Straight-through processing (STP)
What counts as straight-through
An order is straight-through if it arrives, is understood, is priced and checked, and lands in your ERP without anyone touching it. The customer need not change how they order; the automation absorbs the variety on your side.
Why the exceptions matter
The value of STP is not that everything runs untouched; it is that the routine runs untouched so your people can concentrate on the cases that genuinely need them. A high STP rate with good exception handling beats a system that either stalls on anything unusual or pushes everything through without a check.
How to raise your rate
Most gains come from tidying the data the automation relies on: the product aliases customers use, the pack relationships, the price lists, and the credit rules. The cleaner those are, the more orders qualify to run straight through, and the shorter the exception queue becomes.
Frequently asked questions
What is straight-through processing?
Straight-through processing is handling a transaction end to end with no manual re-keying: the system reads it, validates it, and completes it automatically, only involving a person for the cases that fall outside the rules.
What is a good STP rate?
It depends on how varied your inbound orders are, but the useful target is simply higher than today: the more clean, routine orders that flow through untouched, the more time your team gets back. Measure your own baseline first.
Does straight-through processing mean no humans?
No. It means no humans on the routine cases. People still handle the exceptions and anything that touches price, credit, or a customer relationship. STP removes the typing, not the judgement.
How is STP measured?
As the share of transactions completed without manual intervention. For order entry, that is the proportion of orders written into the ERP with no person re-keying or correcting them.
See it running on a real wholesale P&L
Thirty minutes with a founder. Bring your three most painful manual processes.