Builders merchants business process automation
Builders merchants business process automation means every trade order, delivery ticket, transfer and direct-to-site order in a merchant runs inside the ERP the branches already use, typed once from the counter to the invoice and the trade account. Trade orders are filled from branch stock, a transfer or direct-to-site, and every delivery ticket must become an invoice. FlyWei maps that chain in your ERP, from purchasing from manufacturers to trade accounts and rebates, then joins the links up so the same fact is never typed twice. Start with the Chain Map: half a day on site, one written map.
Half a day on site, a written two page map, the one link to fix first and a fixed pilot quote. The fee is credited in full against the pilot.
Delivery ticket to invoice: we map it in your ERP
In a typical UK builders merchant the counter takes the order on one screen, the yard writes the delivery ticket by hand, and the ticket comes back on the driver's clipboard to be invoiced the next day, if it comes back at all. Supplier rebates are worked out at year end from a spreadsheet. A merchant with 15 to 150 staff across a few branches runs the same seven links as any goods business, and every link is a place the same fact is typed twice.
Trade orders are filled from branch stock, a transfer or direct-to-site, and every delivery ticket must become an invoice. We map it in your ERP.
- 7
- links in the chain, from purchasing from manufacturers to trade accounts and rebates
- Half a day
- on site for the Chain Map, with the people who run each link
- 2 pages
- the written map you leave with, plus a baseline from your own data
- 1
- link to fix first, with a fixed pilot quote credited in full against the pilot
The seven links, in builders merchants words
Every goods business runs the same seven links. Here is what each link is called in a typical UK builders merchant, and what keyed once looks like at each one. Our delivered track record is in wholesale; the builders merchants chain follows the same method, mapped in your own ERP.
| # | Stage | In your words | Typed once |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Purchasing | Purchasing from manufacturers | Branch purchase orders raised once from live stock and open trade orders, with direct-to-site orders flagged from the sales order |
| 02 | Goods in | Goods in at branch | Deliveries booked in against the purchase order by scan, so the branch stock figure moves the moment the lorry is unloaded |
| 03 | Stock | Branch and yard stock | One live quantity per product, per branch and yard, visible to the counter before an order is promised |
| 04 | Allocation | Trade order allocation | Counter and phone orders keyed once, priced from the account's terms and allocated from branch stock, a transfer or direct-to-site |
| 05 | Goods out | Site delivery and collection | The delivery ticket signed on the driver's device at the site or the counter, with the photo kept on the order |
| 06 | Invoices | Delivery ticket invoicing | The invoice raised from the signed ticket the same day, with the customer's order reference carried through |
| 07 | Accounts | Trade accounts and rebates | Supplier rebates and retro discounts calculated from live purchase data, and trade account payments chased from the ledger until paid |
What we would automate first
These are the four joins we would map first in a typical UK builders merchant. Each one is the same fact, typed by a second person into a second screen, and each one is where a difference hides until the customer or the supplier finds it.
- 01
Signed delivery tickets captured on the driver's device and invoiced the same day
- 02
Trade counter and phone orders keyed once, priced from the account's terms
- 03
Direct-to-site orders tracked from supplier PO to proof of delivery to invoice
- 04
Supplier rebates and retro discounts calculated from live purchase data, not year end
Map, design, build, run
- 01
Map
The Chain Map. One engineer spends half a day on site walking purchasing, goods in, stock, goods out, invoicing and accounts as they run today, and marks every point where a person re-keys or chases. You get a written two page map, a baseline taken from your own data and countersigned by both sides, the one link to fix first and a fixed pilot quote. One fixed fee, credited in full against the pilot.
Book a Chain Map - 02
Design
We decide which steps your ERP handles, which need a module, and which need a connection. Written down and agreed before anything is coded.
- 03
Build and connect
Modules, portals, device apps and integrations built and tested in staging, then released through a controlled route with rollback.
- 04
Run
Our AI specialist engineers stay on: users, changes, faults, documentation and the next stage of automation, under an agreed work plan.
Questions builders merchants ask
What does builders merchants business process automation cover?
The seven links a merchant runs every day: purchasing from manufacturers, goods in at branch, branch and yard stock, trade order allocation, site delivery and collection, delivery ticket invoicing, and trade accounts and rebates. Each fact is entered once, at the counter or on the driver's device, and every later document is built from it inside the ERP your branches already run.
How does a signed delivery ticket become an invoice the same day?
The ticket is signed on the driver's device rather than a clipboard, with the photo kept on the order. Because the ticket is the order record, the invoice is raised from it the moment the delivery closes, with the customer's order reference already on it. Nothing waits for the clipboard to come back to the branch.
Can direct-to-site orders be tracked from supplier PO to invoice?
Yes, by method. The trade order flags the line as direct-to-site, which raises the supplier purchase order without re-keying. The supplier's proof of delivery is recorded against that order, the customer invoice is raised from it, and the supplier invoice is matched to the same order and proof before payment. One order, three documents, typed once.
Can supplier rebates be calculated from live purchase data?
Yes. Rebate and retro discount terms are held against the supplier, and the calculation runs from the purchase orders and receipts already recorded, so the figure is known through the year rather than reconstructed from a spreadsheet at year end. Claims are raised from the same data.
Does this work with the ERP our branches already run?
Yes. We build inside the ERP through its API, its database or a scheduled import, rather than replacing it. Where the platform lacks a step, such as a driver device app for signed tickets or a rebate calculation, we write the module. The Chain Map shows which case you are in.
Have you done this for a builders merchant before?
Our delivered track record is in wholesale, where the chain we built and run takes orders online at the right price tier, records proof of delivery on device and raises invoices from deliveries every day. In a merchant the chain follows the same method, relabelled as branches, tickets and trade accounts, inside the ERP you run. We map your version before we quote for any build.
Start with the Chain Map for your builders merchants business
Half a day on site with the people who raise the orders, book the goods in and chase the invoices. You leave with a written map, a countersigned baseline and a fixed pilot quote. No fee is published; it is credited in full against the pilot.
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