How Unigloves Cut Order Processing Time by 79% with turian

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Unigloves is a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality hand protection products, producing billions of disposable gloves annually. Founded in 1989, the company operates multiple factories that can produce up to 150 gloves every second. Its global team spans 5 continents, supplying customers in over 50 countries. As a key player in the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry, Unigloves saw demand for its products surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unigloves faced an unprecedented increase in order volumes, challenging its operations.

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Managing this surge in orders was critical for Unigloves to support front-line health and industrial customers. However, the sheer volume of incoming purchase orders strained their order management team. The staff was increasingly overwhelmed by manual order entry tasks. Every order – some containing up to 200 line items – had to be entered into the ERP system by hand. This case study examines how Unigloves addressed this challenge by partnering with turian, an AI-powered automation provider, to transform their order processing. Their experience offers valuable insights into how AI automation can drive operational excellence, and save lots of time and money.

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It’s worth noting that Unigloves’ automation journey reflects a broader trend across industries. AI adoption in business has more than doubled in recent years – rising from 20% of companies in 2017 to about 50% of companies by 2022 using AI in at least one business function. Forward-thinking firms like Unigloves are tapping into this potential now, leveraging AI to streamline operations. In the following sections, we’ll explore Unigloves’ challenges with high order volumes, why they chose turian’s AI solution, and the quantifiable business impacts of this transformation.

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AI adoption in business has more than doubled in recent years – rising from 20% of companies in 2017 to about 50% of companies by 2022 using AI in at least one business function. 

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The Order Processing Challenge

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Source: Freepik

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Like many companies dealing with rapid growth, Unigloves faced a classic operations bottleneck: manual order processing. Their customers often submit purchase orders via email (as PDF attachments or in the email body), which then had to be manually reviewed and entered into Unigloves’ ERP system line by line. This manual data entry was time-consuming and prone to human error. Tom Vandersteen, IT Manager at Unigloves UK, described the situation: “The manual input of each line of the order into our ERP system was incredibly laborious, particularly with large orders containing up to 200 lines”. It could take several minutes (or more) per order to key in all details, especially for complex orders with many line items. With orders exponentially increasing in volume during the pandemic, this process became unsustainable.

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Unigloves’ small team of 4 staffers in order management simply could not scale their effort to match the surge of orders. They found themselves working harder and longer, yet still falling behind. This is a common pain point in many organizations – reliance on manual processes creates a scalability ceiling. Studies show that the typical office worker spends around 10% of their time on manual data entry into systems. 

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At Unigloves, high order volumes and a manual workflow meant order processing was a significant operational choke point. Orders were not getting into the system as quickly as needed, which could delay confirmation back to customers and slow down fulfillment. The team’s bandwidth for proactive customer service (answering inquiries, confirming stock, following up on issues) was squeezed, because most of their day was spent on data entry. The impact on customer service and operational efficiency was tangible – response times grew longer and the normally high-touch, personalized service that Unigloves prided itself on became harder to maintain. In Tom’s words, the overload “hindered [the team’s] ability to provide the high level of customer service they prided themselves on”. 

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The challenge wasn’t due to lack of dedication – it was a process problem. Unigloves needed a way to process orders faster, with fewer manual touches, to keep pace with demand and free up the team. Hiring additional staff was one option, but that would increase costs significantly and still not fully solve the underlying inefficiency. The ideal solution would be to automate the order entry process, ensuring each order could be recorded in the ERP quickly and accurately without consuming an employee’s time. Unigloves was thus in search of a smarter approach to handle their growing order volumes while maintaining (or improving) accuracy and customer service standards.

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Source: turian

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Why Unigloves Chose Turian

Facing this bottleneck, Unigloves evaluated how to modernize their order processing and decided that an AI automation solution was the best fit to meet their goals – reduce the time spent per order, eliminate errors and delays, lighten the load on their overextended team, and fit into their existing tools and processes. After considering options, they chose to partner with turian, an AI platform specializing in process automation. They went for an AI order processing agent. 

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turian’s solution appealed to Unigloves for a few important reasons:

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Targeted AI Automation of Painful Tasks

turian offered an AI agent specifically designed to handle sales order processing. It could automatically read incoming purchase orders (in emails and attachments) and extract the relevant data. This directly tackled Unigloves’ most labor-intensive task – no more manual keying of each order line. By deploying AI data extraction and entry, Unigloves aimed to cut out hours of repetitive work every day.

Seamless ERP Integration

A critical requirement was that any AI automation tool must integrate with Unigloves’ existing ERP system where orders are managed. turian’s platform easily integrated into their workflow, and was able to input order data directly into the ERP once extracted. The end-to-end automation (from reading the order in an email to creating the sales order in ERP) was a key point in Unigloves’ decision. It ensured that adopting AI wouldn’t create extra steps or require a separate database; instead it would plug into current workflows.

