SME OperationsSmall teamQuick win

Preorder Form Fill Automation

Staff retyped and copy-pasted the same preorder details into forms by hand, over and over

The Problem

The Same Preorder Details, Typed Out Again and Again

Every preorder went through the same manual routine. Staff read the preorder information from one place and copied it into the preorder form field by field. The supporting document was scanned as a separate job, then the form and the scan were kept or sent as two files. Nothing about it was difficult. It was just repeated, every single time, by people who had better things to do.

Original Workflow

1. Preorder information is read off the source document
2. Each field is retyped or copy-pasted into the preorder form by hand
3. The supporting document is scanned in a separate step
4. The filled form and the scanned image end up as two separate files
5. The whole routine repeats for the next preorder

Our Approach

Keep the Form, Automate the Typing

We did not redesign the preorder process or ask the team to work a different way. The form they already used stayed exactly as it was, because the problem was never the form. It was the manual copying around it. We scoped the job to that one step, so it could be delivered quickly and start paying back straight away.

Caveats & Considerations

Scoped deliberately small: the copy-paste step only, not the wider process
The rest of the preorder workflow stays as it is until the client wants more
Scans need to be clear enough to attach cleanly to the output
A quick win by design, not a full system replacement

The Solution

Filled Form, Scanned Image, One PDF

The automation fills the preorder form from the source information, scans the supporting image in the same run, and converts the finished form into a PDF with the scanned image attached to it. Staff go from typing every field to checking a result that is already complete, and they end up with one file instead of two.

Preorder form filled automatically instead of by hand

Image scanning handled in the same run, not as a separate chore

Finished form converted to PDF automatically

Scanned image attached to the PDF, so one file carries everything

Existing form layout untouched, so there was nothing new to learn

Small, fast scope that fits a quick win engagement

Results

The Repetitive Part Is Gone

Preorder form filling

Manual copy-pasteAutomated

Image scanning

Separate stepPart of the same run

Output files

Form and scan kept separatelyOne PDF with the scan attached

Staff involvement

Retype every fieldCheck and confirm

Form and process

Familiar to the teamUnchanged, nothing to relearn