The article discusses the benefits offered by OCR combined automated data capture to the logistics and transportation sector.

1. 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
• Proof of delivery - Delivery Receipts or signed Bills of Lading.
• Shipping documents - Shipping instructions, waybills, receipts and orders to
identify the cargo
• Accounts payable - Suppliers’ invoices
• 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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2. 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
• It is time consuming and often takes a long time to manually input the information
required to begin a transaction
• Can result in late payment, late delivery and ultimately cash flow issues
• 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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3. 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
• Provide remote and mobile data capture for terminal, office, and traveling staff
alike
• Is accurate and virtually eliminates costly errors
• 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.
www.managedoutsource.com 800-670-2809