Automated Data Capture in Logistics and Transportation Every industry is looking for innovative ways to improve their back office operations including data capture. Challenges in acquiring timely and accurate information at the right place and at the right time, can drastically affect strategic decision making and hence business productivity. Data capture, especially in transportation and logistics is a cumbersome process. Every day, huge amounts of paper are generated by firms dealing with transportation and logistics. Shipping and billing records, customer satisfaction forms, commercial invoices, certificates of origin, payroll records, employee records, and purchase order forms are some of them. •
Customs documents - Bill of Lading Line items, certificates of origin, commercial invoices and more
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Proof of delivery - Delivery Receipts or signed Bills of Lading.
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Shipping documents - Shipping instructions, waybills, receipts and orders to identify the cargo
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Accounts payable - Suppliers’ invoices
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Technical documentation on vehicles - Documents for trucks, trains, ships, airplanes and their components
Collection of information from these sources can be done manually or automatically. Automated data capture solutions are much more effective than manual methods, as it is fast and less susceptible to errors.
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Challenges of Manual Data Capture in Logistics and Transportation Sector Lack of automation contributes to poor level of data accuracy and shipping errors within transportation and logistics. Manual methods for capturing data pose a lot of disadvantages to customers. •
It is very labor intensive and costly
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It is time consuming and often takes a long time to manually input the information required to begin a transaction
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Can result in late payment, late delivery and ultimately cash flow issues
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Captured data, if entered incorrectly (either by misreading words or not being able to interpret handwriting) can result in delays, errors in calculation and poor customer service, which in turn can have serious business implications
Benefits of Automated Data Capture Optical character recognition (OCR) technology is used by many firms to get rid of manual forms processing and for automation of data capture. This requires paper files to be converted to digital format through procedures like document scanning. Automated methods for data capture is a boon to the transportation and logistics sector as they often
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feel the requirement to collect data from a globally distributed supply network. Advantages include: •
Reduced time and costs by up to 90% vs. a manual workflow
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Provide remote and mobile data capture for terminal, office, and traveling staff alike
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Is accurate and virtually eliminates costly errors
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Automatically export captured data for storage
Moreover, it improves the ability to store/retrieve information and process efficiency, lowers costs, and ensures improved data accuracy and timeliness. To attain these advantages, businesses should build the necessary infrastructure and resources capable of handling the task. Otherwise, they can assign it to a professional document conversion company, equipped with the advanced technology required to implement the necessary automated solutions.
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