Purchase Orders, Raised From Site by Text or WhatsApp
When an engineer needs parts, Build Concierge turns a quick text or WhatsApp into a purchase order raised against the right job, then sends the PO number straight back so they can give it to the supplier on the spot.
No more engineers waiting on hold to order a part. No more costs landing on the wrong job. No more materials bought with no PO because raising one was harder than skipping it.
The problem
An engineer is on site and needs a part. To do things properly, they should raise a purchase order first. But that means stopping the job, ringing the office, and waiting for someone to pick up and key it in.
So one of two things happens:
- The engineer waits around while the office sorts it, losing time on the job.
- Or they buy the part themselves and worry about the paperwork later.
Neither is good. Buying without a PO means the cost lands on the wrong job, or no job at all, and you only find out weeks later when the supplier invoice turns up. Meanwhile the office is interrupted all day by PO requests that take two minutes each and quietly add up to hours.
The part is usually easy to get. It is the paperwork around it that slows everything down.
What the automation does
When an engineer needs to order something, Build Concierge:
- Reads the message. The engineer sends a normal text or WhatsApp with what they need: the job reference, the supplier, the items and the cost.
- Pulls out the detail. It picks up the parts, quantities and price automatically, even from a quick, casually typed message.
- Finds the right job. It matches the request to the job in your job management system.
- Raises the purchase order. The PO is created against that job, with every line logged correctly.
- Sends the PO number back to the engineer. They receive a reply confirming the PO is raised, with its reference number, so they can quote it to the supplier and add it to the order there and then.
Nothing goes off the record
Every purchase is captured against the right job the moment it happens, with a clear record of who ordered what. People still decide what to buy. The automation just removes the phone call, the form and the wait.
What you get
- POs raised in seconds, straight from the van
- Every cost logged against the right job from the start
- The PO number back in the engineer's hand in seconds, ready to give the supplier
- Engineers back to work instead of on hold
- An office that is no longer interrupted all day by PO requests
- No more untracked spend slipping through unnoticed
Because the cost is captured the moment it happens, job costing stays accurate while the job is still live, margins are protected, and reconciling supplier invoices later stops being a guessing game.
Ways to run it
Every team orders differently, so the automation flexes to match:
A single part, fast
An engineer WhatsApps one item. Build Concierge raises the PO against the job and replies with the PO number, in the time it takes to send a text.
Multi-line orders by SMS
A message with several items is read line by line, and each one is added to the purchase order against the right job.
A back-and-forth conversation
If something is missing, like the job reference or supplier, the automation can ask for it and pick the thread back up, so nothing gets raised against the wrong job.
With a sign-off step
For orders over a set value, the request can be routed to a manager for approval first, and the PO is only raised once they say yes.
What you need
Just three things:
- Build Concierge connected to your job management system
- How you want POs raised, and any approval rules
- The channel your engineers already use (text or WhatsApp)
We support you in connecting to your job management system. Your rules can be as simple or as specific as you like, for example "orders over £500 need a manager's approval", and we set it up around whichever channel your engineers already message on.
Getting set up
Step 1: Talk to us
Tell us how your engineers order parts today, and where it tends to get stuck.
Step 2: We build it with you
We set up the channel, the job matching, and any sign-off step you want in place.
Step 3: Test it live
We run real requests through it together, check the POs land on the right jobs, then switch it on.
Most businesses are up and running within days.
Common Questions
They send a normal text or WhatsApp message with what they need. No app to download, no form to fill in, no login. If they can send a text, they can raise a PO.
The job reference, the supplier, and the items with quantities and cost. Build Concierge reads the message and pulls those details out automatically.
The job the engineer references. Build Concierge finds it in your job management system and raises the PO against it, so costs never land on the wrong job or drift off the record.
Either. Different teams prefer different channels, so we set it up around whichever your engineers already use.
Yes. The PO is logged in your system and your team can see it, so nothing happens off the record. For higher-value orders, you can add a manager approval step before the PO is raised.
Think about how many small purchases your engineers make in a week, and how many of them are raised properly, against the right job, at the time. Every one that slips is margin you cannot see until it is too late.
Ready to raise POs from the van?
Get in touch with the Build Concierge team and we’ll set it up around the way you work.
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