Manufacturing
Connect manufacturing operations without replacing the systems you rely on.
Your ERP, MES and PLM are not the problem. The manual work required to move information between them is. That is what we remove.
The pattern we see
Where manufacturing operations lose time.
These five patterns account for most of the operational drag we're asked to fix. They compound, and they rarely show up in a system report.
Manual coordination
Production, purchasing and customer service coordinate by phone, email and walking the floor. Nothing is wrong until someone is unavailable.
Duplicate data entry
The same order, part or supplier record is typed into two or three systems, each entry an opportunity for divergence.
Disconnected systems
ERP, CRM, MES, PLM and finance each hold part of the truth, and people are the integration layer between them.
Delayed operational reporting
Numbers arrive weekly or monthly, assembled by hand, describing a position you can no longer influence.
Person-dependent workflows
Critical processes live in one experienced person's head. Leave, illness or resignation becomes an operational risk.
Not sure which is costing you most?
The 12-question maturity assessment scores your operation across five dimensions and identifies the one to address first.
Real fixes, not theory
What manufacturing automation actually looks like.
These are four automations we've built and shipped for manufacturers. No case study slides — this is what replaced the manual process.
RFQ process automation
Solves: Manual coordination
Requests for quote often live in email threads and verbal conversations between buyers and suppliers, with no single record of who was asked, what they quoted, or when they responded. We replace that with a structured digital RFQ process: one form captures the request, supplier responses land in a single dashboard, and buyers compare quotes side-by-side instead of piecing them together from separate inboxes.
Three-way matching automation
Solves: Duplicate data entry
Three-way matching — checking a purchase order, the goods receipt, and the supplier invoice all agree before payment — is usually done by hand, line by line, by an accounts payable team. We automate the match itself: the three documents are compared automatically, and only genuine mismatches get flagged for a human to look at, instead of every invoice needing manual review.
BOM and drawing integration
Solves: Disconnected systems
Bills of materials and part drawings often live in a separate PLM or CAD system from the ERP that purchasing and production actually work in, so buyers end up hunting down files manually for every RFQ or purchase order. We connect the two: BOM data and drawings attach automatically to the relevant purchase order or quote request, on release, without anyone re-uploading or emailing files.
Replenishment and supplier intelligence automation
Solves: Delayed operational reporting
Standard MRP replenishment runs don't tell you if a cheaper supplier exists for the same part. We add an automated layer that checks pricing across approved suppliers on every run — accounting for lead time and landed cost, not just unit price — and flags real savings opportunities on live purchase orders, rather than a report someone reads after the fact.
Integration, not replacement
One connected operational layer over the systems you already own.
Power Platform and Azure sit across your existing systems, moving and validating information automatically. Nothing gets ripped out.
ERP and finance
- MYOB Acumatica
- Dynamics 365
- SAP
- Epicor
Production
- MES
- PLM
- CAD and BOM
- Scheduling
Commercial
- CRM
- Quoting
- Customer portals
- Email and Teams
Operational data
- Warehouse
- Logistics
- Quality records
- Time and attendance
Inturing operational layer
Integration and data flow
Power Automate, custom connectors and Azure services move records between systems with retry and failure alerting.
Governed operational data
Dataverse holds the operational records that no existing system owns, with validation applied at capture.
Apps, reporting and AI
Power Apps, Power BI and applied AI deliver the interfaces, visibility and document processing on top.
Operations and production teams
Finance and procurement
Leadership and reporting
Delivery
What we build for manufacturers.
Each of these is normally delivered as a single increment, scoped so the result is measurable within a quarter.
Purchase approvals
Requisitions routed by value, category and site with delegation, escalation and a complete audit trail written back to the ERP.
Quote and order processing
Incoming orders read, validated against pricing and product master data, then created in the system of record without manual typing.
Shop-floor and inspection apps
Tablet and phone apps for job progress, quality checks, inspections and non-conformance, working offline where connectivity is unreliable.
Supplier onboarding
Structured intake of supplier details, insurances, certifications and compliance documents, with expiry tracking and renewal reminders.
Operational dashboards
Agreed measures sourced directly from operational systems, with role-based views and exception alerting into Microsoft Teams.
AI document extraction and decision support
Purchase orders, invoices, certificates and specifications read automatically, with confidence scoring and human review on anything uncertain.
Maturity model
Five levels of manufacturing operational maturity.
Most Australian manufacturers we meet sit between levels one and three. The value is in moving one level deliberately, not in jumping to five.
- Level 1
Manual operations
Work moves because people push it. Processes depend on individuals, data is re-entered between systems and reporting is assembled by hand.
- Level 2
Basic automation
Some notifications and point solutions exist, usually built by individuals. They help, but the core process is still manual and undocumented.
- Level 3
Connected operations
Key systems exchange data and core processes are documented. Manual effort is concentrated in specific gaps rather than spread everywhere.
- Level 4
Intelligent operations
Standard transactions flow through automatically, people handle exceptions, and leaders work from current, agreed operational measures.
- Level 5
AI-driven manufacturing
Governed automation and applied AI operate across the value chain, with monitoring, ownership and measured return on each deployment.
Case study · Manufacturing and distribution
Automating the order-to-invoice workflow for BBCP across Acumatica, SAP Ariba and SharePoint
BBCP has automated a connected order-to-invoice journey across MYOB Acumatica, SAP Ariba and SharePoint. AI-assisted extraction turns incoming purchase orders into matched sales orders, warehouse documents are captured automatically, and invoices are submitted back into SAP Ariba — cutting processing time by around 90% and saving roughly $150,000 a year.
- Processing time per purchase order was cut by around 90%.
- BBCP estimates savings of roughly $150,000 a year in processing time.
- A full audit trail now exists across every transaction, from PO receipt through to invoice submission in SAP Ariba.
- Warehouse teams receive confirmed orders immediately, rather than waiting on a manual chain of lookups and data entry.
Reported figures
15–20 min
Manual processing time per purchase order before automation
Baseline reported by BBCP prior to automation.
>90%
Reported reduction in order-processing time
Reduction reported by BBCP following implementation.
~$150,000
Estimated annual savings in processing time
Reported by BBCP following implementation.
7-step
Automated journey from PO receipt to invoice
PO received, AI extraction, sales order creation, Ariba order confirmation, warehouse docs scanned, shipment updated, invoice created.
Tell us which process is costing you the most.
Bring one process to a 30-minute discovery call. We'll tell you whether automation is the right answer and what it would realistically take.