Process automation case study using the ROI-FIRST approach
Order Returns Management for Perishable Food Distribution
Industry
Food Distribution - Perishable Goods (B2B)
Date
Aug 11, 2026
Recommendation
✅ Automate
Time saved
From 25 min to 5 min per case
ROI Automation, recommendation and costs
COP
currency $:
Level of Automation | % Automation | Cases x Month | Time x Case (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
High - digital return form at the point of delivery, automatic system upload, structured reason and evidence logging, real-time traceability, and automated notification to accounting | 80 | 330 | 0.42 |
Personas Involucradas | Nivel de Cargo Promedio | Average Monthly Salary | Real Company Cost with Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
6 | Mixed: General Manager/Director (Level 1, x1), Coordinator/Supervisor (Level 3, x2), Assistant/Operator (Level 6, x4) | 3.600.000 | 5.519.880 |
Monthly Operational Cost | Annual Operational Cost | Estimated Monthly Savings |
|---|---|---|
111.832.377 | 1.341.988.519 | 89.465.901 |
Estimated Annual Savings | Year 1 Investment | Net Benefit Year 1 |
|---|---|---|
1.073.590.815 | 10.170.000 | 1.063.420.815 |
Cumulative Net Benefit 3 Years | FTE Equivalente Liberado |
|---|---|
3.192.242.445 | 0.82 |
Power in Numbers
10456
ROI Year 1 (%)
0.1
Payback (months)
105.6
Cost/Benefit ratio
✅ Automate
80% of this process is automatable. Every return currently requires a printed delivery note marked by hand, a driver's manual pickup, and re-entry into an Excel sheet with macros - with no traceability, no recorded reason, and no dashboards. At 330 returns per month, the team spends roughly 137.5 hours monthly on a workflow with zero formal record-keeping. The financial case is decisive: COP $1,341,988,519 in current annual operating cost against COP $1,073,590,815 in projected annual savings, for a COP $10,170,000 Year 1 investment - a 10,456% ROI with a 0.1-month payback. Beyond the numbers, the risk is structural: high staff turnover means process knowledge walks out the door with every departure, and an unmanaged return can interrupt deliveries to hotel, restaurant, and school clients who expect formal, traceable communication.
Signs of inefficiency detected
Returns are recorded on a printed delivery note marked by hand by the driver, with no digital record at the point of delivery. Information is re-entered manually into an Excel sheet with macros, creating a second point of failure and no single source of truth. No reason code or evidence is captured per return, making root-cause analysis impossible. No dashboards exist to track pending cases, average processing time, or the slowest step in the flow. Critical dependency on personnel who frequently turn over, meaning process knowledge is never systematized. No formal notification reaches accounting when a return requires a credit note or adjustment - it is currently informal and manual. 30% of returns involve product loss with no structured tracking of cause or pattern. Parallel inefficiencies were identified in supplier purchasing, HR, and quality control - all currently managed without systematized workflows.