WebisoftMcDermid Paper Converters
Operations Automation Proposal
Wrap automation around Papersoft, the simple and reliable system McDermid already depends on, instead of replacing it.
Prepared by Webisoft Technologie Inc.
The operating reality
Context
McDermid Paper Converters is the largest thermal paper roll supplier in Canada, with a converting operation in Markham serving customers primarily across Ontario and Quebec, plus North American thermal shipments. Real volume moves through the business, and almost every high-frequency, repetitive step in that flow is still done by hand.
The constraint that shapes everything: there are no standard SKUs. Every order varies by width, length, thickness, basis weight, core size, and quantity. Inbound roll data arrives from 15 mills worldwide, each with its own bill of lading format, unit convention, and barcode scheme. Any solution that depends on standardizing suppliers or collapsing products into a fixed catalogue will fail.
This proposal does not replace Papersoft. The system is simple and reliable; the pain is the manual labour required to feed it and get things out of it. The approach is to wrap automation around the existing system, protecting the reliability the team depends on and keeping the investment focused on the work that actually costs money.
Inbound sources
15
mills worldwide
Recoverable capacity
1 FTE
Bill's estimate, entry alone
System of record
Papersoft
wrapped, not replaced
Delivery
3 tracks
plus a fixed-fee discovery
Bill's stated order
What We Heard
Three operating priorities lead the program. The sequence matters because it creates an early, measurable win while protecting the business from a broad technology bet.
Inventory data entry
Roll specs (width, length, core size, plus five or six additional fields) arrive on bills of lading from mills worldwide in inconsistent formats. Each roll is keyed in individually, imperial-to-metric conversions are done manually, and barcode scanning is underused because mill data formatting is inconsistent.
Target outcome
Bill's own estimate: automating this recovers at least one full-time employee's worth of capacity.
Quoting and customer service
Quotes are assembled manually from Excel price sheets plus inventory availability checks across multiple mills, using order-specific field combinations. Purchase orders are then re-keyed into work orders in Papersoft. The result is slow customer response times and duplicated data entry, while the service inbox needs manual sorting as younger buyers move more volume to email.
Target outcome
Faster customer response without duplicated data entry.
Shipping and invoicing
Once an order ships, invoices and supporting paperwork are handled manually. The target is document generation directly off the ship event.
Target outcome
Shipment confirmation becomes complete customer documentation, automatically.
Two more points shape the sequencing. The oldest machine on the floor is a bottleneck with fragile parts availability, and equipment risk is competing for attention and capital. The owner is conservative on technology and will need a clear, demonstrated result before backing a broader program.
Resolve the integration path before the build
Phase 0: Discovery
A short paid discovery, run remote. Two to three working sessions by video with Bill and the people who do the work day to day, plus offline analysis and documentation. No travel cost, no disruption to the floor, and it can start within days rather than waiting on a calendar to line up. If discovery surfaces something that genuinely needs eyes on the operation, a Markham visit is scheduled at that point rather than assumed up front.
Working sessions + analysis
- Process mapping for roll intake, quoting, order entry, and shipping and invoicing, including who touches what and how long each step takes.
- Collection of a representative sample of bills of lading across all 15 mills, to size the extraction problem accurately.
- Papersoft integration assessment: database access, import utilities, API availability, and schema documentation (see Appendix A).
- Baseline measurement of current volumes, cycle times, and error rates, so results are provable to the owner rather than asserted.
- Prioritized automation roadmap with revised effort and cost per track.
Phase 0 deliverable
A written findings document, an integration feasibility determination, and a fixed-price proposal for the tracks McDermid elects to proceed with.
2-3
remote working sessions
This phase exists because the single largest unknown in this engagement is how Papersoft can be written to. Pricing the build tracks without that answer would mean padding the estimate to cover the worst case, which is not in McDermid's interest.
Prove value, then expand
Automation Tracks
Three focused tracks can run in sequence or, where internal capacity permits, in parallel. Select a track to review its delivery detail.
Recommended first
Scan processing, bill of lading and roll data intake
The highest-value track and the recommended starting point. It is deliberately designed around McDermid's reality rather than against it: mills are not asked to change barcodes, formats, or units, and no product standardization is required.
- Document ingestion from email, scanner, or shared folder, with no change required from any mill.
- AI extraction of roll-level specifications from mixed-format bills of lading and packing lists, including scanned and handwritten documents.
- Per-mill format learning, so each supplier's layout improves in accuracy over time without building a separate integration per mill.
- Automatic unit normalization, including imperial-to-metric conversion, with the source value retained for audit.
- Confidence-scored review queue: high-confidence rows post automatically, uncertain rows are surfaced to a person for a single-click confirm or correct, and those corrections feed back into the model.
- Write to Papersoft via whichever integration path discovery validates: direct database write, bulk import file, or controlled terminal automation.
- Exception handling and reconciliation reporting against the physical receipt.
Target outcome
The large majority of roll line items post without manual keying, with staff time shifted from data entry to exception review.
Papersoft remains the system of record
Integration Model
Papersoft remains the operational system of record. Discovery validates the safest controlled write path before any production automation is committed.
