What does manual order handling cost you, and what could you save?
Most companies do not know what their manual document handling costs, because the figure is not written down anywhere. It is spread across the order desk, the finance department and the warehouse as minutes nobody counts. The calculator below makes them visible.
The hours shown for the AI language model are the time spent checking its answers, so all three bars measure the same thing: people’s time. For AI, the amount alongside also includes tokens, a total of £0.30 per document, of which £0.03 is tokens. That amount does not include the integration needed to fetch the documents and deliver the data into your systems, and the other two bars show working time, not licences.
The calculation is based only on the figures you have entered and the assumptions above. It is an estimate, not a quote or a guarantee.
Have the figures checked against your setupA calculation, not a promise
The calculator does one thing: it multiplies your own figures. The number of documents times the minutes per document gives the raw keying time. The error rate times the time per correction gives the clean-up time. Add the two together, multiply by the number of working days, and you have the time your organisation spends every month moving data from one place to another by hand.
The share that automation removes is the key assumption in the calculation, which is why it is visible and can be changed. We have set it at 85 per cent, because that is a realistic level for a completed integration project. It is rarely 100: there is always a partner without EDI, an order that needs a person’s approval, a document with an error that has to be cleared up. If you know your own situation better, adjust it.
The result is an estimate of the direct, measurable saving. What is left out is often just as large: faster onboarding of new trading partners, fewer delayed deliveries, and a setup that does not fall apart when the key person is on holiday. You cannot put that on a slider without guessing, so we have left it out.
And what would an AI language model cost?
The question comes up in almost every meeting these days, so the calculator answers it. Tick ‘Compare with an AI language model’, and it runs the same number of documents through a language model: pages times tokens times the number of runs for what the model reads and writes, plus the time a person spends checking the answers. That time becomes a third bar in the same chart, so all three options are measured in the same unit, people’s hours, with the cost in pounds alongside.
What surprises most people is the split. Tokens are small change, even with a large model. The cost is in the checking, because a language model does not answer the same way every time and does not speak up when it is wrong. If you are confident enough to send the answers straight into your finance system, set the share checked by a person to zero and see what happens to the figure. If you are not, that is exactly what the calculation should show.
What do you do with the figure?
An annual figure is a good starting point for a conversation, both internally and with us. It lets you weigh an investment in Lobster integration or EDI integration against something concrete rather than a gut feeling. And it lets you prioritise: the document type that costs the most hours today is usually the one to automate first.
If you want the figures tested against your actual systems, partners and document types, we are happy to go through them with you, with no obligation. It takes about an hour, and you get a more precise picture than a slider can give.
Questions about the calculator
Where do the figures in the calculator come from?
From you. The calculator multiplies the figures you enter yourself: documents per day, minutes per document, error rate and hourly cost, with two assumptions that are visible and can be changed. There are no hidden factors behind it. That is deliberate: a calculation you can check yourself is worth more than a percentage we claim.
Why is the automation rate set at 85 and not 100 per cent?
Because it is rarely 100. There are always exceptions: a partner without EDI, an order that needs manual approval, a document with an error that has to be cleared up. In most setups the vast majority of the manual work disappears, but not all of it, and an honest estimate is better than a flattering one. Adjust the figure if you know your own situation better.
What counts as a document?
Anything that today requires a person to key in, check or move data: customer orders, order confirmations, delivery notes, invoices, purchase orders, stock movements. If in doubt, count a typical day on the order desk. It usually comes to more than you would expect.
What should I enter as the hourly cost?
The full cost of an hour’s work, not the gross salary. Pension contributions, holiday pay, insurance, office space and management overheads all come on top of the salary. If you use the gross salary, you will underestimate the saving.
Why is the token cost so low when you compare with an AI language model?
Because it is. A two-page document comes to around 1,400 tokens, and even with a large model it costs a few pence to run through. Only with large volumes, many runs per document and long system prompts do tokens turn into real money. The cost most people underestimate is the time spent checking the answer afterwards, and it grows with volume just as linearly as the tokens do.
Does that mean you should not use an AI language model for documents?
No. A language model is strong where structure is missing: free text in an email, an attachment in a format nobody has seen before, an exception that has to be understood rather than matched. It is weak where the same thing has to happen every time and be documented afterwards. Most flows that work well use both: a fixed integration for the repetitive work, and AI for whatever falls outside it.
Does the calculator include the indirect benefits?
No, and that is deliberate. Faster onboarding of new partners, fewer delayed deliveries, a better customer experience and less dependence on individuals are real benefits, but they are hard to put a figure on without guessing. The calculator only shows the part that can be worked out. The rest comes on top.
Shall we check the figures against your setup?
Tell us which systems, partners and document types are involved, and we will give you a picture based on your actual situation rather than a slider.