Kessler & Sons electrical and plumbing wholesale GmbH, 50 staff
Technical wholesaler with 38,000 items, a central warehouse and four field reps: orders arrive as PDF and email, master data is chronically stale, and the sales desk types, searches and phones half the day.
How it works
- Check the numbers. Each step shows the hours your company spends on it per week. Click a number to change it, or set it to 0 if the step does not exist for you.
- Insert building blocks. Click a coloured block in a step. Below it you read in plain words what the AI would do there and what stays with your people. The shadow under the step shrinks.
- Read the result. The dark bar at the bottom shows the key figures; the full calculation with cost, return and a curve is below the departments.
Block colours show how you get it:
A dashed box means no building block exists yet.
Where AI helps most here
Start with what saves the most. Many blocks run on the same platform (e.g. one AI workplace for the office): you buy it once, and every further step only needs configuring.
Biggest single levers
Packages: many steps in one go
Link copied. It holds all your settings, nothing is stored on a server.
The company from above
Each building is a department. Its height shows how much work happens there, each window is a recurring task, and the shadow on the ground is the manual work. Click a building to open it. Windows light up where AI helps, and the shadow gets shorter.
Sales desk
18 steps, 349 h per week
Enquiries and quotes
- Triage enquiry emailsSales desk h/week
- Read BOQ line itemsSales desk h/week
- Find items and alternativesSales desk h/week
- Calculate prices and termsSales desk h/week
- Write and chase quotesSales desk h/week
Order entry
- Capture order emails and PDFsSales desk h/week
- Map customer item numbersSales desk h/week
- Check availability and lead timeSales desk h/week
- Send order confirmationsSales desk h/week
- Take phone ordersSales desk h/week
Customer service and complaints
- Where is my delivery enquiriesSales desk h/week
- Log and assess complaintsSales desk h/week
- Process returns and credit notesSales desk h/week
- File manufacturer warranty claimsSales desk h/week
Direct delivery and projects
- Direct delivery orders to manufacturerSales desk h/week
- Maintain project prices and call-offsSales desk h/week
Counter and technical advice
- Technical phone adviceAdvisor h/week
- Serve counter customersCounter sales h/weekHands-on work, AI can hardly help
Purchasing and master data
13 steps, 167 h per week
Replenishment and ordering
- Review needs and proposalsPlanner h/week
- Create and send purchase ordersPlanner h/week
- Reconcile confirmations and datesPlanner h/week
- Chase backordersPlanner h/week
Suppliers and terms
- Price lists and changesBuyer h/week
- Annual talks, bonuses, frameworksHead of purchasing h/week
- Track copper surchargesBuyer h/week
- Monitor supplier riskBuyer h/week
Item master data
- Create items from supplier dataData steward h/week
- Maintain ETIM classesData steward h/week
- Clean duplicates and old itemsData steward h/week
- Product texts for web shopMarketing h/week
- Maintain hazmat and REACH dataData steward h/week
Central warehouse and fleet
12 steps, 621 h per week
Goods receipt
- Unload and inspect goodsWarehouse operative h/weekHands-on work, AI can hardly help
- Match delivery note to POWarehouse operative h/week
- Put away and book binWarehouse operative h/week
- File certificatesWarehouse operative h/week
Picking and shipping
- Pick ordersPicker h/week
- Pack and print labelsShipping h/week
- Freight orders and hazmatShipping h/week
- Plan own delivery toursFleet dispatcher h/week
- Deliver goods to sitesDriver h/weekHands-on work, AI can hardly help
Stock and returns
- Stocktake and correctionsWarehouse operative h/week
- Inspect and restock returnsWarehouse operative h/week
- WEEE, batteries, packagingWarehouse operative h/week
Field sales
8 steps, 125 h per week
Customer visits
- Plan visits and routesField rep h/week
- Customer visit at installerField rep h/weekHands-on work, AI can hardly help
- Visit reports and CRM notesField rep h/week
- Follow-up quotes after visitsField rep h/week
Account care and marketing
- Maintain CRM dataSales assistant h/week
- Propose cross-sell offersField rep h/week
- Newsletters, flyers, trade fairsMarketing h/week
- Spot customers at riskSales manager h/week
Admin and management
17 steps, 157 h per week
Invoicing and receivables
- Check and send invoicesAccounting h/week
- Match incoming paymentsAccounting h/week
- Dunning and receivablesAccounting h/week
- Credit checks and limitsAccounting h/week
Payables and finance
- Central settlement and buying-group reportsAccounting h/week
- Capture supplier invoicesAccounting h/week
- Three-way invoice matchAccounting h/week
- Check rebates and discountsAccounting h/week
- Postings, DATEV, month-endAccounting h/week
- Liquidity and reportingManagement h/week
HR, legal and IT
- Job ads and applicationsHR h/week
- Time, leave, payroll prepHR h/week
- Plan warehouse and driver shiftsWarehouse manager h/week
- GDPR, safety, briefingsAdmin h/week
- Review contracts and T&CsManagement h/week
- IT support and accountsIT h/week
- Fend off phishing and fraudIT h/week
Your calculation
Example calculation for orientation. Prices, hours and savings are estimates for a fictitious company, not an offer, a promise or advice. Your real figures depend on your processes, your software and the providers you choose.
Insert building blocks or a package to see the calculation.
What you put in
Click a row to see the individual building blocks.
What comes back
- Time saved
- Value of that time
The value is working time that becomes free for other work; it is not automatically lower wages. The curve counts the freed time from the first month on. All figures are rough estimates.
Parts list for your selection
| Block | Used in | Saves | Value per year | One-off | Monthly | Data | Risk of failure |
|---|
Every row shows the amount that goes into your calculation; the rows add up to the totals. Blocks on a platform (AI workplace, automation, transcription, accounting AI, ...) only cost their configuration; the platform itself appears once with its rollout and its seats or base fee (prices researched 2026). Stand-alone solutions use the middle of the catalog price band, scaled to the size of the company.
Assumptions and sources
50 staff: about 8 in sales desk and quoting, 4 field reps, 3 in purchasing and replenishment, 22 in warehouse, picking and delivery, 4 in accounting and admin, 2 in management and assistance, 2 in IT, master data and marketing, 5 at the trade counter and technical advice. Nominal capacity 2,000 h per week; the total stays below because holidays, sickness and buffers are excluded. About 260 orders per day, roughly 60 percent by email or PDF, about 38,000 items, about 2,800 active customers, about 250 suppliers. Hour values are careful estimates from industry experience and general impressions from association and SME reports; no single study was taken line by line. Hourly rate 52 EUR blends warehouse (about 38), sales desk (about 55) and purchasing/admin (about 65). Legal frame: GoBD, GDPR, ElektroG and WEEE take-back, battery act, REACH and CLP, ADR dangerous goods, e-invoicing duty from 2025/2028, warranty law, skills shortage in warehouse and driving.