How to Automate Order Processing: Complete Guide for Email, PDF, Fax & Photo Orders

For many B2B businesses, orders don’t always arrive in neat, structured formats. Your customers may still send purchase orders via email as PDF attachments, fax printouts, scanned documents, or even a quick photo taken on their phone. While these methods are convenient for the buyer, they create a heavy manual workload for your team.

Every order has to be checked, cross-matched with inventory, validated, and then entered into your system. This takes time, increases the chance of mistakes, slows down delivery, and becomes harder to manage as your order volume grows.

This is exactly why more companies are exploring ways to automate order processing. With AI and OCR technologies, you can extract order details from any format, whether it’s a faxed purchase order or a handwritten list in a photo, and convert it into clean, ready-to-process data. The result is faster operations, fewer errors, and less stress on your internal team.

In this guide, we’ll break down how order automation works for different formats and what steps B2B businesses can take to streamline their entire ordering workflow.

Why B2B Buyers Still Use Email, PDF, Fax & Photo-Based Orders

Even with modern e-commerce platforms and online portals available, many B2B buyers still prefer traditional ordering methods. And it’s not because they’re outdated. It’s because these methods feel familiar, quick, and flexible for them.

Here are the most common reasons B2B companies continue sending orders through email, PDFs, fax, and even handwritten photos:

1. Long-established purchasing habits

Many buyers have been placing orders the same way for years. They’re used to sending a faxed purchase order or emailing a PDF, and changing that habit takes time.

2. Not all buyers use a central ordering system

Distributors, wholesalers, and field sales teams often work from different devices and locations. Sometimes the easiest option is sending an email or a photo of a handwritten list.

3. Faster for buyers during busy days

A warehouse manager or retail buyer may not have time to log in to a portal. Snapping a photo of the order sheet or forwarding a PDF is quicker and feels effortless.

4. Inconsistent product naming

Some buyers continue using their own internal product codes. Instead of searching for the correct item online, they prefer sending an Excel file, an old PO template, or a fax.

5. Industry-specific workflows

Industries like wholesale, industrial supplies, healthcare, and manufacturing still rely heavily on faxed or scanned purchase orders. It is because that’s how their internal processes are structured.

6. Trust and reliability

For some buyers, especially long-term B2B relationships, a signed PDF or faxed order feels more “official” and reliable than an online cart.

Common Challenges in Manual Order Processing

When orders arrive in different formats like PDFs, emails, fax printouts, Excel sheets, and handwritten notes. Your team spends hours every week just trying to make sense of them. This slows down operations and increases the chance of errors.

Here are the challenges B2B teams face every day:

1. Time-consuming data entry

Someone has to manually copy product names, quantities, and codes from emails or documents into the ERP or eCommerce system. This can take minutes per order or hours when the volume is high.

2. Mismatched product names and codes

Buyers often use their own internal product codes. Your team needs to cross-check each item to find the matching SKU in your system, which is one of the biggest sources of delay.

3. Errors due to manual work

Typing mistakes, wrong quantities, or missed items are common when dealing with long order lists. Even small errors can disrupt inventory, delivery timelines, and customer relationships.

4. Low-quality documents

Faxed orders, scanned PDFs, or smartphone photos may be blurry or uneven, making it hard for staff to read the details correctly.

5. Multiple order channels creating confusion

Orders come from different inboxes, departments, or devices. Without a centralized system, teams can lose track or accidentally process the same order twice.

6. Difficult to scale as order volume grows

Manually handling 5 orders a day may be manageable. Handling 50 or 100 is not. As your business grows, manual order processing becomes a bottleneck.

7. Slower fulfillment and delayed shipping

Every extra step, like checking codes, retyping data, and validating quantities. This can delay the order from reaching your warehouse or ERP system, affecting delivery times.

8. Stress on internal teams

When teams spend most of their time copy-pasting from PDFs or fixing mistakes, they have less time for customer support, sales conversations, or improving operations.

How Order Automation Works 

Order automation may sound complicated, but the process is actually straightforward. The goal is very simple. Take any order format, like email, PDF, fax, scan, or photo, and convert it into clean, structured data that your system can process automatically. Here’s how it works step by step:

1. The system collects orders from all sources

Orders can be pulled from:

• Email inboxes
  
• Uploaded PDFs
  
• Fax-to-digital systems
  
• Scanned documents
  
• Smartphone photos
  
• Excel or CSV files
  Nothing needs to be opened or checked manually.

