Monday morning in inside sales: some of the orders have already been created in SAP as sales orders via EDI. The rest sits in the shared mailbox as PDFs, Excel lists or free-text emails and is retyped into SAP by hand. An SAP interface alone changes little about this, because it only transports data that is already structured. For email orders and inquiries to land in SAP automatically too, you need a step before it: read the documents, match line items to the material master and present the result for approval.

Key takeaways

• SAP offers several ways to create sales orders from outside: IDoc (message type ORDERS, basic type ORDERS05), BAPIs and, in SAP S/4HANA, OData APIs such as the Sales Order (A2X) API. SAP Business One has the Service Layer for this.

• All of these interfaces expect structured data with SAP keys: sold-to party, material number, sales organization. Emails, PDFs and photos do not provide these keys.

• The manual work is in the translation: mapping customer wording and old item numbers to material numbers, adding delivery address and surcharges, clarifying anything unclear.

• AI software for order entry takes over this translation and writes the approved order to SAP via API, IDoc or file exchange. SAP remains the leading system, and prices come from SAP.

• For customers who already order via EDI, EDI remains the right way.

What SAP interfaces exist for sales orders and quotes?

SAP has four common entry paths for sales orders: manual entry in order creation, EDI via the IDoc ORDERS05, function modules (BAPIs) via RFC and, in SAP S/4HANA, the OData API for sales orders. Which SAP interface fits depends on the SAP version, the volume per customer and how structured the order arrives.

A short overview of the terms SAP users keep hearing in the SAP environment:

• IDoc (Intermediate Document) is SAP's own exchange format. Incoming orders typically arrive with message type ORDERS and basic type ORDERS05. An EDI converter translates, for example, EDIFACT ORDERS into this IDoc.

• BAPIs are function modules through which external systems create business objects, for sales orders for example BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2. They are usually called via RFC and are common in classic SAP ECC landscapes.

• OData APIs are the standard for integrations in SAP S/4HANA. The API for sales orders is called Sales Order (A2X) and is documented in the SAP Business Accelerator Hub.

• Service Layer is the REST interface in SAP Business One. Orders are created there as the object Orders, as the SAP Learning course on the Service Layer shows.

The same principle applies to quotes: in SAP, a quote is its own sales document that is created manually or via an interface. The bottleneck is almost never the technology or the SAP integration, but reading and matching the inquiry.

Where does manual work remain in SAP order entry?

Manual work remains wherever a person first has to understand an order before SAP can accept it. This applies to PDF orders from customers' purchasing systems, free-text emails, photographed notes from the construction site and Excel lists with their own columns. No SAP interface reads these formats on its own.

The typical stumbling blocks in order entry:

• Customer wording instead of material number. The customer writes "KG bend 45 degrees 160", SAP needs the material number.

• Old or third-party item numbers. Customers order with numbers from your old catalog, from a competitor's catalog or from their own item master. In SAP, a customer-material info record can be maintained for this, but in practice it is often incomplete.

• Units of measure. Piece, bundle, pallet, meter: what the customer means does not always match the sales unit in the material master.

• Delivery address and date. The construction site address is in the email text, the requested date is "Thursday morning".

• Surcharges. Freight, packaging or crane unloading have to be added as separate line items.

Example: An email order becomes an SAP sales order

Example (anonymized): A civil engineering contractor writes to a building materials distributor's branch:

Subject: Order bypass project, PO no. 24-1187

Hi all, please deliver to the site by Thursday morning (access via Gewerbestraße 12): 24 pcs KG pipe DN 160 2 m 10 pcs KG bend 45° 160 6 pcs item 40417 (like last time) Please unload with a crane. Regards, Site management

For a sales order in SAP, this has to become the following:

Only when all fields are filled can the order be created via OData, IDoc or BAPI. This translation is exactly what costs inside sales the most time.

How does AI work together with the SAP interface?

When people think of AI in SAP, they usually mean SAP's own AI assistants, which are functions inside the SAP interface. Order intake from the mailbox is something different: AI-based software reads the order, matches each line item to a material number, adds missing information and presents the draft to inside sales for approval. Only the approved order is booked via the SAP interface. So the AI does not replace the interface, but supplies it with the structured data it needs.

Mercura, an AI software for quote and order automation in technical sales, works through these steps in order entry:

1. Read the inbox: Orders are picked up from the shared mailbox, whether email, PDF, scan, photo or Excel.

2. Distribute: The order is assigned to the right branch or the responsible clerk.

3. Match: Customer wording and old item numbers are mapped to your material numbers.

4. Add: Surcharge line items such as freight or packaging are added according to your rules.

5. Review: Uncertain line items are flagged, not guessed. Inside sales reviews and approves.

6. Book: The approved order is created in SAP, and the exports are monitored.

Quotes work similarly: Mercura reads inquiries and bills of quantities, matches each line item to your catalog, checks the specification and writes the approved quote to SAP. More in the article Automate quote creation.

