Automation That Actually Works

Regional Logistics Operator, Gauteng

20 drivers, 80-100 deliveries per day, operating across Gauteng and North West Province

The Situation

This company had been running the same way for twelve years. Dispatch was done from a whiteboard. The coordinator arrived at 4:30am every morning to plan routes by hand, calling drivers individually to give them their loads. PODs were paper slips that came back in a folder at the end of the day, sometimes two days later. Admin staff would then type POD data into Sage to generate invoices.

Invoices went out 5 to 7 days after delivery. They were losing 3 to 5 PODs per week. Client disputes were a monthly headache. The accounts team spent the first week of every month chasing down proof of delivery before they could even start invoicing.

What We Built

  Client places order (email / portal / phone)
         |
  Order logged in system automatically
         |
  System assigns driver based on:
    - Area/route
    - Vehicle capacity
    - Current load
         |
  Driver gets WhatsApp message:
    "New job: 3 pallets to ABC Warehouse,
     14 Industrial Rd, Midrand.
     Contact: John 082 XXX XXXX"
         |
  Driver confirms acceptance
         |
  Client gets notification: "Your delivery
  is scheduled. Driver: Thabo. ETA: 10:30am"
         |
  On delivery: Driver captures:
    - Photo of goods at location
    - Client e-signature
    - GPS + timestamp (automatic)
         |
  POD syncs to dashboard instantly
         |
  Invoice auto-generates from delivery data
         |
  Invoice sent to client (email + WhatsApp PDF)
         |
  Payment tracking activates:
    Day 7  → Friendly reminder
    Day 14 → Follow-up
    Day 30 → Alert to accounts manager
              

Results After 90 Days

ROI Breakdown

Assumptions: 2 admin staff at R22,000/month each. 1 dispatch coordinator at R25,000/month. Average 80 deliveries/day, 22 working days/month.

Savings calculated from: admin time reallocation (R28,000), reduced disputes and credit notes (R8,000-12,000), improved cash flow from faster invoicing (R12,000-22,000 interest/opportunity cost).

FMCG Distributor, Johannesburg

450 invoices per month, 6 sales reps, distributing to 120+ retail outlets across Gauteng

The Situation

The accounts team consisted of two people. One spent roughly 60% of her time on invoicing. Orders came in via email, WhatsApp, and phone calls from sales reps. She would manually create each invoice in Sage, cross-referencing prices from a spreadsheet that was "mostly up to date."

Errors crept in constantly. Wrong pricing, duplicate invoices, invoices that went to the wrong contact person. Month-end was brutal. She worked late for the first five days of every month just to close the books. Payments came in slowly because invoices went out late and follow-ups happened when someone remembered.

The business owner told us his average days-to-payment was 42 days. His actual credit terms were 30 days. That 12-day gap was costing him real money in cash flow pressure and overdraft interest.

What We Built

  Sales rep captures order
  (mobile form or WhatsApp message)
         |
  Order logged with correct pricing
  (pulled from master price list, auto-updated)
         |
  Delivery confirmed (POD or warehouse release)
         |
  Invoice auto-generated in Sage
    - Correct pricing
    - Correct VAT
    - Correct contact details
         |
  Invoice sent automatically
    - Email to accounts contact
    - WhatsApp PDF to buyer
         |
  Payment tracking begins
    Day 0  : Invoice sent + logged
    Day 25 : Friendly payment reminder
    Day 31 : Follow-up with statement
    Day 45 : Escalation to sales rep + manager
         |
  Payment received
    → Auto-reconcile with Sage
    → Update customer account
    → Flag any discrepancies
              

Results After 90 Days

ROI Breakdown

Assumptions: 1 accounts person spending 60% time on invoicing (salary R26,000/month). 450 invoices/month. Overdraft facility at prime + 2%.

Project cost was R35,000 setup + R5,000/month ongoing. Full ROI achieved in under 5 weeks.

Auto Parts Distributor, East Rand

3,200 SKUs, 5 warehouse staff, 80-120 orders picked per day, 2 branches

The Situation

Stock accuracy sat around 78%. Nobody trusted the numbers. The warehouse manager kept his own notebook because "the system is never right." Every quarter they would shut down for two days to do a full physical count, and every quarter they would find between R120,000 and R200,000 in discrepancies.

Picking was done off printed lists. A picker would walk to Bay 14, find the shelf empty, walk to the office, check if stock was moved, then walk to Bay 22 where it actually was. This happened fifteen, twenty times a day. Meanwhile, customers waited for orders that should have shipped that morning.

The annual stock write-off was R180,000. That is money that simply disappeared because nobody could track where it went.

What We Built

  RECEIVING
  Goods arrive → Scan barcode / enter manually
         |
  Stock levels update instantly
  Bin location assigned automatically
  Supplier invoice matched to PO
         |
  PICKING
  Order comes in → Pick list auto-generated
    (optimised route through warehouse)
         |
  Picker confirms each item via phone/scanner
  Stock deducted in real time
         |
  MONITORING
  Stock below threshold?
    → Auto-generate purchase order draft
    → Notify procurement via WhatsApp
         |
  No movement for 90 days?
    → Flag as dead stock
    → Alert warehouse manager
         |
  COUNTING
  Continuous cycle counts replace annual shutdown
    → System selects 20 SKUs/day for verification
    → Discrepancies flagged immediately
         |
  REPORTING
  Dashboard shows:
    - Real-time stock levels across branches
    - Stock accuracy %
    - Shrinkage tracking
    - Reorder status
              

Results After 6 Months

ROI Breakdown

Assumptions: 5 warehouse staff avg R16,000/month. 3,200 SKUs across 2 branches. 2-day shutdown per quarter for physical count.

Project cost was R75,000 setup (Operations Suite) + R25,000/month. Annual automation cost: R375,000. Net savings in year one: marginal. But from year two onward, with setup cost amortised, net benefit exceeds R280,000 per year. The real win is the stock accuracy, which prevents lost sales worth significantly more.