In today’s fast-paced business environment, time is one of the most valuable resources. For companies, especially in industries like manufacturing, manual processes such as customer onboarding can quickly become a bottleneck, consuming precious hours that could be better spent on growth and innovation.
Onboarding a new customer typically takes significant time—up to 4 hours per customer. A recent conversation with one of our clients revealed they spend over 3 hours just to register every new customer, with much of that time wasted on manual, repetitive tasks. Fortunately, there’s a solution: Automated Customer Onboarding using Microsoft Power Automate, which not only speeds up the process but also ensures accuracy and scalability for businesses of any size.
Most businesses follow a similar process when registering new customers in their ERP systems. They collect customer information through various means—emails, Word documents, or MS Forms—but the real issue comes after that. The collected information then needs to be manually transferred into ERP systems like Infor M3 or Dynamics 365.
Here’s an example: Imagine a company collecting customer information and their credit requirements using a Word document. They now need to email the customer, gather the details, and manually input that data into their ERP system. After that, they must email the salesperson to begin the onboarding process. These tedious back-and-forth wastes countless hours and drains energy that could be better spent on strategic work.
Recognizing the problem is just the beginning. Allowing manual tasks to drain valuable time weakens a business’s competitive edge. That’s where Power Automate comes in, delivering an efficient, streamlined solution to eliminate those inefficiencies.
With automation, businesses can free up 80% of their employees’ time, eliminating manual data entry and repetitive tasks.
Here’s how the Customer Registration Automation works:
Whenever a new customer joins,
A user opens a Teams bot and types “Registration Form” The bot displays an Adaptive Card prompting the user to enter the customer’s email.
After submission, an email containing a Microsoft Form is automatically sent to the customer.
Once the customer fills out the form, both the user and the sales team receive notifications. The customer’s information is automatically saved in a database, ready for ERP integration.
Power Automate assigns a salesperson based on availability and informs them via Teams bot.
The salesperson types “Customer Onboarding” in the Teams bot and receives an Adaptive Card with pending customers.
After selecting the customer, they can review the information added by the customer and add any extra information required, like their credit requirements, etc.
The system automatically transfers all collected data (from both the customer and sales team) into the ERP system, eliminating manual data entry.
The salesperson is notified when the ERP update is complete, allowing for next steps.
Höganäs, a global leader in metal and ceramic powders, struggled with customer registration and credit loan approval taking up to 60 hours due to manual data entry and repetitive tasks.
Using Power Automate, we simplified their onboarding process:
Automating customer onboarding offers several key benefits:
Manual processes are costly and inefficient. Automated customer onboarding in Manufacturing industry is very important because there are so many things to worry about, and customer registration should not be the one. With Microsoft Power Automate, now businesses save hours of time, reduce errors, and accelerate the entire workflow. Whether it’s cutting down on data entry or streamlining follow-ups, automation is the key to freeing up valuable resources for more impactful tasks.
Sunflower Lab uses agile methods to find out what needs to be automated to help you achieve better results. Contact Us today and choose our Power Automate services to reap the benefits of today’s technology.
Unlock the potential of your business with our range of tech solutions. From RPA to data analytics and AI/ML services, we offer tailored expertise to drive success. Explore innovation, optimize efficiency, and shape the future of your business. Connect with us today and take the first step towards transformative growth.
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