Embedded in Outlook (User-Friendly)

turian AI agents can also integrate into your preferred email system. In the case of Unigloves, the team received orders via Outlook email. turian’s solution was delivered to Unigloves through an add-in that lives in the Microsoft Outlook inbox interface. As Tom noted, “one of the best things about the turian solution is that it sits within the Outlook inbox, which was very familiar to our team”. The staff could trigger and monitor the AI processing right from their email client, without learning a new application or switching screens. This focus on usability and minimal change management was a big factor – it meant faster adoption and less disruption. turian essentially augmented the team’s existing email workflow with AI, rather than forcing a new process on them.

Accuracy and Reliability

Unigloves could not compromise on accuracy – sending a wrong item to a hospital due to a data error is not an option. turian’s AI provided high precision in reading order documents. Automated systems, when properly trained, can achieve accuracy rates upwards of 99%, which gave Unigloves confidence that the AI could match or exceed human accuracy in order entry. Additionally, because the AI is consistent and tireless, it would reliably process orders even during peak times or after-hours, reducing backlogs. This reliability was crucial in a time when order volumes could spike unpredictably.

Vendor Partnership and Support

Beyond technology, Unigloves also chose turian for the people behind the product. During the evaluation, turian’s team demonstrated a strong commitment to customer success. Implementing AI in a core process can be daunting, so having responsive support and expertise was important. Tom Vandersteen later praised turian’s team: “The turian technical team have been fantastic… This level of attentiveness is something I haven’t seen from any software company I’ve worked with”. That confidence in turian’s partnership approach reassured Unigloves that the deployment would be done right and that the solution would continuously improve with their feedback.

In selecting turian, Unigloves joined a growing number of enterprises turning to AI-driven process automation to solve operational pain points. Companies have realized that AI can excel at handling high-volume, rules-based tasks – like reading and transferring data – far more efficiently than manual methods. Unigloves saw in turian an opportunity to leapfrog to a modern, scalable process without overhauling their entire IT landscape. The choice came down to leveraging AI to work smarter, not harder. Instead of adding more manpower or continuing to push their team to the brink, Unigloves invested in an AI agent that could take over the grunt work and enable their human employees to focus on higher-value activities. 

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Measurable Results & Business Impact

By offloading the manual order entry to AI, Unigloves achieved improvements that directly translate to time and cost savings and better service capacity. Here are the key measurable results and business outcomes from this transformation:

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1. 79% Reduction in Order Processing Time

turian reduced the time required to process each order by over three-quarters. For complex, large orders, processing time dropped from around 10 minutes to just about 2 minutes on average – a 79% time savings. To translate it to hours, Uniglove’s team saves about 84 hours of work each month. That’s the equivalent of two full work weeks worth of employee time saved every month. Over a year, that’s over 1,000 hours freed. This means orders that used to take an employee considerable effort are now completed in a fraction of the time. Customers receive order confirmations faster, and the warehouse can start picking goods sooner. In the fast-paced PPE market, this agility is a competitive advantage.

Processing time dropped from around 10 minutes to just about 2 minutes on average – a 79% time savings.

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2. 3x Increase in Processing Capacity (with the Same Team)

By speeding up order handling and automating most of it, Unigloves effectively tripled its order processing capacity without adding headcount. The four-person team can now handle three times as many orders as before, utilizing the AI as a force multiplier. In practical terms, if the team could comfortably process (for example) 100 orders per day manually, they can handle 300+ orders per day now with turian – all with no additional salaries or labor costs. This scalable capacity means Unigloves can continue to grow its sales and take on new customers without being constrained by back-office limitations. It also provides a buffer for peak periods; when order volumes spike (as they did during COVID surges), the AI can cope with the overflow, ensuring the business doesn’t miss out on revenue due to operational bottlenecks.

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3. 85% Full Automation Rate

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Approximately 85% of incoming orders are now processed fully automatically by turian’s AI, with no human intervention needed. In other words, for the vast majority of orders, from the moment the email arrives to the order being created in ERP, the process is “touchless” for Unigloves staff. Only about 15% of orders (perhaps those with unusual formats or requiring special approval) need a human to review or assist. This high automation rate shows the reliability of the AI solution – it can handle most routine orders autonomously. An 85% automation rate is well above average; many companies implementing RPA/AI strive to automate 70-80% of transactions, and Unigloves exceeded that benchmark, underscoring the effectiveness of turian’s technology.

