Canals

What Canals does

Canals is the end-to-end operating AI for customer-focused distributors, automating workflows across Sales, Customer Service, Accounting, Purchasing, and Receiving to drive speed, accuracy, and consistency. By reducing reliance on manual processes and institutional knowledge, their suite of AI tools maximizes operational efficiency and visibility at any scale. Canals helps businesses respond to customers faster and frees up team members to be more proactive, taking service to the next level and building deeper relationships. Over 100 distributors run on Canals to win, keep, and grow more customers. Canals builds reliable software, powered by AI, that delivers real, measurable improvements for manufacturers, distributors, and contractors.

Products

• AI Sales Order EntryIncreases hit rates, reduces errors, and grows customer relationships by automating order and quote processing from various input formats (email, phone, in-person, handwritten notes, takeoffs, PDFs, spreadsheets, voicemails). It intelligently reads customer requests, finds product matches, and drafts quotes/orders for rep approval. It continuously adapts to business data, customer preferences, and rep behavior.
• AI Accounts PayableAutomates invoice processing by examining invoices for validity against records and business rules. It handles both trade (PO) and expense invoices, automatically processing them into payables in the ERP along with a copy of the invoice. It also reads and matches invoices against POs and receipts, submitting them for payment according to rules, and learns how teams handle mismatches.
• AI Purchasing & ReceivingTracks POs and receipts with next-level accuracy by reading vendor PO acknowledgments, shipping notices, and packing slips, comparing them to POs. Discrepancies are flagged early for human intervention, and changes to ship dates can be automatically updated in the ERP. It immediately updates the ERP based on PO confirmations, ASNs, and packing slips for smoother purchasing and receiving.
• AI Part Number ConversionsConverts large lists of products from one set of part numbers to another, across different manufacturers or formats. Useful for mapping products after an acquisition or for competitive pricing lists.
• AI Accounts ReceivableAccurately applies customer payments and highlights any issues to get exceptions resolved faster. It reads remittance advice in any format and identifies common discrepancies like freight and payment discounts, protecting sensitive banking information.
• AI Inquiry HandlingHelps reps respond to customers faster and more consistently by intelligently reading and understanding customer questions. It generates suggested responses by pulling relevant information from the ERP and other sources (past communications, company policies, manufacturer websites, broader internet). It covers common inquiries like order status, technical product info, product lookup, availability, and billing.
• AI Chatbot (Ask AI)Provides quick, tailored information about products, availability, specifications, and policies. It allows users to start conversations, ask questions in plain language, and interact with the AI, which learns from each interaction. It also shows sources for answers, drawing from ERP, manufacturer websites, and company policies.
• AI Takeoff AutomationStreamlines the process of interpreting takeoffs by intelligently reading fixture schedules and takeoff documents. It identifies required items, finds product catalog matches, expands fixtures into component items based on notes and rules, and prepares a Bill of Materials for ERP submission. It highlights exceptions for human review.

Key capabilities

• Automated workflows across Sales, Customer Service, Accounting, Purchasing, and Receiving
• Reduces reliance on manual processes and institutional knowledge
• Maximizes operational efficiency and visibility
• Responds to customers faster
• Frees up team members for proactive work
• Increases hit rates and reduces errors in order entry
• Processes quotes and orders from any format (handwritten note, takeoff, PDF, email, spreadsheet, voicemail, audio)
• Automatically gets smarter about customers, products, and business with use
• No templates or customer-specific setup required
• Automates invoice processing and validation
• Tracks POs and receipts with next-level accuracy, flagging discrepancies
• Converts large product lists across different part numbers or manufacturers
• AI models trained specifically for manufacturing, distribution, and construction complexities
• Out-of-the-box integrations with ERPs, communication tools, and CRMs
• Independently verified data security (SOC 2 Type II compliant)
• Personalized training and customer support
• Continuously adapts to business data and user behavior
• Eliminates manual data entry and lookup
• Provides best matches for requested products, branch-based availability, pricing, and non-stock sourcing
• Accurately applies customer payments and highlights exceptions
• Intelligently reads and understands customer inquiries to generate suggested responses
• Built-in AI chatbot for quick information retrieval
• Extracts fixtures and quantities from PDF takeoffs
• Expands fixtures into items based on notes and predefined rules
• Highlights exceptions for human judgment before ERP submission
• Enterprise-grade security with OAuth, SAML, third-party penetration testing, real-time monitoring, TLS 1.3 Encryption in Transit, AES-256 Encryption at Rest, Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, Principle of Least Privilege
• Customers retain full ownership of their data
• Customer data is not sold or shared for marketing purposes
• AI models are tailored to each organization and improve over time with specific usage

Use cases

• Automating sales order entry from various customer communication channels
• Streamlining quotes and RFQs for distributors, manufacturers, and contractors
• Processing invoices automatically for accounts payable
• Tracking purchase orders and receipts with high accuracy
• Converting large product lists for acquisitions or competitive pricing
• Accelerating cash application and reconciliation in accounts receivable
• Handling customer inquiries faster and more consistently
• Providing quick answers to product, availability, and policy questions via an AI chatbot
• Automating takeoff interpretation and Bill of Materials generation for construction projects
• Reducing manual data entry and lookup across sales, accounting, and purchasing
• Improving customer service and strengthening customer relationships
• Increasing sales productivity and hit rates
• Optimizing payment timing and avoiding late fees
• Ensuring up-to-date data in ERPs for customers and internal teams
• Capturing and sharing institutional knowledge across users

AI approach

Canals develops proprietary AI models specifically trained for the complexities of manufacturing, distribution, and construction across key verticals. The AI automates workflows such as sales order entry, accounts payable, purchasing & receiving, part number conversions, inquiry handling, and takeoff automation. It learns from customer data and user interactions to continuously improve accuracy and customize recommendations. The company emphasizes that customer data is used to train personal Canals AI models and is not shared with other customers or used to train generalized models.

Tech named: machine learning

Industries served

• Technology, Information and Internet
• Construction
• Industrial Supply Chain
• Electrical
• Plumbing
• HVAC
• Mechanical
• Industrial/MRO
• Lumber/Framing
• Building Materials
• PVF
• Safety
• Machinery
• Automation

What it says sets it apart

• End-to-end operating AI for customer-focused distributors
• Reduces reliance on manual processes and institutional knowledge
• AI models trained specifically for the complexities of manufacturing, distribution, and construction
• Handles material lists and customer asks in any format (handwritten notes, takeoffs, PDFs, emails, spreadsheets, voicemails, audio)
• Continuously adapts and gets smarter about customer, product, and business data with use
• No templates or customer-specific setup required
• Proven ROI delivered in days, with minimal IT lift and setup
• Enterprise-grade security and integrations (SOC 2 Type II compliant)
• Built and supported by Canals engineers, with no hidden integration fees or setup costs
• Customers retain full ownership of their data, which is not sold or shared for marketing
• AI models are tailored to each organization and improve over time with specific usage, not shared across customers
• Fast implementation (in days) and immediate user value
• Ability to handle non-standard formats that legacy solutions struggle with
• Focus on real-world workflows and solving practical problems for users

Funding rounds we track

From the AI funding tracker — rounds as reported by the linked publications.