Research question
Can field transactions reach a cloud ERP without depending on live connectivity?
The ERP worked in the office, while its customers generated revenue on sales routes. Connectivity at the counter was intermittent or absent, so salespeople wrote invoices by hand and office staff entered them into the ERP later.
That gap delayed stock, receivable and cash records. It also meant the salesperson could not reliably review a customer's outstanding balance before making a credit decision.
Working hypothesis: a route application that remains transactional offline could remove the paper handoff while preserving connection to the ERP system of record.
Method and intervention
Observe the route, then design for no connection.
Requirements were derived by observing the sequence, information needs and time pressure of real counter transactions. The product was designed around that field workflow rather than adapting the office interface to a smaller screen.
- 01Working data set
Pull products, prices, customers, locations, balances and ledger data to the device when a connection is available.
- 02Offline sales
Raise a sales invoice and review the customer account at the counter without a live network.
- 03Route operations
Record cash receipts, sales returns and purchase invoices from the field.
- 04ERP synchronisation
Queue completed work locally and push it automatically when connectivity returns.
Observed change
Paper was removed from the transaction path.
Handwritten route invoices entered into the ERP later
Invoices, receipts and returns recorded locally on the device
Queued transactions synchronised automatically
Customer ledger available at the counter instead of relying on memory
Removing the handwritten handoff also removed the source of stock shortages caused by van sales leaving without a corresponding system document.
Interpretation
Offline capability expanded the ERP's usable operating boundary.
For the ERP provider, field sales was no longer a workflow that had to remain outside the platform. For its customers, route activity could update stock, receivables and cash automatically when the connection returned rather than waiting for next-day manual entry.
The implementation described here confirms the operating workflow. Detailed conflict-resolution behaviour for document numbering, price validity and concurrent stock changes sits outside the evidence documented for this study.
No published route count, invoice volume or comparison period was supplied. This study therefore reports the verified workflow change without attaching an unsupported scale estimate.
Does part of your operation disappear from the system when connectivity drops?
Discuss the workflow