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4. Improved Data Accuracy and Consistency

Although harder to measure, Unigloves experienced improved accuracy in order entries. With 85% of orders processed by AI at 99+% accuracy, the incidence of order entry errors has dropped. This yields fewer order corrections, fewer customer disputes, and a smoother order-to-cash cycle. One indicator of this is maintained customer satisfaction levels – Unigloves continued to meet their high standards during peak periods. As Tom observed, even when one team member was out sick during a busy time, “the remaining staff was able to process everything [with turian’s help], whereas previously we might have needed additional resources. This was a game-changer for us”. In other words, despite a potentially disruptive situation, orders were processed accurately and on time, which kept customers happy and the business running smoothly.

Overall, these results had a profound business impact. Unigloves significantly boosted its operational efficiency – doing more with the same resources – which improves the bottom line. Faster processing and fewer errors also translate to better service for customers, which protects revenue and enhances the company’s reputation. Unigloves’ ability to scale efficiently gives it confidence to grow sales without worrying that the operations team will be overwhelmed. This is a tangible example of how AI can deliver ROI: by cutting manual work nearly in half and avoiding additional hires, the investment in turian’s AI agent paid for itself within months.

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Conclusion

Unigloves’ journey with turian highlights a powerful truth for modern businesses: AI is a game-changer for operational efficiency. Confronted with surging order volumes and limited manpower, Unigloves turned to an AI-driven automation solution and achieved remarkable results – a 79% reduction in processing time, three times greater order handling capacity without adding staff, an 85% automation rate, and dozens of hours of work eliminated each month. These outcomes were not only quantitative milestones; they led to qualitative improvements in customer service, employee satisfaction, and overall business agility. The case of Unigloves offers several key takeaways for executives and decision-makers facing similar challenges:

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Identify High-Impact Automation Opportunities

Look for processes that are high-volume, repetitive, and critical to your business (like order processing, invoicing, customer requests). These are prime candidates where AI and automation can drive dramatic efficiency gains, as seen in Unigloves’ order management overhaul. By targeting a pain point that was consuming 40%+ of the team’s time, Unigloves unlocked outsized benefits.

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Leverage AI to Do More With the Same Resources

Unigloves demonstrated that AI can effectively multiply your team’s capacity. Instead of the traditional solution of hiring more people to handle more work, they applied AI and achieved even greater throughput. This is a blueprint for improving productivity: a survey of IT leaders found that 73% reported automation has cut down the time spent on manual tasks by half, and over half saw significant cost reductions as a result. In an era where organizations must deliver results under tight labor and budget constraints, AI offers a way to break the trade-off between workload and headcount.

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Choose the Right Solution and Partner

A critical factor in success was selecting a solution that fit seamlessly into Unigloves’ environment and a vendor that acted as a true partner. For any AI initiative, ensure the technology integrates well with your existing systems and is user-friendly for your team. Equally, consider the vendor’s support and commitment – the “soft” elements like training, customization, and responsiveness can make or break a project. Tom Vandersteen’s praise of turian’s attentiveness underscores how valuable a collaborative vendor relationship is. This partnership approach helped Unigloves achieve quick wins and build trust in the AI system.

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Manage Change and Embrace Innovation

Unigloves successfully managed the change by involving their team and demonstrating the benefits early. They addressed concerns (implicitly showing that AI is there to assist, not replace, the team) and celebrated the improved metrics. For any business leader, it’s important to foster a culture open to innovation. The workforce should see AI as a tool that can elevate their role, not a threat. When employees realize they can offload drudgery to AI and spend more time on interesting work, they become champions of the change. Executive sponsorship combined with employee buy-in creates a smooth path for AI adoption.

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Think Long-Term and Scalable

Finally, the Unigloves case encourages a long-term perspective. They started with one process and are now expanding AI to other areas. Scalability is key – design your AI projects with an eye towards how the solution (or the lessons learned) can be extended elsewhere in the organization. The ultimate vision should be an AI-enabled enterprise where efficiencies compound across departments. This aligns with broader economic trends: as noted, AI could add $15.7 trillion in value to the global economy by 2030, largely through productivity and automation gains. Companies that move early to integrate AI in their operations stand to reap a disproportionate share of those benefits. PwC researchers observed that those who take the lead now will capture the biggest share of this “AI prize”. Unigloves is positioning itself as one of those leaders.

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In conclusion, Unigloves’ transformation with turian exemplifies how AI can drive operational excellence and strategic advantage. By automating a mission-critical process, they not only solved an immediate efficiency problem but also unlocked new potential for their business – from happier customers to empowered employees and a roadmap for further innovation. For businesses facing similar challenges of scaling processes under pressure, Unigloves’ story is a compelling case study: the question is no longer if AI can help, but rather where and how to deploy it for maximum impact. With a clear vision, the right partners, and a focus on results, companies can harness AI to streamline operations, delight customers, and fuel growth in a sustainable way. In the digital age, combining human expertise with intelligent automation is a winning formula – and Unigloves is living proof of how effective that combination can be.

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