Overview
A German enterprise received customer orders by email and handled them by hand. I built the automation that now does it: n8n workflows read the Outlook inbox, validate each order email, save the files to the company server and create the order in Supabase. A Next.js portal lets customers track orders, employees update progress and admins manage everything with full audit logs.
The Problem
Staff checked the inbox manually, which caused delays, missed attachments and inconsistent handling. The system also had to keep working through server restarts on the client's Windows Server.
Technical Solution
System Architecture
- •n8n order-intake workflow runs every 30 minutes on the Outlook inbox
- •Sender and attachment rules decide which emails are valid orders
- •Order files saved to the company server; orders created in Supabase
- •XLSX to CSV conversion for downstream system compatibility
- •Emails moved to Processed or Invalid folders for easy auditing
- •Second n8n workflow sends an auto-confirmation email; admins can switch it off from the portal
- •Next.js portal with three roles: customers track orders, employees update progress, admins manage customer settings and see full audit logs
- •n8n runs as a Windows service with NSSM on Windows Server 2019
Automation
n8n
Microsoft Outlook
App
Next.js, Supabase
Deployment
Windows Server 2019 (NSSM service)
File handling
PDF, DOCX, XLSX (XLSX converted to CSV)
Results & Impact
2
n8n workflows: order intake and auto-confirmation
Every 30 min
inbox checked for new orders
3
portal roles: customer, employee, admin
Lessons Learned
Reliability Beats Complexity
Running n8n as an NSSM-managed service ensured stability and automatic recovery without adding unnecessary infrastructure.
Clear Folder Semantics Matter
Separating emails into processed and invalid folders made auditing and debugging significantly easier for non-technical staff.
Automation Needs Ops Thinking
Designing for restarts and downtime was as important as the workflow logic itself.