Chapter 00

Summary

We spent two weeks with your inside sales, customer service and order desk teams, following quotes and orders from the first email to confirmation. This plan recommends three changes to start now, two to validate first, and three to leave alone, with the evidence for each.

The short version

Brightline’s quote and order teams spend 56% of their week keying, looking up and relaying information. Three changes give back about 355 hours a month.

People in scope: 16
Time on routine information work: 56%
Opportunities assessed: 8
Net hours a month, recommended: 275 h355 h420 h
Net annual value, recommended: $157K$219K$271K

Do first

3 changes, ready to start

O1Order desk#1

Emailed POs to draft sales orders

Read incoming POs, match items and prices, and create draft orders in Prophet 21 for the order desk to confirm.

Annual value: $67K$91K$111K
Hours a month: 110 h140 h165 h
Effort: Medium
Confidence: High

Live in week 7Details

O2Inside sales#2

Quote drafts with price, stock, lead time and spec sheets

Assemble each quote from one request, with the customer’s price, stock and current spec sheets, ready for a rep to check and send.

Annual value: $69K$101K$130K
Hours a month: 105 h135 h160 h
Effort: Medium
Confidence: Medium

Live in week 9Details

O3Customer service#3

Ship and backorder updates sent before customers ask

Tell customers about shipments and backorders before they call.

Annual value: $30K$40K$48K
Hours a month: 60 h80 h95 h
Effort: Low
Confidence: High

Live in week 5Details

All 8, by verdict

Do firstClear value, proven approach, ready to start.
Validate firstPromising. One question to answer before building.
- O4Substitution suggestions for short-stock lines
- O5Credit check before order entry
DeferNot now. Revisit when the conditions change.
- O6Move more accounts to self-service ordering
- O7Supplier acknowledgment and lead-time feed
Not recommendedLittle gain, or the risk belongs with people.
- O8AI voice agent on the customer service line

Where the value comes from

O1Emailed POs to draft sales orders$67K$91K$111K
O2Quote drafts with price, stock, lead time and spec sheets$69K$101K$130K
O3Ship and backorder updates sent before customers ask$30K$40K$48K

Time returned, at $42/h loaded cost Other benefits

Time returned: $139K$179K$212K
Other benefits: $28K$53K$77K
Run costs: −$10K$13K$18K
Net annual value: $157K$219K$271K

What we’d leave alone

Don’t put an AI voice agent on the customer service line. Defer the supplier EDI feed until your largest suppliers can send it, and the portal adoption push until the portal shows order status. In each case the cost or risk outweighs the gain today.

See the reasoning