Digital transformation today represents an essential strategic lever for distributors and resellers who want to remain competitive in an increasingly dynamic and complex market. In particular, the digitization of two fundamental documents in the order cycle — Delivery Notes (DN) and Purchase Orders (PO) — offers significant opportunities to optimise processes, reduce costs and improve the operational efficiency of your company.
The digital gap in document management
In today's landscape, the digitization of document processes in the supply chain still has ample room for improvement. Despite the introduction of electronic invoicing having accelerated the digital transformation of some fiscal documents, data reveals a concerning scenario: only 10% of companies have completely digitized their Delivery Notes, while 34% adopt a hybrid approach, using a mix of digital and paper formats.
This incomplete digitization represents a significant obstacle to the operational efficiency of reselling companies, which find themselves managing high volumes of documentation in a competitive context that demands ever-greater speed and precision.
For managers leading distribution companies, this gap represents both a challenge and a strategic opportunity: investing in complete order-cycle digitization can translate into a tangible and measurable competitive advantage.
The transformative potential of the digital delivery note
The Delivery Note is essential for certifying the transfer of goods from seller to recipient, representing a crucial element in the supply chain. The digital version of this document is not simply an alternative to paper format, but a tool that can radically transform operational processes.
The digital delivery note is the electronic equivalent of the traditional paper document, retaining the same evidentiary value and fiscal validity, but offering extraordinary advantages in terms of efficiency and management. For distributors and resellers who daily manage numerous transport documents both incoming and outgoing, adopting a digitized system means eliminating operational bottlenecks that slow the flow of goods and compromise end-customer satisfaction.
Strategic benefits of delivery note digitization
The transition to a digital delivery note management system offers multiple advantages for managers seeking to optimize operations:
- Faster shipments: adopting digital delivery notes eliminates paper-related bottlenecks, such as delays due to printing issues or lost documents. This translates into faster and more efficient goods movement.
- Significant operational cost reduction: eliminating paper brings immediate savings on consumables, but also a drastic reduction in hidden costs related to physical archiving and document retrieval.
- Enhanced traceability: digital systems allow real-time monitoring of the entire document lifecycle, from generation to delivery.
- Simplified regulatory compliance: delivery notes are subject to a retention obligation for at least 10 years. Digital management automates this process, eliminating the risk of penalties.
Digital Purchase Orders: the first step towards efficiency
The Purchase Order (PO) represents the start of the procurement cycle and constitutes a formal agreement between buyer and seller. For resellers, precision and efficiency in order management are fundamental to ensuring product availability and meeting delivery times promised to customers.
A digital PO contains all essential transaction information: product types, quantities, prices, delivery dates and payment terms. Digitizing this process eliminates the operational inefficiencies that, according to recent research, affect 61% of organizations still using manual processes.
Integration between Delivery Notes and Purchase Orders
The true potential of digitization is expressed when delivery notes and purchase orders are integrated into a single continuous digital flow. This integration makes it possible to create a fully digitized order cycle, where information flows seamlessly from order to delivery, through to invoicing.
Alignment Between Databases and Documents
Correct alignment between databases and order documents ensures that technical specifications, quantities and units of measure are uniform. This consistency is fundamental to avoiding discrepancies that could cause ordering errors or billing problems.
Practical implementation with Typelens
The digitization of delivery notes and purchase orders can be implemented through various technological solutions. Complete digital management via Typelens includes:
- Complete automation: TypeLens monitors the email inbox, identifies activities, extracts key data from documents and inserts it directly into the company management system.
- Increased productivity: thanks to automation, productivity can increase by up to 70%.
- Error reduction: the use of AI reduces data entry errors by up to 84%.
- Sustainability and savings: helps reduce paper usage, supporting companies in achieving ESG objectives.
Conclusions: transforming a necessity into an opportunity
In an increasingly competitive market context, digitizing delivery notes and purchase orders represents for distributors not only an operational necessity, but a strategic opportunity to stand out from the competition. Managers who seize this opportunity can achieve significant advantages in terms of efficiency, cost reduction and improved customer service.
The time to act is now: digitizing delivery notes and purchase orders means completely rethinking how your company manages the order cycle, creating the foundations for sustainable and profitable growth.