Manufacturing operations run on systems that weren't built to talk to each other. SAP for procurement. Oracle for production planning. A supplier portal that's a decade-old web app with no API. Paper-based quality inspection forms that get scanned into a shared drive.

The work that connects these systems is manual: copying purchase order data from email into SAP, classifying supplier documents, cross-referencing specs against BOMs, updating status fields across three applications for every order. It's repetitive, error-prone, and expensive at scale.

Traditional RPA promised to fix this. But SAP GUI doesn't expose stable selectors. Supplier portals change layouts without warning. And the maintenance burden of keeping selector-based bots running across these systems often exceeds the cost of the manual work they replaced.

Automat takes a different approach. AI agents that see screens the way your team does, interact with SAP, supplier portals, and legacy systems visually, and adapt when interfaces change. No selectors to break. No RPA developers to hire. No maintenance treadmill.

What we automate for manufacturers

Purchase order processing

The full lifecycle: receive PO via email or portal, extract line items and specifications from mixed-format documents (PDFs, scanned images, Excel attachments), validate against internal product catalogs, enter into SAP or Oracle, and flag configuration conflicts for human review. A Fortune 500 manufacturer runs this at thousands of POs per day through Automat with a one-hour SLA.

Read the full case study.

Supplier document classification and data entry

Suppliers send certificates of conformance, test reports, shipping documents, and invoices in every format imaginable. Automat classifies each document type, extracts relevant fields, cross-references against open POs, and enters validated data into your ERP. No per-document-type template training required.

SAP transaction automation

SAP GUI is the single largest barrier to automation in manufacturing. It's a native Windows application with no DOM, no stable selectors, and scripting that IT often disables for security. Automat's AI agents interact with SAP the same way your team does: by looking at the screen, reading field labels, and navigating transactions visually. Works with custom T-codes, Z-transactions, and SAP S/4HANA.

For the technical breakdown, see How to Automate SAP Without APIs.

Quality control documentation

Inspection reports, non-conformance records, corrective action tracking. Automat processes quality documentation from the plant floor (scanned forms, handwritten inspection sheets, digital QC reports) and enters results into your QMS. Flagging and routing for out-of-spec results happens automatically.

Production reporting and MES integration

Extract production data from legacy MES portals, consolidate across plant locations, and generate standardized reports for operations leadership. Works on any MES interface your team can access through a screen.

Why manufacturers choose Automat over legacy RPA

Manufacturing is where traditional RPA fails hardest. The systems are old, the interfaces are inconsistent, and the document formats are unpredictable. Here's what's different:

• SAP without scripting: Traditional RPA requires SAP scripting enabled server-side. Automat operates SAP visually, no scripting permissions needed.
• Self-healing on supplier portals: When a supplier updates their portal layout (which happens quarterly at minimum), the AI adapts. No maintenance ticket, no developer time.
• Documents handled natively: POs, COCs, invoices, inspection reports. The same AI that navigates screens also reads and extracts from documents. No separate IDP product to integrate.
• Deployed in days: Share a screen recording of the workflow. Our forward-deployed engineers build and deploy the automation. No 6-month implementation project.
• No automation team needed: Automat is a managed service. We build, run, and maintain the automations. You don't need an RPA Center of Excellence or certified developers.

Results

• Fortune 500 manufacturer: Automated purchase order processing across thousands of daily orders. One-hour SLA. Integrated with SAP, Salesforce, and Oracle. Full case study.
• Processing times: Orders that took 15-20 minutes of manual data entry now process in under 2 minutes.
• Accuracy: Configuration conflicts caught automatically through real-time cross-referencing against product specifications.
• Scale: Handles peak demand periods without additional headcount or overtime.

How it works

1. Share your workflow. Record the process you want automated, or walk us through it. A screen recording or SOP is enough to get started.
2. We build and deploy. Automat's forward-deployed engineers build the automation in days, not months. You see it running in your environment within the first week.
3. It runs and adapts. The automation operates continuously, self-healing when interfaces change. Our team monitors performance and handles edge cases.

Talk to our team about your manufacturing workflows or see the platform in action.

Frequently asked questions

Can Automat work with our specific SAP configuration?

Yes. Automat operates SAP visually, which means it works with any SAP configuration, custom T-codes, Z-transactions, and company-specific screens. It doesn't depend on SAP scripting being enabled or specific GUI versions. If your team can navigate it on screen, Automat can automate it.

What about documents that aren't standardized?

Manufacturing procurement documents come in every format: typed PDFs, scanned images, Excel spreadsheets, handwritten forms. Automat's vision language models understand document structure from context rather than matching templates. No per-supplier or per-document-type training required for most formats.

How does this compare to UiPath for manufacturing?

UiPath requires SAP scripting enabled (which many manufacturers disable for security), certified RPA developers, and ongoing maintenance when interfaces change. Automat operates visually (no scripting needed), is fully managed (no developers to hire), and self-heals (no maintenance treadmill). Most manufacturers switching from UiPath report 80% lower total cost of ownership. See why companies are leaving UiPath.

What's the deployment timeline?

First automations run in production within 1-2 weeks. Complex multi-system workflows (e.g., PO processing spanning SAP + supplier portal + document extraction) typically take 2-4 weeks to full production. This compares to 3-6 months for typical UiPath manufacturing deployments.

Do we need to change our existing systems?

No. Automat works with your systems as they are. No API development, no system integrations to build, no IT projects to fund. If your team accesses it through a screen interface today, Automat can automate it tomorrow.