In a market where custom work is the norm and margins are under pressure, speed and accuracy are crucial. Yet, for many of these companies, order processing still depends heavily on manual work. With the tight labour market, organising these processes is under even more pressure.
Because orders often arrive in a wide range of formats, and with different names for similar products, employees in the glass industry often have a time-consuming and error-prone process of retyping data, checking dimensions, and manually adding product lines. Mistakes are costly: one incorrect pane quickly leads to re-production, extra transport, and delays on the building site.
Together with Aiden, VKO developed an order entry agent that automates this process. The agent reads incoming emails and PDF files, recognises customer and delivery addresses, interprets order lines based on industry-specific characteristics such as dimensions and product properties, and matches these directly with the item master within Glasportaal.
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From overflowing inboxes and manual retyping to automated processing
Glasportaal forms the digital foundation for standardisation within the order process. The platform centralises order processing and links incoming orders to a standardised item master, ensuring data is processed in a uniform and structured way.
Orders often arrive by email and as PDFs, in a wide range of formats, and with different names for similar products. Employees retype data, check dimensions, and manually add lines. That takes time and increases the risk of errors. And in glass, those errors are costly: one incorrect pane quickly leads to re-production, extra transport, and delays on the building site.
Together with Aiden, VKO developed an order entry agent that further automates this process. With the addition of the AI Agent, this digital foundation is further automated and optimised. What used to be entered manually is now available within minutes as a checked proposal in the system, and that process runs 24×7. The agent reads incoming emails and PDF files, recognises customer and delivery addresses, interprets order lines based on industry-specific characteristics such as dimensions and product properties, and matches these directly with the item master within Glasportaal.
‘AI takes over the manual entry work and makes the process less error-prone. This gives employees more time to optimise product configurations and provide proactive customer advice. That is where the real quality gain lies.’
Human-in-the-loop: Employees stay in control, AI as a digital assistant
With this way of working, the employee stays in control. They check the order or quotation proposed by the AI Agent and adjust it where needed. Each correction is processed immediately, allowing the system to learn from practice. Product names and orders that occur more often are recognised more accurately, and automatically linked to the correct item in the standard item master. This shifts human work from retyping to checking, optimising, and advising.
More speed, fewer errors, and happier employees
The time saving is tangible. A test with ninety order lines showed that manual entry took around thirty minutes. The AI Agent processed the same order within minutes.
In addition to speed, automatic recognition and validation reduce input errors, and therefore lower costs. Processing also runs continuously, which helps absorb peaks in incoming orders.
‘By using generative AI, the format and the language in which an order comes in no longer matter. By combining generative AI with a mapping database, around 80% of orders are handled efficiently, while the system continues to learn and improve based on previous orders,’ says Joost Piersma, Lead Developer Glasportaal at Aiden.
‘AI takes over the manual entry work and makes the process less error-prone. This gives employees more time to optimise product configurations and provide proactive customer advice. That is where the real quality gain lies,’ added Jur van der Kooij, Founder, VKO Software & Support.
One partner for AI, integration, and development
VKO deliberately chose to work with Aiden, so expertise in AI, integration, and product development was available directly within one team. This made it possible to move quickly, and ensured the solution integrated seamlessly with existing IT systems and processes.
The solution is built with Mendix as a platform for low-code and AI. This makes it possible to quickly integrate additional AI Agents and new functionality, and easily expand the platform.
Further automation with new AI Agents
The implementation of the order entry agent is a first step. From there, VKO is looking to expand with additional agents. In this way, the platform continues to evolve into a digital layer that automates repetitive tasks and relieves employees.
For glass companies, this means working more efficiently, less risk, and more attention for the customer. Exactly what matters in a competitive market.
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