the month
Runs the monthly P&L by class in QuickBooks Online and extracts it for the leadership pack. - QuickBooks Online
Extract uncategorized transactions for close
Extracts bank feed transactions still uncategorized so the close doesn't stall on coding gaps. - WMS
Create an order from a PDF
Enters a customer's order in the WMS order screens from fields read off an emailed PDF. - WMS
Export the day's shipped orders
Runs the shipped-orders report for today and downloads it for accounting. - Outlook
Read delivery details from an email
Pulls the load number, date, time, and location out of a carrier or broker email. - Outlook
Add a delivery to the dispatch calendar
Creates or updates the calendar entry dispatch uses for a load.
More procedures
More finance procedures in the Marketplace
Ready-made procedures for the accounting side of the warehouse.
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1 moreNetSuite · QuickBooks Online · Ramp + 1 moreMonth-end close checklist runner
On close day one, extracts pending journal approvals and PO-match exceptions from NetSuite, uncategorized transactions from QuickBooks, and unreconciled card spend from Ramp, and posts the consolidated close checklist with owners to the finance channel.
Why Stepwork
It works with the systems you already run
Stepwork works in your WMS, your inbox, and QuickBooks the way your team does, through their own screens, so there is no new system to learn and nothing to integrate first. A rule holds any order with a missing field for a person instead of putting it into the WMS wrong, and every run records what came in and what was created.
Procedures
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