Which SAP systems and integration routes does Mercura support?

Mercura is connected to the SAP ERP systems SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC and SAP Business One. In real time, the SAP connection runs via SAP's OData interface; this is how Mercura creates approved quotes directly as quotes in SAP. Alternatively, Mercura generates IDoc files that are provided via SFTP and read in by SAP. Mercura reconciles items and customers through a scheduled API sync. Connections run only via routes your IT approves and controls.

Three principles apply in every case:

• SAP remains the leading system. Orders, quotes and SAP data such as master data live in the SAP system, not in a parallel world.

• Prices and calculation stay in SAP. Conditions, surcharges and discounts are still calculated by your ERP.

• Inside sales remains the quality control. No order goes into the ERP unchecked, and the SAP processes afterwards stay unchanged.

On security: Mercura is certified to ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR-compliant and hosted in Europe. Each customer gets its own tenant, and customer data does not train external AI models. You will find an overview of all systems under Integrations.

A technical test on your own data usually runs within two working days. The first workflows are live in under four weeks, without upfront training. Incomplete product data is not an obstacle, because Mercura also reads data sheets, technical documents and catalog texts.

When are EDI or SAP's own tools enough?

EDI is enough when your large customers already order in a structured way and the rest of the mailbox is small. A properly set up IDoc ORDERS05 is then faster and cheaper than any additional software. You will find the detailed comparison in the article EDI or AI?.

Other cases where an AI solution in front of SAP is not the first choice:

• Low volume. If you only enter a handful of orders per day, automation saves little time.

• SAP's own AI. Under the name SAP Business AI, SAP builds AI functions into its products. If your company consistently relies on SAP's built-in tools, first check how far they go for your formats and how much matching logic you would have to build yourself.

• Classic OCR. For forms that are always laid out the same way, text recognition with fixed templates can be enough. As soon as layouts change or free text dominates, it reaches its limits. More in the article OCR or AI?.

An AI solution is worthwhile above all when many customers order in many formats, inquiries with bills of quantities come in and inside sales can no longer keep up with retyping.

What does automation deliver in practice?

Customers in technical distribution report significantly shorter processing times. At the plumbing and HVAC wholesaler Sanitär-Heinze, the time per quote dropped from two days to two hours, and instead of around 70%, 100% of incoming inquiries are now handled (case study Sanitär-Heinze). At the civil engineering supplier Muffenrohr, every inquiry is also handled, with up to 60% faster processing (case study Muffenrohr).

Mercura is used by more than 80 distributors and manufacturers in Europe and the US, rolled out at 115 locations. The average matching rate is 92%. It depends on the customer and the catalog. More answered inquiries mean more revenue opportunities without inside sales having to grow.

Test it with your own data

Bring a real order (or a real bill of quantities): in 30 minutes we show you how Mercura handles it in your process and prepares it as an order in SAP. Book a meeting

Conclusion

The SAP interface is rarely the problem. IDoc, BAPI, OData and Service Layer are mature, but they presuppose structured data with SAP keys. The work arises before: reading emails, PDFs and Excel lists and matching customer wording to material numbers. If you automate this step with AI and keep inside sales as the approval step, you relieve order entry without touching SAP as the leading system.

Further reading

• Integrations: connect Mercura to ERP, CRM and PIM

• ERP Integration: How Mercura Connects to Your ERP, CRM and PIM

• proALPHA Integration: Orders Straight Into the ERP

• Customer story: Sanitär-Heinze (plumbing and HVAC wholesale)

• Mercura vs. Esker: Order-to-Cash or Technical Sales?

Frequently asked questions

What SAP interfaces exist for sales orders?

The most important are IDoc (ORDERS/ORDERS05) for EDI, BAPIs such as BAPI_SALESORDER_CREATEFROMDAT2 via RFC, the OData API Sales Order (A2X) in SAP S/4HANA and the Service Layer in SAP Business One. File imports via middleware come on top.

Can PDF orders be taken into SAP automatically?

Yes, but not with the SAP interface alone. AI software reads the PDF, matches the line items to the material master and hands a reviewed order to SAP. The interface then only handles the booking.

What is the difference between IDoc and OData?

IDoc is an SAP-specific message format that is mainly used for EDI and asynchronous exchange. OData is an open web protocol through which SAP S/4HANA provides APIs. For new integrations with S/4HANA, OData is usually the more direct route.

Does AI order entry also work with SAP ECC and SAP Business One?

Yes. In addition to SAP S/4HANA, Mercura is also connected to SAP ECC and SAP Business One. Depending on the system, the connection runs in real time via OData or as an IDoc file via SFTP; Mercura reconciles master data on a schedule.

Where do the prices in the automatically captured order come from?

From SAP. Prices, conditions and calculation stay in the ERP. Mercura matches customer, material and quantity, and SAP does the pricing.

How long does implementation take?

A technical test on your own data usually runs within two working days. First workflows are live in under four weeks.