AI Use Case | Volvo
Volvo Group, known for its innovation in supporting employees and customers, sought to streamline invoice and claims document processing. They needed a solution to extract data from images and translate documents into multiple languages. Using Microsoft Azure AI services and AI Document Intelligence, they developed a solution that launched after a six-week pilot and four-month production timeline. This new system has saved Volvo Group over 10,000 manual hours by simplifying document processing.
We chose Microsoft Azure AI primarily because of the advanced capabilities offered, especially with AI Document Intelligence.
Malladi Kumara Datta: RPA Product Owner
Volvo Group
Volvo Group’s approach to innovation and performance has been a cornerstone of their success. The 96-year-old Swedish company is driven by a commitment to continuously empower its employees to develop safe, high-quality vehicles that meet the evolving needs of customers and communities. “By using our innovation power to develop new solutions, we strive for a better everyday life for people around the world,” says Annavi Pushpalatha, Head of RPA & Workflow Digitization at Volvo Group. This focus on innovation spans every aspect of the company’s operations, from manufacturing trucks, buses, construction equipment, and marine and industrial engines to enhancing customer experiences and providing comprehensive solutions for financing and service. The innovative mindset at Volvo Group benefits not only the company’s employees, including shop floor workers and customer experience professionals in 190 countries, but also its customers, delivering improved driving experiences and tailored solutions.
“We recently had two scenarios in service and financing we needed to transform, and both had to do with processing critical internal and customer-facing ‘paperwork,’ including invoices and credit notes,” says Malladi Kumara Datta, Robotic Process Automation Product Owner at Volvo Group. “The data was complex and came in a variety of forms, including emails, digital and scanned PDFs, and written bills.” Some of the documents were stamped or contained images, and many had tables across multiple pages. There were also other documents like freight receipts, contracts, and terms and conditions, complicating the processes.
Automating complex workflows, extracting critical data
“Our automation team was tasked with coming up with a solution that could be more efficient and help the company better utilize the data it was collecting in these differing forms,” says Datta. A primary goal for Volvo Group was to easily extract accurate data from documents containing images, stamps, and printed text with handwritten notes over it. The other main goal was to take documents in multiple languages and translate their information into the specified language of the team needing the information. Datta says the solution not only needed to read the data but also had to make decisions based on it, including whether it needed translation, and direct the data to the right team or archive, depending on the stage it was in the process.
Volvo Group wanted a flexible platform solution that could evolve with Microsoft Azure AI services and other Microsoft technologies like Azure AI Document Intelligence. “We needed advanced capabilities, especially with AI Document Intelligence, to help us create a solution that extracts data from images—including photographs, stamps, and seals—and overwritten text to gain more detailed information about the products or services accounted for in the documents,” says Datta. “A technology which could quickly produce accurate text in multiple languages.”
“The documents are received through Microsoft Outlook, and we use Power Automate cloud connector for Office 365 to copy, for example, a particular PDF file,” says Pushpalatha. “Using Azure Data Factory, we can preprocess documents to remove noise from scanned images, rotate and sequence images, and trim unnecessary pages. The output file type depends on the Volvo Group division it will be sent to.” After the automation lifecycle, files are removed from storage and archived in a designated system. Volvo Group also employed Power Automate to create a data table in SharePoint detailing processing times for each document. The data was then linked to a Power BI report to track metrics such as average processing time, throughput time, and success rate of the automation. “The Azure solution gives us a lot of flexibility to innovate,” says Datta.
Rapid development, significant results
“Working with Microsoft and the , we reduced our timeline from a six-week proof of concept to a four-month production rollout,” says Pushpalatha. This solution, already implemented in multiple markets with more to come, aims to improve the employee experience by adding new features that enhance pre-processing and automation capabilities.
Since its launch, Volvo Group has saved 10,000 manual hours—about 850 hours per month. “The time savings are significant, and automation improves quality,” says Datta. “But for us, it’s about enhancing both employee and customer experiences by streamlining document processing.” Datta notes that employees are reporting greater job satisfaction, as they have more time to focus on innovation and tasks that utilize their specific skills.
Pushpalatha agrees, adding, “We know this directly impacts the relationships between Volvo Group divisions and customers. When employees are more satisfied with their work, it creates a better experience for everyone.”
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