One order changes the answer
You run a parts supplier and must choose how staff answer delivery questions. A sourced AI draft looks ready to send, encouraging the belief that a relevant document guarantees a correct customer answer.
In this hypothetical example, all figures are assumptions. The supplier’s standard sheet says “three business days.” The customer’s order has delivery_commitment = “next business day,” reflecting a paid upgrade. Software retrieves only the standard sheet and drafts “three business days.” Sending it gives this customer the wrong delivery commitment.
The document misses the agreement
Retrieval-assisted drafting means software finds documents to help compose an answer. Finding the right product does not select the right customer agreement. The omitted dependency is the order’s delivery commitment. Staff must open that order and verify the promise. The standard sheet describes the default; the order records the exception.
Count the checking time
Assume 120 questions per week, $30 per staff hour and ten available support hours. Manual handling takes five minutes each: 120 × 5 ÷ 60 = 10 hours, costing $300. Assisted handling takes one minute to prepare a draft and four to check it: 120 × (1 + 4) ÷ 60 = 10 hours. Add a $60 weekly software fee: $360 total. Both fit capacity; choose manual handling. These are labor and software costs; payroll falls only if paid hours change.
Let the current order decide
Before sending, compare the draft’s delivery window with delivery_commitment on the same customer’s current order. A mismatch, missing value or ambiguous order blocks sending: resolve it with the order owner.
Now suppose every customer buys the same guaranteed delivery window, so the current standard sheet applies to every order. Review takes two minutes. Then 120 × (1 + 2) ÷ 60 = 6 hours; 6 × $30 + $60 = $240 weekly. Assistance now wins. Three minutes of review breaks even; longer favors manual handling. Check timing and agreement accuracy on a representative sample before switching.