Linc’s Modern Solution to Logistics Data Inefficiency

The logistics industry is a major key to economic development. Facilitating trade activities between companies of all sectors around the world, it is exceedingly significant to keep the operations of logistics providers in check and organized.

Whether as shippers, carriers, or brokers, the effectiveness of these providers’ performance determines the accessibility of resources needed to keep businesses going. With a variety of roles to play in the industry, managing internal connections and communications is equally important.

Unfortunately, logistics communications, but especially data communications, can still be deemed inefficient most times. This causes logistics vendors of all sizes to have to spend much cost and waste much time to keep their workflows going. A YC-backed startup founded by Rahul Prakash, Shrey Sambhwani, and Harshavardhan Srijay named Linc aims to greatly improve logistic work with its AI-based copilot model.

Data Communications

One of the main issues logistics vendors still go through is communicating data. This may sound simple to some, but it can be deemed one of the most important stages in logistics as it is basically the base of running anything and everything.

Logistics vendors have to exchange thousands of documents and texts daily to be processed by the transport management systems (TMS). The TMS is a platform in the industry that helps businesses plan, execute, and optimize the movement of goods, whether incoming or outgoing. Proper data and documentation are vital in this process, as failure would mess up a whole array of goods that have to be received or delivered.

Shippers would give orders to a broker, who reaches out to carriers by email to negotiate terms on the goods wished to be shipped. When terms are determined, the broker sends a rate confirmation, a document filled with data on agreed-upon shipping rates between the parties, to the carrier.

When it is time for carriers to pick up the goods, shippers would sign the bill of lading (BOL), essentially a contract between the shipper, carrier, and broker that determines what goods are being shipped, where they are coming from, and where it’s headed to. Once the goods reach their destination, carriers would get the proof of delivery (POD) from the consignee and send the POD to the broker. Lastly, the broker sends the invoice to the shipper.

Current Solutions

The workflow elaborated above involves multiple documents and messages exchanged in every step, all via email. In order to be processed and managed, all the content in these emails requires manual data entry into the TMS.

The amount of time and energy spent on communicating and processing data, as we can imagine, seems insurmountable. Though it is possible that logistics vendors have become used to this by now, professionals in the industry are trying to find more efficient document-understanding solutions.

More firms are trying to integrate EDI* and API* into their systems to smoothen the data communications process. Though it could be efficient, these integrations could cost tens to thousands of dollars and would require highly skilled and experienced IT teams to set up. Even then, the setup could take up to 6 months, making this a time-consuming and equally expensive solution.

*EDI: Electronic Data Interchange, the electronic interchange of business information using a standardized format between one company and another.

*API: Application Programming Interface, a software intermediary connecting one application to another.

Another solution firms often resort to is assigning these tasks to virtual assistants, giving employees placed in office/location the chance to work on more work that requires physical presence and skills. This solution is one to be considered when in heavy need of lessening work intensity for employees, but many VAs in the industry can be unreliable and difficult to train, possibly becoming a liability instead.

The team behind Linc, experienced with building AI tools at Google and Northrop Grumman, offers an intelligent AI-based copilot model for logistics that syncs every inbound document with a firm’s TMS records.

Automated Workflow

With Linc’s copilot, manual data entry is no longer required. All the texts found in your email body or documents attached to the email, whether it be Transport Management documents, Safety Compliance and Hazardous Materials documents, or Freight Audit and Payment documents, can be automatically synced into the TMS.

In a demo, it is shown that the “Linc Email Assistant” formats and processes your data, which can then be synced into your system of record (SOR). Before submitting your SOR, you are able to edit any mistaken or inaccurate information in any field, as well as remove or add fields that are missing.

Though the copilot offers automation, Linc aims to ensure that you are still in control of your data. Once the SOR is updated and confirmed, the copilot populates all the data into your spreadsheet or ERP. If there are any updates that require the data in the spreadsheet or ERP to be changed, it can appropriately update it for you.

The copilot’s algorithm allows extractions without template restrictions, so it could process invoices, BOLs, and more with a consistent 95% rate of accuracy across all documents and texts. It can also be retrofitted into any system stack while valuing each firm’s privacy. The copilot doesn’t store any of the processed information, with all the data received immediately deleted from Linc’s servers after extraction is completed.

Aside from saving time and energy for logistics vendors, Linc’s copilot would streamline and prevent any overcharges or fraud. Easily utilize the copilot with its Google Chrome extension.

With Linc, improve efficiency and maximize your company’s logistics data communications.

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