Manufacturing Process Automation Australia
Take the retyping and chasing out of the steps between your systems
Your systems mostly work. The ERP handles orders and money, the production system tracks jobs, the warehouse system tracks stock. The problem is the work between them: sales orders retyped for the factory, approvals chased by email, files exported and imported by hand, and a production report built in Excel every Monday.
We automate those steps using the systems you already have, so a confirmed order becomes a production job on its own, finished work updates stock, low stock raises a purchase order, and reports arrive in your inbox without anyone building them.
What you get: your team spends less time copying and chasing, mistakes drop, work moves faster, and people only step in when something needs a decision.
By Hand vs Automated
| Process | Done by Hand | Automated |
|---|---|---|
| Order to production | Sales exports orders to Excel and emails the planner, who types them into the production system. Takes time every day, and mistakes are common. | A confirmed sales order creates the production job straight away, with the right materials, steps and priority. |
| Production to stock | Operators write quantities on paper and someone types them into the ERP at the end of the shift, so stock is out of date until then. | Finished production updates stock in the ERP as it happens, and starts a quality check where one is needed. |
| Quality checks | The inspector records results, decides if the batch passes, then emails the warehouse and office to release or hold the stock. | Results are linked to the batch: a pass releases the stock for dispatch, and a fail holds it and tells the supervisor. |
| Purchasing | Someone reviews stock each week, raises purchase orders by hand and emails them to suppliers as PDFs. | Low stock raises a purchase order, which goes to the supplier automatically. Their delivery notice creates the goods receipt. |
| Dispatch | The warehouse picks the order, creates a label on the carrier's website, types the tracking number back into two systems and emails the customer. | Finishing the pick creates the label, the tracking number updates every system, and the customer gets an email on its own. |
| Production reports | The production manager exports figures from two systems every Monday, builds a spreadsheet and emails it around. | Daily or weekly reports are built from all your systems and sent automatically, with dashboards to dig into. |
What changes: staff stop re-keying and chasing, and spend their time on the problems that need a person. On top of the time back, you get fewer errors, faster turnaround and a clearer view of where everything is up to.
Where Manufacturers Usually Start
1. Orders Straight to Production
How it works: A sales order is confirmed in the ERP → the production job is created with its materials, steps and due date → the warehouse gets the material pick list → the planner is told.
What you save: no retyping or back-and-forth. Orders reach the factory in minutes instead of waiting to be keyed in.
Usually the biggest win for make-to-order manufacturers
2. Quality Checks
How it works: A batch finishes → a quality check is set up → results are checked against your limits → a pass releases the stock in the ERP; a fail holds it and tells the supervisor.
What you save: no chasing between quality, warehouse and office, and faulty product is far less likely to be shipped, avoiding costly recalls and rework.
Important in food, pharmaceuticals and medical devices
3. Purchasing
How it works: Stock drops below its reorder point → a purchase order is raised with your usual supplier and quantity → sent to the supplier → their delivery notice creates the goods receipt in the ERP.
What you save: buyers only handle the unusual orders, purchasing is faster, and you run out of stock less often.
Works best for regular, high-volume purchases
4. Dispatch and Customer Updates
How it works: The pick is finished → the shipping label is created with the carrier → the tracking number goes into the ERP and online store → the customer gets an email with a tracking link.
What you save: the label and tracking steps on every shipment, and customers hear straight away.
Matters most when you ship a lot of orders
5. Production Reports
How it works: Each day or week, production, financial and quality figures are pulled from your systems → combined into a dashboard or PDF → emailed to the people who need it.
What you save: no more building reports or matching up figures by hand, and the reports arrive on time in the same format every time.
A quick win that everyone notices
6. Approvals
How it works: A large purchase order is raised → the approver gets a request by email or Teams → they approve or reject → approved orders go to the supplier; rejected ones go back with the reason.
What you save: no chasing approvals, faster turnaround, and a clear record of who approved what.
Better control over spending, with less waiting
What a Project Can Include
| Type of Project | What's Included |
|---|---|
| One or two processes | Simple automations using ready-made tools such as Power Automate, connected to your systems and tested |
| Several processes | Custom connections, rules for different situations, approvals and notifications |
| Across the business | Many processes across several systems, handling of problems, dashboards to see status, and older systems included |
| Reporting | Daily or weekly reports and dashboards built automatically from several systems |
| Ongoing support | Watching the automations, fixing problems, updating them when processes change, and adding new ones |
Working out whether it pays for itself: use your own numbers. For example, if your team spent 25 hours a week on manual steps between systems at $40 an hour, that would be about $52,000 a year in wages. Estimate how much of that automation would remove, and compare it with the fixed quote we give you after a free initial chat.
The Technical Side
For whoever looks after your systems:
- Systems: ERP, MES (production-floor system), WMS (warehouse management system) and QMS (quality management system), plus carrier, supplier and e-commerce systems.
- Tools: integration platforms (Boomi, MuleSoft, Jitterbit) for system-to-system work; Microsoft Power Automate or Zapier for lighter workflows; RPA tools (UiPath, Blue Prism), software robots that copy what a person does on screen, for older systems with no API; and custom code (Python, Node.js) where needed.
- Older systems: file-based exchange (for example CSV exports picked up on a schedule) and write-back by API or controlled database update.
- Supplier and customer documents: purchase orders and advance shipping notices by email, EDI or supplier portal; shipping labels via carrier APIs.
- Exceptions: rules and thresholds route unusual cases to a named person (email or Teams), with logging, audit trails and a dashboard of automation status.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stop Doing the Computer's Job by Hand
Tell us which steps your team does by hand between systems. We'll tell you honestly which are worth automating first, and which aren't. Start with a free initial chat, or book a $5,000 Process & Systems Audit for a full written assessment.