A sleep apnea medical device distribution company was spending a lot of valuable employee time voiding sales orders in Brightree, a software used for tracking orders and inventory. It’s a business-critical operation as the company president frequently references reports downloaded from Brightree to track the revenue health of the company.
Current State Process
Before automation, when a sales order was canceled by a customer, human staff would have to navigate to the “Void Notice Form,” complete the form, and fax it to the referring physician. Then, they would navigate to the Brightree online web app, void the sales order, and create a note to record that the void had been completed.
The six-step process was tedious, and each transaction would take several minutes, depending on loading times. The company was consistently working down a 1000 – 2000 order backlog, meaning that 3-4 employees were working overtime each week voiding orders so that the data would be accurate for executive review.
Automated Process
When automated, the process commenced with the bot logging into Brightree, using designated bot credentials. From there, it navigates to a report with all pending sales order voids, and cleans the data based on predetermined rules.
The bot then navigates through Brightree, to find the “Void Notice Form,” and kick-off the void workflow. It then will take the void notice and attach it to a fax to send to the patient’s referring physician.
After the fax is sent, the bot will find the open sales order on the “Sales Order” page in Brightree, void the order, and create a note documenting that the order had been voided.
The bot is running 12 hours a day unattended, meaning that it runs without any human intervention.
Benefits
The implementation of this automated bot has had significant outcomes for the medical device distributor. While the void backlog would run anywhere from 1000 to 2000 open sales orders a week, the bot was able to clear the entire backlog within 4 days. The number of pending transactions has remained low, recently reaching a record low of 44. This has allowed for more accurate reporting data for executive review and a more accurate depiction of company revenue health.
Additionally, the 3-4 employees that were working overtime to void inactive sales orders no longer have to work extra hours, significantly increasing employee satisfaction and mitigating churn. This also freed up their valuable time, enabling redeployment to more strategic initiatives and has resulted in more automation projects that drive further efficiency, savings, and transformation.
The company president expressed the utmost satisfaction with the consistently accurate company sales reports. The provision of clean, accurate data has facilitated informed decision-making and offered unparalleled visibility into company operations.
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