With over 160 years of history, this U.S.-headquartered global distributor supports the full energy value chain and key industrial sectors with an expansive catalog of more than 300,000 products. Operating across 300+ global locations and generating $2.5 billion in revenue, the company is a trusted name in procurement, logistics, warehouse management, and digital supply chain solutions.
In addition to serving traditional oil and gas sectors, the company supports mining, pulp and paper, power generation, and chemical processing, with growing specialization in energy transition and carbon management.
Safety, traceability, and quality assurance are central to the company's global operations. As manual handling of Material Test Reports (MTRs) began causing inefficiencies and compliance risks, they partnered with Ashling for a comprehensive solution.
Our partnership began over seven years ago with the establishment of an automation Center of Excellence and transforming a complex, week-long sales quoting process into a streamlined half-day operation. Following this success, our client was ready to tackle one of its most document-heavy processes: Material Test Reports or MTRs.
Material Test Reports (MTRs) are official quality assurance documents that certify the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of materials. They're typically used for metals like steel or alloys and essential for construction, manufacturing, and energy applications. They verify that a material meets specific standards such as ASTM or ASME and include details like heat number, part number, composition, and strength. MTRs are essential for ensuring regulatory compliance, traceability, and the safe use of materials in critical environments.
Up to 1.5 million MTRs are expected to pass through the company’s system each year.
Previously, MTR processing was entirely manual. They would arrive via email or with shipments. Branch staff would scan, split, rename, and record each report by hand. Then, cross-reference details like heat numbers, part numbers, and purchase orders against records in SAP. It was a time-consuming effort that introduced operational delays, data errors, and potential compliance exposure.
Their objectives were clear: digitize the MTR intake process, improve accuracy and traceability, and reduce safety and liability risks associated with manual handling.
Ashling designed and delivered a comprehensive automation solution powered by UiPath's Document Understanding (DU), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and Action Center. The system now handles MTRs and Certificates of Compliance (COCs) from multiple intake sources, including vendor inboxes and branch-level scans, and performs validation against SAP data with minimal human intervention.
Once an MTR is received, the automation extracts critical data such as part numbers, heat numbers, vendor codes, and PO numbers, then parses each document into PDFs and matches values to SAP purchase records using API calls. Clean matches are sent directly for downstream processing, while exceptions are routed to Action Center for manual review with pre-flagged fields, such as unmatched heat codes.
When validation is successful, the system completes a structured Import2Trace template, attaches the indexed files, and sends them to the centralized Metal Trace mailbox for upload.
This fully integrated process dramatically reduces the workload for branch teams, improves traceability, and ensures that only validated materials move through the system.
One of the project’s biggest challenges was the variability of MTR formats. Ashling trained DU models to identify and isolate relevant pages and extract key fields from dense, sometimes unstructured PDFs with no standards across vendors or even consistencies within the same supplier. This eliminated the need for employees to sort through dozens of pages just to find a matching part number.
In cases where a PO couldn’t be extracted, the system indexed the Heat Code and Part Number in the Import2Trace template without SAP confirmation. When available, the PO number enabled validation of the Part Number and also triggered extraction of the Vendor ID and Branch ID from SAP, enriching the Import2Trace template for more accurate indexing.
Ashling also built file retention rules and error handling into the workflow. Successfully processed documents are cleared from inboxes, while exceptions are retained for review. This approach not only reduces data clutter but provides a clear audit trail for compliance.
The impact has been significant: up to 80% straight-through processing across over 20 document types, with capacity to scale to 1.5 million MTRs annually. More importantly, the process now supports safer, more consistent operations, and reduces the risk of human error or noncompliance in critical material traceability.
With a strong automation foundation in place, our client is now exploring broader opportunities, including intelligent document processing for Accounts Payable and agentic automation initiatives across other business units. Ashling continues to support the client’s journey, providing governance, discovery, and delivery expertise.