Transforming the back-office operations of a Middle Eastern institutional stationery distributor through AI agents that coordinate procurement, order fulfilment, logistics and collections.
A leading distributor in the Middle East supplies stationery, office consumables and institutional supplies to banks, schools and other organizations across the region.
Its operations involve sourcing thousands of products from multiple vendors, managing inventory, fulfilling large, mixed-SKU orders and reconciling invoices and payments.
The Lab Upstairs partnered with the team to build an AI-powered operating layer that connects procurement, fulfilment, logistics and collections, reducing manual effort and protecting margins.
Every acquired supplier, new customer and additional product category added complexity to an already high-volume, low-margin business.
Multiple systems, spreadsheets and manual coordination made it difficult to manage procurement, fulfilment and collections efficiently.
Fragmented Procurement
Thousands of SKUs from multiple suppliers, with frequent price and availability changes.
Complex Institutional Orders
Large, mixed-SKU orders requiring validation, availability checks and fulfilment coordination.
Expensive Fulfilment Coordination
Multiple suppliers, warehouses and delivery schedules created significant manual work.
Reconciliation & Collections
Invoices, deliveries, outstanding balances and payment reminders required continuous follow-up.
We built a unified data foundation and deployed AI agents that automate key operational workflows, from supplier management to collections.
Supplier & Catalogue Intelligence Agent
Consolidates supplier catalogues, normalizes SKUs, tracks pricing and availability, and identifies equivalent products.
Learn moreInstitutional Order Processing Agent
Reads customer orders, matches products, checks contract pricing and prepares validated orders.
Learn moreProcurement & Vendor Coordination Agent
Identifies shortages, consolidates purchase requirements, prepares supplier orders and follows up on confirmations and delays.
Learn moreFulfilment & Logistics Agent
Coordinates order allocation, picking requirements, dispatch readiness, delivery updates and proof-of-delivery exceptions.
Learn moreInvoice Reconciliation & Collections Agent
Matches orders, deliveries, invoices and receipts, identifies discrepancies and prepares payment reminders and escalations.
Learn moreMargin & Account Intelligence Agent
Analyzes profitability by customer, order and SKU; identifies leakage, buying patterns and cross-selling opportunities.
Learn moreAI agents turn everyday operational data into coordinated actions, with humans in control of key approvals.
Institutional order received
A school or bank submits a mixed-SKU order.
Order agent validates
Matches products, checks pricing and identifies missing information.
Procurement agent coordinates
Checks stock, prepares vendor purchases and follows up on shortages.
Human approval
Authorized staff review purchasing commitments and exceptions.
Logistics agent coordinates delivery
Prepares fulfilment instructions and tracks delivery status.
Reconciliation agent verifies
Matches ordered, delivered and invoiced quantities.
Collections agent follows up
Tracks payment due dates and sends approved reminders or escalations.
The transformation is delivering measurable value across key operational areas.
Lower Cost per Order
Reduce manual effort in order entry, procurement and reconciliation.
Faster Cash Collection
Improve invoice tracking, payment reminders and receivables visibility.
Better Gross Margins
Identify supplier price differences, fulfilment costs and margin leakage.
Greater Account Value
Identify recurring demand and proactive replenishment opportunities.
By connecting fragmented systems and automating operational workflows, the business can continue to grow without its back-office workload increasing at the same pace.