What is an Electronic Bill of Lading?

A Bill of Lading (BOL) is a crucial document in logistics and supply chain management, serving as a contract, receipt, and title of goods between shippers and carriers. It’s a legal document that details the type, quantity and destination of the goods being carried. This document must accompany the shipped goods and must be signed by an authorized representative from the carrier, shipper, and receiver.

Traditionally, BOLs are exchanged in paper form or as unstructured digital files such as PDFs or JPGs, making data extraction and management challenging. Electronic Bills of Lading (eBOL) digitize this process, enabling seamless automation, structured data extraction, and streamlined logistics operations.

The Challenge: Manual Management of Bills of Lading

Many organizations struggle with handling BOLs received in unstructured formats, such as scanned PDFs or images. These files:

• Are not machine-readable, making navigation and searching difficult.
• Prevent automated data extraction and integration with company systems.
• Require manual data entry, increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.

Manually processing these documents consumes time and resources, leading to delays and higher operational costs.

The Solution: Streamlining BOL Processing with DocStudio

DocStudio can streamline the handling of Bills of Lading in two main ways: recognition of existing unstructured Bills of Lading (in image, PDF or paper format) or digitizing completely the processing of Bill of Lading from its creation to exchange, integrations and storage. Here’s how it works.

Recognition of Unstructured Bills of Lading and Data Extraction

For companies handling large volumes of existing Bills of Lading in unstructured formats, DocStudio extracts key information and converts it into a structured, machine-readable format for further processing and integration. 

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1. Uploading Unstructured Bills of Lading

Shippers, carriers and receivers can easily upload unstructured Bills of Lading, such as PDFs or JPGs, through DocStudio’s intuitive web interface . For businesses dealing with high volumes of BOLs, DocStudio also offers bulk document collection via API, SFTP, or other integrations, ensuring flexibility and adaptability to different workflows.

2. Recognition and Data Extraction

Once a Bill of Lading is submitted, DocStudio’s advanced recognition tools analyze the document, identifying and extracting essential details such as shipment ID, delivery address, item descriptions, and quantities. This extracted data is then transformed into a structured, machine-readable format, ensuring accuracy and usability.

3. Approval and Moderation

The structured document is subsequently routed for approval and validation. Depending on the organization’s preferences, this step can be managed internally or entrusted to DocStudio as the software provider, ensuring seamless moderation and verification.

4. Data Integration

Following approval, the extracted and structured data is formatted to align with the organization’s specific requirements, such as X12, XML, or JSON. This structured data is then seamlessly integrated into internal business systems like ERP, CRM, or WMS, facilitating efficient logistics and operational management.

Complete Automation of Bill of Lading Handling

DocStudio offers businesses a centralized platform to create, complete, sign, and exchange Bills of Lading while ensuring secure storage, easy traceability, customizable workflows, and seamless system integrations.

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1. Creation of Digital Templates

DocStudio helps organizations digitize their existing Bill of Lading documents by creating electronic templates with dynamic fields. These fields can be filled out by shippers, carriers and recipients and include dedicated areas for digital signatures.

2. Custom Workflow Management

With DocStudio, businesses can design a customized workflow that aligns with their Bill of Lading process, involving shippers, carriers, and receivers. Users can assign roles for signing, filling out specific sections, or approving the document, streamlining the entire handling process.

3. Seamless IT System Integration

Every document created in DocStudio is backed by an XML structure, ensuring structured data can be extracted and formatted according to the organization’s requirements, such as X12, XML, or JSON. This data is then automatically integrated into internal systems like ERP, TMS, or WMS, enabling efficient logistics and operations management.

4. Secure Storage & Easy Data Retrieval

All processed documents are securely stored within DocStudio, allowing users to easily search, filter, and manage records. Documents can also be downloaded as PDFs or exported as structured data for integration with external systems.

Benefits of eBOL Processing Automation

Electronic Bill of Lading (eBOL) processing benefits all parties involved in the shipping process. For shippers, it ensures faster document creation, reduces manual data entry errors, and enables seamless integration with internal systems, streamlining operations and minimizing delays. Carriers benefit from improved accuracy and real-time access to structured data, reducing paperwork and expediting approvals, which enhances delivery efficiency. Receivers gain better visibility into shipment details, allowing for faster reconciliation and smoother inventory management. By automating BOL handling, eBOL processing optimizes workflows, lowers costs, and enhances overall supply chain efficiency.

Efficiency and Cost Savings

Automating document processing significantly reduces manual effort and saves valuable time. By minimizing human intervention, organizations can lower operational costs while ensuring a smoother workflow with fewer errors and delays.

Structured Data for Searchability and Analytics

By converting unstructured files into structured, machine-readable data, organizations gain the ability to efficiently search, extract, and analyze information. This structured approach empowers businesses with actionable insights, improving decision-making and operational efficiency.

Scalability and Seamless Integrations

DocStudio efficiently handles large volumes of Bills of Lading without compromising speed or accuracy. The platform integrates effortlessly with existing ERP, CRM, and WMS systems, ensuring smooth operational continuity and workflow automation.

Enhanced Accuracy and Compliance

With precise data extraction capabilities, DocStudio minimizes the risk of human errors, ensuring accuracy across all processed documents. Additionally, the platform helps businesses maintain compliance with industry regulations by providing a transparent and traceable audit trail for all transactions.

Quick Adoption and Flexibility

DocStudio offers intuitive workflows that make the approval and moderation process simple and efficient. Designed with user-friendly features, the platform ensures easy adoption for suppliers and shippers, reducing training time and improving overall usability.

Conclusion

Managing Bills of Lading manually is time-consuming and error-prone. DocStudio transforms this process with automated recognition, structured data extraction, and seamless system integration. By implementing DocStudio, organizations can optimize logistics workflows, reduce operational costs, and ensure accuracy and compliance in BOL management.

For more information on how DocStudio can automate your business processes, reach out to the DocStudio team at hello@docstudio.com or submit the contact form here.

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