Coca-Cola United automates over 50,000 orders in complex SAP invoicing process with Microsoft Power Platform
Coca-Cola have used the Microsoft Power Platform to build applications, automate procedures, get insights, and more. Coca-Cola Bottling Company United (Coca-Cola United), have used Power Platform to (a) automate on-demand shipment requests, cutting order validation time from half a day to seconds, and (b) automate a complicated, multi-step SAP invoicing process to handle over 50,000 orders. This feat would not have been possible if only one employee had been given the task of overseeing the process.
One of the biggest privately owned Coca-Cola bottlers in the United States is Coca-Cola Bottling Company United (Coca-Cola United). An outstanding infrastructure is needed to serve roughly 200,000 customers: 5,000 vehicles will transport more than 600 product lines to a wide range of consumer channels, from diners and convenience stores to large department stores.
Processing orders quickly—from half a day to seconds
Coca-Cola United was looking for a quicker approach to handle on-demand shipment requests (sometimes known as “forced shipments”) from clients. Prior to this, account representatives had to manually submit orders and verify inventories, which frequently resulted in shipping delays.
In just a few weeks, a Power Apps-based solution was created, and a bespoke connection was employed to combine it with the main SAP system. This is how it goes:
The advantages of automation were significant. Inventory and other order data validation, which used to take a half day, may now be done in a matter of seconds. The new approach has led to more effective processing, fewer errors, quicker delivery times, and increased customer satisfaction.
“The solution has helped restore customer confidence—which has driven even better sales,” claims Bob Means, Director of Business Solutions at Coca-Cola Bottling Company United.
Streamlining an 11-step manual procedure by automating it
Coca-Cola Freestyle is a self-serve dispenser that offers more than 100 Coca-Cola product options, from bottled water to Sprite, many of which come in different formulations. It is a strategic brand builder that reimagines single-serving beverage sales. However, increased consumer choice made distribution more difficult.
An intricate and laborious 11-step process that required the customer relationship management staff to cross-reference customer and material information, process the order and manually push it through the system, scan the invoice, and physically deliver it to the accounts payable department.
Multistep manual invoice process carried out by the customer relationship representative
The solution was created by the company’s fusion teams of professional and citizen developers, along with its partner, by utilising a number of SAP and Azure integrations, with Microsoft Power Platform serving as the automation agent to automate the entire process.
By automating repetitive, boring operations, Power Automate RPA freed up staff time for more strategic endeavors. In order to increase end-to-end automation of high-volume processes, such as its unexpectedly increased orders for Freestyle, Coca-Cola United may now schedule and trigger events. Beyond just having the agent work on each order, it also allowed Coca-Cola United to automatically handle orders received from various channels.
As a result, Coca-Cola United would gain from the immediate release of one full-time employee to work on more strategic tasks. Better yet, the company could profitably scale to carry out the strategic local Coca-Cola Freestyle campaign where doing so manually would have required up to ten full-time workers.
Process automated by Power Automate
Coca-Cola United has since used the capabilities of Microsoft Power Automate RPA to automate additional business operations.