Sales Order Management
System Redesign
Redesigning order intake to reduce manual coordination and improve process reliability.
01 — Overview
The project
Redesigning the sales order process for a B2B industrial distributor running on ERP + informal channels
My role
Stakeholder research, current-state analysis, problem diagnosis, solution framing and evaluation
Goal
Reduce cycle time, eliminate information inconsistency, prepare the process to scale with growth
02 — Problem
Core problem
The order intake layer runs outside the system — pulling the process into manual coordination and creating delays and inconsistencies.
Orders arrive via WhatsApp, phone, and email — channels the ERP cannot see or validate. Every downstream step depends on human interpretation, generating clarification loops, duplicate records, and stock reservation failures that compound with volume.
03 — Why it matters
The process was manageable at current volume — and would break as the company grew. Three consequences are the most consequential:
~18% of orders require manual follow-up before confirmation
No reservation during payment window means orders can be double-sold
Process capacity is limited by one team's bandwidth to clarify, deduplicate, and route
04 — Key insights
These issues are not isolated inefficiencies — they stem from a process structured around human coordination rather than system control.
Information fragments at the entry point
When the same customer can place orders through multiple channels to multiple reps, there is no single source of truth. Every downstream inconsistency traces back to this.
Verification depends on human memory, not system rules
Clarification loops exist because the system does not validate order completeness at intake. Sales staff catch errors by reading messages — a capacity that does not scale.
Sales is structurally overloaded
Sales is not just selling — they are also the dedupe layer, the clarification layer, and the coordination layer between customer, warehouse, and finance. Freeing this role is where redesign leverage is highest.
05 — Design decision
Design decision: defining the portal scope
The portal was identified as the structural solution. The key decision was how much of the process should be moved into the system.
Core functionality · Required
Move intake into the system
- Structured order input — standardised fields for product, quantity, customer details
- System validation — product codes, availability, completeness checks
- Real-time inventory visibility
These features directly remove the dependency on manual coordination and resolve repeated verification loops.
Extended functionality · Optional
Layered enhancements
- Pricing suggestions and quotation support
- Automated product recommendations or alternatives
- Advanced exception handling workflows
These features improve efficiency and user experience but are not required to address the core structural issue.
The core functionality was prioritised to resolve the structural bottleneck, while additional features can be layered on later.
06 — Solution
The redesigned solution introduces a structured intake layer within the system, shifting coordination from Sales to system-driven validation.
Primary solution
Customer Self-Service Ordering Portal
Customers submit orders through a structured digital interface. The system validates inputs, checks real-time inventory, and routes only genuine exceptions to Sales. Inventory reservation is a built-in module — triggered automatically on order confirmation.
Structured order submission
Replaces WhatsApp/phone intake. Required fields enforced at input; duplicate detection at account level.
Real-time inventory visibility
Customers see live stock before ordering — eliminating the need for Sales to verify availability manually.
Inventory soft-lock on confirmation
SKUs reserved automatically during the payment window; released on timeout. Embedded in the portal flow.
Sales exception queue
Flagged orders (new customers, credit issues, special requests) routed to Sales — everything else flows through.
07 — Trade-off
Why this scope was prioritised
Prioritising the core scope focuses on structural improvement — moving order intake into the system and eliminating manual coordination loops.
This approach introduces higher implementation complexity and requires changes in user behaviour, but provides a more reliable and scalable process foundation.
By contrast, including additional features at this stage would increase system complexity without directly addressing the root cause.
The solution therefore prioritises core functionality first, with the ability to expand incrementally over time.
08 — Metrics
How success would be measured
These metrics directly reflect the original failure points in the intake layer and are used to evaluate the impact of the redesign.
Order confirmation time
Direct signal of whether clarification loops have been eliminated. Expect the sharpest movement here.
Clarification follow-up rate
Measures order input quality — baseline ~18%. If the portal validates correctly, this should approach zero.
Stock conflict incidents
Tests whether the inventory reservation module is working. Should drop to near-zero; residual cases reveal edge cases.
Sales time-per-order
Indicates whether Sales has genuinely shifted from data entry to exception handling — the structural goal of the redesign.
Limitations
- Remote access—Interviews conducted remotely; informal communication patterns observed indirectly rather than in-situ.
- Self-reported metrics—Operational figures provided by management; directionally accurate but not independently verified.
- Implementation scope—Feasibility assessed qualitatively. No technical scoping or cost estimation conducted.
Methods
Appendix — Current-state process model
As-Is BPMN used to identify coordination bottlenecks across Sales, Finance, and Warehouse · Click image to enlarge