Incoming documents
Email, scan, or shared folder
AI extraction
Specs, units, source values
Confidence review
Auto-post or one-click review
Papersoft
Validated controlled write
Write path validated in discovery
Safeguards built in
- Source values retained alongside normalized values for audit.
- Confidence-scored review prevents uncertain records from flowing through unexamined.
- Exception handling and reconciliation connect digital records back to physical receipt.
- Test, backup, and rollback procedures are confirmed before production writes.
All amounts CAD
Investment
All amounts in CAD. That is the entire ask on this page: a fixed-fee discovery. Nothing about the build needs to be decided or committed now, and no track depends on another being purchased.
Phase 0
Discovery and integration assessment
$2,500 fixed
Fixed price, remote, no travel, and it can start within a week. McDermid keeps the findings document, the Papersoft integration determination, and the automation roadmap regardless of whether it proceeds with Webisoft on the build.
Tracks A, B and C
The three build tracks
Fixed in Phase 0
Scoped and fixed-priced in the Phase 0 deliverable, once the Papersoft write path is validated.
Ongoing support
Once something is in production
Optional
Only relevant once an automation is running in production. Priced alongside the tracks.
Business case
Bill's own estimate is that automating inventory entry alone recovers at least one full-time employee's workload. The question in front of ownership right now is not whether to fund an AI program. It is whether that estimate is worth $2,500 to verify properly, with a written roadmap and firm pricing at the end of it.
$2,500 fixed - the entire ask today
Phase 0 is credited in full against the first build track if McDermid proceeds within 60 days, which makes discovery effectively free to anyone who moves forward.
A focused first win
Recommendation
Our honest recommendation
Do not buy a three-track program now. Start with discovery, then Track A on its own.
01
Bill's stated biggest pain
Scan processing is the stated top priority and has the clearest, most measurable payback.
02
No change to how McDermid sells
Track A requires no change to how McDermid quotes or sells.
03
A result the owner can verify
It produces a result the owner can see and verify with his own eyes before backing a broader program.
04
A stronger internal argument
One track that works is a far stronger internal argument than a three-track program that stalls at approval.
Tracks B and C stay on the roadmap with fixed pricing coming out of discovery, to be triggered once Track A is in production and measured.
Built for the real operating environment
Why Webisoft
Document intelligence
Document extraction and intake automation from unstructured, multi-format inbound paperwork.
Legacy integration
Integration with legacy and custom ERP systems, including Linux-based and undocumented systems where no vendor API exists.
Commercial quoting platform
TenderOS, Webisoft's own AI quoting and proposal automation platform, already in commercial use.
Practical delivery
A Montreal-based team of approximately 40 engineers, delivering in English and French, remote first, with Markham close enough for on-site work whenever it is genuinely useful.
Appendix A - questions for Papersoft support
Papersoft Readiness
The answers below determine the integration approach, effort, and cost. A complete response allows for tighter fixed pricing after discovery.
Appendix A
System and platform
Appendix A
System and platform
- 1What is the current Papersoft version in use at McDermid, the underlying operating system and version, and is the installation currently under an active support contract?
- 2Is the installation on premise, and is remote access available for an integration partner, and under what conditions?
Appendix A
Data access
Appendix A
Data access
- 1What database engine and version does Papersoft use?
- 2Can a third-party integration partner be granted read access to the database directly? Write access?
- 3Is schema documentation available for the inventory or roll master, work order, quote, and invoice tables?
- 4Are there triggers, stored procedures, or application-level validation that would be bypassed by a direct database write, and if so, which tables must not be written to directly?
Appendix A
Programmatic interfaces
Appendix A
Programmatic interfaces
- 1Does Papersoft expose a documented API of any kind, including REST, SOAP, or other? If yes, please provide the documentation.
- 2Is there a command-line interface, batch import utility, or scheduled import capability?
- 3What bulk import file formats are supported, including CSV, fixed width, XML, or other, and is there a specification for inventory or roll receipt import in particular?
- 4Is there an event, webhook, log, or flag that can be monitored externally to detect an order status change, for example when an order ships?
Appendix A
Output and documents
Appendix A
Output and documents
- 1How are invoices, packing slips, and bills of lading currently produced, and can that output be captured or redirected programmatically?
- 2Are document templates modifiable, and by whom?
Appendix A
Environment and safety
Appendix A
Environment and safety
- 1Is a test or staging instance available or can one be provisioned?
- 2What is the backup and rollback procedure, and what is the recommended process for testing writes without risk to production data?
Appendix A
Vendor position
Appendix A
Vendor position
- 1Does Papersoft permit and support third-party integration work against the system, and are there licensing or support implications for doing so?
- 2Is there a product roadmap, planned version upgrade, or end-of-support date McDermid should plan around?
Next Steps
Move from a clear operational opportunity to a committed, measurable plan.
Take discovery to ownership
Bill takes the $2,500 discovery to ownership as the decision point, rather than the full program.
Book the first session
On approval, Phase 0 discovery sessions are booked remotely, with the first session within one week.
Direct contact: hello@webisoft.com
Webisoft · Montreal, QC · webisoft.com
Confidential - McDermid Paper Converters · Operations Automation Proposal