RPA-Driven Automation Transforms Order Processing for Healthcare Distributor
Industry
Healthcare
Overview
A U.S.-based healthcare distributor of medical and rehabilitation products was managing high order volumes across multiple customer segments, clinicians, veterans, and direct consumers. As the business scaled, the company struggled to keep pace due to its manual and fragmented operations, impacting efficiency, cost, and service delivery.
Challenge
Core operational processes were not built for scale. Order entry was heavily manual, requiring five full-time representatives to handle approximately 7,000 monthly orders at an annual operational cost of nearly $250,000. Key pain points included:
- Manual order entry with high error risk and significant processing time
- Unstructured inventory workflows causing fulfillment delays and stock inconsistencies
- Complex payment processing, particularly for 90-day terms, due to manual validation steps
- Limited product search functionality, degrading the customer experience
- Slow extraction of actionable insights from operational data
Collectively, these issues reduced productivity, inflated costs, and constrained the organization's ability to grow.
The Solution
To address these challenges, the client partnered with Sigma Solve to implement a comprehensive automation and platform modernization strategy:
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) using OpenBots to automate order entry, capturing and transferring order data into backend systems, reducing manual intervention and improving accuracy.
- eCommerce platform upgrade to a more scalable, customizable system aligned with operational needs.
- Restructured inventory management to improve stock visibility and fulfillment efficiency.
- Integrated shipping and accounting systems to streamline logistics and financial operations.
- Secure payment gateway supporting upfront card authentication while maintaining flexible payment terms.
- Automated draft order handling with pre-filled data fields, reducing manual validation and accelerating processing workflows.
Outcome
By combining automation, system integration, and platform modernization, the organization transitioned from a resource-intensive manual model to a streamlined, scalable operation. With reduced costs, improved efficiency, and internal teams freed to focus on higher-value work, the business established a foundation capable of supporting sustained growth, without proportional increases in operational complexity.