2. AI + OCR read and extract the order details

The system automatically reads:

• Product names or codes
  
• Quantities
  
• Prices (if included)
  
• Customer information
  
• Delivery instructions
  Even low-quality scans or faxed documents can be processed.

3. The system matches items with your product catalog

This is one of the biggest time-savers.
If the customer uses different product codes or names, the system maps them to your internal SKUs using:

• AI pattern recognition
  
• Smart code matching
  
• Previously saved customer mappings.

So even if the buyer writes “ABC-Red-200ml,” the system knows it corresponds to SKU “P-1420.”

4. The order is validated

The system checks for:

• Missing items
  
• Invalid codes
  
• Out-of-stock products
  
• Quantity inconsistencies
  
• Duplicate orders
  Anything unusual is flagged for review instead of slowing down the process.

5. A clean order is created in your system

Based on your setup, the final order can be created in your:

• ERP
  
• Shopware store
  
• Inventory management system
  
• Accounting tool
  
• CRM
  No manual typing required.

6. Your team only reviews exceptions

Instead of handling every order, your team only looks at

• Items the system couldn’t match
  
• Extremely low-quality documents
  
• Special instructions
  This reduces workload by 80–95%.

How to Automate Each Type of Order (Email, PDF, Fax, Photo & Excel Orders)

B2B companies receive orders in many different formats, and each one comes with its own challenges. The good news is that AI and OCR can automate all of them, no matter how the customer sends them. Below is a clear breakdown of how automation works for each order type.

Automating Email Orders

Many buyers still place orders directly in the email body or attach a file.

Challenges

• Unstructured text
  
• Different layouts from different buyers
  
• Multiple versions of product names or codes

How automation helps

• AI reads the email content and identifies items, quantities, and instructions.
  
• Extracts data from attachments (PDF, Excel, images)
  
• Maps product codes to your system
  
• Creates the order automatically in your ERP/eCommerce

Emails become a clean, error-free order without manual reading or typing.

Automating PDF Purchase Orders

PDFs are the most common B2B order format.

Challenges

• Varying layouts
  
• Scanned PDFs or low-quality prints
  
• Customer-specific product codes

How automation helps

• OCR reads the PDF, even if scanned
  
• AI identifies product lines, quantities, and prices.
  
• Converts everything into structured order data
  
• Matches product codes to your SKUs

Your team no longer has to open the PDF, zoom in, or manually type details.

Automating Fax Orders (Including Digital Fax)

Many buyers still use fax, especially in long-established B2B relationships.

Challenges

• Blurry or grainy text
  
• Crooked or faded printouts
  
• Handwritten notes on faxed documents

How automation helps

• The fax is converted into a digital image.
  
• OCR cleans and extracts the data
  
• AI corrects distortions and identifies product lines.
  
• The order gets created automatically.

Fax-based ordering can be modernized without forcing buyers to change their habits.

Automating Photo-Based Orders

Buyers often send photos taken on their phone of handwritten lists, printed catalogs, or old order sheets.

Challenges

• Handwriting
  
• Shadows, angles, glare, or low lighting
  
• Different formats every time

How automation helps

• AI detects text even from imperfect photos.
  
• Reads handwriting and uneven lines
  
• Normalizes text and extracts product info
  
• Matches items to your product catalog

A blurry photo becomes a structured order in seconds.

Automating Excel, CSV, and Other Digital File Orders

Some buyers send orders in spreadsheets or custom templates.

Challenges

• Different column names
  
• Customer-specific codes
  
• Inconsistent formats

How automation helps

• AI reads the file instantly.
  
• Maps columns to your product and quantity fields
  
• Matches codes to your SKUs
  
• Creates the final order automatically
  
  This eliminates manual copy-pasting from Excel tables.

What Tools Do You Need for Order Automation

To automate order processing from emails, PDFs, fax, scans, and photos, you don’t need to overhaul your entire system. You only need a few key components that work together to read, extract, validate, and push data into your ERP or eCommerce platform.

Here are the essential tools involved in the automation workflow:

1. OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

OCR is the technology that reads documents.
It converts text from:

• PDFs
  
• Fax scans
  
• Photos
  
• Printed sheets
  
• Handwritten notes

Into digital text. Modern OCR is much smarter and can handle low-quality documents, too.

2. AI-Based Data Extraction

This layer understands the meaning of the content, not just the text.

It helps identify:

• Product names
  
• Product codes
  
• Quantities
  
• Prices
  
• Customer details
  
• Delivery notes

AI can also adapt to each customer’s unique format and layout.

3. Product Code Matching & Catalog Mapping

This is crucial for B2B companies because buyers often use their own codes.

