Use cases

Systems designed for real-world conditions.

Concrete systems, described step by step: the starting point, what gets stuck, the system we put in place and what it changes.

Sorting incoming emails and preparing replies

For service SMEs that receive requests from customers, prospects and partners every day, buried among notifications.

Starting point

Every email is read by hand before being handled: spotting the important requests, finding the thread of the conversation, then writing the reply. Newsletters and notifications are mixed in with the real requests.

What gets stuck

Sorting takes time for every message and lets things slip or get answered late. Urgent requests are not always spotted in time, and the inbox gives no clear view of priorities.

What stays in human hands

Reviewing and approving every draft: no email is ever sent on its own.
Deciding on sensitive, commercial or urgent replies.
Checking the suggested meeting slots.
Correcting a classification or draft when needed.

The system

New emails are detected as soon as they arrive.
Newsletters, notifications and automated messages are filtered out before they reach the team.
Each email is analysed, with the conversation history when needed, then sorted: urgent, to answer, to read, notification, newsletter or invoice.
A draft reply is prepared in Gmail for messages that need one.
When a meeting is requested, free slots are suggested from Google Calendar.
Gmail labels make priorities visible at a glance.

What it changes

Useful emails are spotted and sorted automatically, irrelevant messages no longer reach the team, and every request arrives with a draft ready to review.

Tools used

Gmail
Google Agenda
n8n
Google Gemini

Limits and points of attention

The system makes no commitments on its own: prices, deadlines and sensitive replies remain human decisions. Classification quality must be monitored on unusual cases, and access to Gmail and Google Calendar is handled carefully to protect the data.

Preparing and sending a roofer’s quotes

For self-employed tradespeople, such as a roofer, who work with a secretary to prepare and follow up their quotes.

Starting point

The tradesperson marks the relevant items in an Excel file listing all their services. The secretary deletes the unused lines, tidies the document, converts it to PDF and sends it. Customer approvals are tracked by email and in a second Excel file.

What gets stuck

Every quote requires the same manual steps. Information is scattered across several files and emails, which makes it hard to track replies and the jobs to schedule.

What stays in human hands

The roofer chooses the work to propose and fills in the technical details.
The secretary reviews the draft, corrects it if needed and approves sending.

The system

A Google Sheets form to choose the services and note the job details.
A draft quote prepared automatically from the existing template and the selected items.
A Notion workspace to find each file, open the draft and approve sending.
Once approved, conversion to PDF and a personalised email to the customer.
Version archiving and status tracking for every quote.

What it changes

The repetitive reformatting disappears, while every quote is still reviewed by a person before it goes out. Each quote has a clear status, from draft to customer approval.

Tools used

Google Sheets
Notion
n8n
Google Drive
Gmail

Limits and points of attention

The system replaces neither the tradesperson’s technical judgement nor the secretary’s review. Prices and wording in the quote template must be kept up to date. Electronic signatures or multiple price lists can be added as needed.

Optimising delivery rounds

For SMEs that deliver to many customers every day, with time windows to respect.

Starting point

Deliveries are prepared in a Google Sheets file: customers, addresses, time windows and stop durations. Addresses are checked by hand, then the order of stops is decided without any optimisation tool.

What gets stuck

Every round requires a lot of manual work: looking up addresses, checking customers, choosing the order of stops, then passing everything on. Address errors and oversights waste time, and the driver does not receive a clear route.

What stays in human hands

Choosing the customers for the round.
Checking addresses, time windows and stop durations.
Starting the optimisation and checking the result before passing it to the driver.

The system

A Google Sheets file brings together customers, addresses, time windows, stop durations and comments.
You tick the customers to deliver, then start the optimisation with one click.
Known addresses and their GPS coordinates are saved so they never need looking up again.
The order of stops is calculated taking time windows and stop durations into account.
The round is saved in a dedicated sheet and sent by email, with estimated times and a Google Maps link for each stop.

What it changes

Preparing a round takes one file and one click, and the driver receives an ordered route with estimated times and navigation links.

Tools used

Google Sheets
n8n
Gmail
Google Maps
Google Route Optimization API

Limits and points of attention

A wrong address distorts the calculation, so checking addresses remains essential. The times shown are estimates that depend on traffic and the unexpected. Dates, time windows and durations must be entered in the right format.

Centralising supplier prices

For food shops that want to compare their suppliers’ prices, for example for cheese and charcuterie.

Starting point

Prices are found in several places: on suppliers’ websites and in the PDF invoices received by email. To compare them, you have to look them up one by one.

What gets stuck

The information is scattered across several sources, when you need to see each price next to its product and supplier. Without an overview, comparing suppliers or spotting a price rise takes time.

What stays in human hands

Choosing the suppliers to follow and switching them on.
Checking prices before using them for a purchasing decision.

The system

A configuration table lists the suppliers to follow, and collection runs for each of them.
Prices are retrieved from suppliers’ websites.
Invoices received in Gmail are found and their information extracted.
A shared Google Sheets table links each price to its product and supplier, with the previous price, the new one and any discounts.
Each supplier has its own process, easy to duplicate when adding a new one.

What it changes

All prices are gathered in one place: suppliers can be compared at a glance, and a price rise is spotted straight away.

Tools used

n8n
Gmail
Google Sheets

Limits and points of attention

Every website and invoice layout needs adapting. Extracting the price of each product from an invoice, not just the total, is the trickiest part. Scanned invoices and duplicates need specific handling.

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