Manufacturing business process automation
Manufacturing business process automation means the purchase orders, goods receipts, works orders, despatch notes and invoices of a factory run inside the ERP it already uses, with each fact typed once and carried forward to the next document. Purchase orders come from the bill of materials and the plan, material goes to works orders, finished goods ship on sales orders. FlyWei maps that chain in your ERP, from raw material purchasing to accounts and costing, 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.
Works order to invoice: we map it in your ERP
In a typical UK factory the plan lives in one system, the purchase orders in another and the works orders on a printed traveller, so material is booked out by hand at the end of the shift and the stock figure is right once a week. Supplier invoices for raw material are matched by eye to the delivery note weeks later. A UK manufacturer with 15 to 150 staff runs the same seven links as any goods business; only the labels change, and every link is a place the same fact is typed twice.
Purchase orders come from the bill of materials and the plan, material goes to works orders, finished goods ship on sales orders. We map it all.
- 7
- links in the chain, from raw material purchasing to accounts and costing
- 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 manufacturing words
Every goods business runs the same seven links. Here is what each link is called in a typical UK factory, and what keyed once looks like at each one. Our delivered track record is in wholesale; the manufacturing chain follows the same method, mapped in your own ERP.
| # | Stage | In your words | Typed once |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Purchasing | Raw material purchasing | Reorder proposals raised from the live bill of materials, stock and open orders, approved by role and sent as one purchase order |
| 02 | Goods in | Goods receipt | Material booked in against the purchase order by scan, with the certificate and batch attached to the receipt rather than a folder |
| 03 | Stock | Stock by batch | One live quantity per material and batch, so the planner and the buyer read the same figure on the same day |
| 04 | Allocation | Works-order allocation | Material reserved to the works order from the plan and issued by scan, so work in progress and stock are true |
| 05 | Goods out | Despatch and delivery note | Finished goods despatched against the sales order, part shipments included, with the delivery note written from the pick |
| 06 | Invoices | Invoicing from despatch | The invoice raised from the despatch note the same day, with the customer's order reference carried through |
| 07 | Accounts | Accounts and costing | Supplier invoices matched to the purchase order and goods receipt note, and batch costs posted to the ledger without re-keying |
What we would automate first
These are the four joins we would map first in a typical UK factory. 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
Reorder proposals from the live bill of materials, stock and open orders
- 02
Material issued to the works order by scan, so work in progress and stock are true
- 03
Supplier invoices matched to the PO and goods receipt note automatically
- 04
Despatch notes and invoices raised from the sales order, part shipments included
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 manufacturers ask
What does manufacturing business process automation cover?
The seven links a factory runs every day: raw material purchasing, goods receipt, stock by batch, works-order allocation, despatch and delivery note, invoicing from despatch, and accounts and costing. Each fact is entered once, at the point it is created, and every later document is built from it inside the ERP you already run. We map your version first, then join the links up.
Can reorder proposals really come from the bill of materials?
Yes, by method. The live bill of materials, the stock figure and the open sales and works orders already hold what is needed; the join is a proposal screen the buyer approves rather than a spreadsheet the buyer rebuilds. Approved proposals become purchase orders without re-keying, and the goods receipt later posts against the same order.
How is material issued to a works order without a spreadsheet?
Material is reserved to the works order from the plan and issued by scan at the moment it leaves stores. Work in progress and stock then move together, so the planner, the buyer and the accountant read the same figure on the same day, and the traveller no longer needs typing up at the end of the shift.
Does this work with the ERP we 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 supplier portal, a device app for issue by scan or a despatch screen for part shipments, we write the module. The Chain Map shows which case you are in.
Can supplier invoices be matched automatically in a factory?
Yes. Three-way matching checks the purchase order, the goods receipt note and the supplier invoice against each other before payment is approved. When all three agree the invoice is released; when they differ, only the difference goes to a person. Certificates and batch records attached at receipt travel with the match.
Have you done this for a manufacturer before?
Our delivered track record is in wholesale, where the purchase to pay chain we built and run matches supplier invoices to orders and receipts every day. In manufacturing the chain follows the same method, relabelled as works orders, batches and despatch, inside the ERP you run. We map your version before we quote for any build.
Start with the Chain Map for your manufacturing 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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