This tool:

• Maps customer item codes to your internal SKUs
  
• Remembers past mappings
  
• Learns new codes automatically
  
• Reduces manual cross-checking to almost zero

It ensures every order line is matched correctly before creating the final order.

4. Validation Layer (Quality Checks)

Before an order enters your system, the automation tool checks for:

• Out-of-stock items
  
• Invalid product codes
  
• Missing quantities
  
• Duplicate lines
  
• Unusual order patterns

Anything suspicious gets flagged for human review.

5. Integration with Your ERP or eCommerce System

Once data is extracted and validated, it needs to flow into your system.

Integrations commonly include:

• ERP platforms
  
• Shopware stores
  
• Inventory systems
  
• Accounting or invoicing tools
  
• CRM systems

This eliminates manual entry.

6. Centralized Dashboard or Workflow Interface

This is optional but helpful.
A dashboard allows your team to:

• Review flagged orders
  
• Approve or edit exceptions.
  
• Track order statuses
  
• Train the system for new customer formats.

Most orders go through automatically; only exceptions need attention.

Step-by-Step Guide to Automating Your Order Process

If you’re new to automation, the process may feel overwhelming. But in reality, you only need to follow a clear, structured path. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help you move from manual work to a fully automated order workflow.

Step 1: Identify All Your Order Sources

Start by listing where your orders come from today:

• Emails
  
• PDF purchase orders
  
• Fax machines
  
• Scanned documents
  
• Photos sent via messaging apps
  
• Excel/CSV files
  

Knowing all sources helps you choose the right automation flow.

Step 2: Define What Information You Need From Each Order

Most B2B orders contain:

• Product names or codes
  
• Quantities
  
• Customer details
  
• Delivery notes
  
• Pricing (optional)
  

Make sure the automation system knows what data points to extract.

Step 3: Set Up OCR + AI to Read Incoming Documents

This is where the automation begins.
OCR extracts the text, and AI understands the structure, no matter the format or layout.

Once set up, every incoming PDF, fax, or photo is automatically read by the system.

Step 4: Configure Product Code Mapping

Because every customer uses their own product names or codes, this step is crucial.
The system should learn how their codes match your SKUs and remember them for next time.

This eliminates hours of cross-checking.

Step 5: Build Validation Rules

Add rules to ensure accuracy before orders enter your ERP, such as:

• Reject missing quantities
  
• Flag unmatched product codes
  
• Highlight out-of-stock items
  
• Check for duplicate orders.
  

These rules protect you from errors.

Step 6: Connect Your ERP, Shopware Store, or Inventory System

Once the order is clean, it needs to go somewhere automatically.

You can integrate with:

• ERP platforms
  
• Shopware
  
• Inventory or warehouse systems
  
• Accounting tools
  
• Invoicing software
  

This removes manual data entry completely.

Step 7: Set Up an Exception Review Flow

Not every order will be perfect.
Create a simple view where your team can check:

• Items that don’t match
  
• Blurry scanned lines
  
• Unusual quantities
  
• Special notes
  

Your team only handles exceptions, not every order.

Step 8: Test With Real Customer Orders

Start small.
Pick a few customers and run their incoming orders through the automation.
You’ll see how well the system reads their formats and where refinements are needed.

Step 9: Roll Out Automation Fully

Once you’re confident, expand the automation to all customers and order types.
Most businesses see immediate time savings and cleaner inventory updates.

Step 10: Improve Continuously

AI systems learn over time.
The more orders they process, the smarter they get.

Continue training the system on new formats and occasional edge cases.

Conclusion

B2B companies deal with one of the biggest operational challenges today: orders arriving in different formats, emails, PDFs, fax printouts, photos, and spreadsheets. Managing all of this manually is slow, stressful, and highly prone to errors.

But the good news is that you don’t need to change how your buyers place orders. Instead, you can automate order processing on your side and make the entire workflow smooth, accurate, and scalable.

With AI, OCR, product code matching, and system integrations, every incoming order—no matter how messy it looks- can be turned into clean, structured data that goes straight into your ERP or eCommerce platform. Your team saves hours every week, fulfillment becomes faster, inventory stays accurate, and your customers get a more reliable experience.

Order automation is no longer a “nice-to-have” for B2B businesses. It’s becoming essential for reducing manual work, avoiding errors, and staying competitive as order volumes grow.

If your business is facing these challenges and you’re exploring automation options, this is the right time to take the next step. You don’t have to force your customers to change how they order—just make your process smarter.