Building trust with a shipment manifest
Order Management | May-Oct 2023 | New Service & Feature Set | Shipped Oct 2023Key Outcomes and Results
Automated Validation: Reduced manual interventions by 25% and improved data processing efficiency.
Improved Data Accuracy: Increased document recognition model accuracy from 32% to 46% in two weeks.
Trust and Transparency: Clients gained real-time access to validated as-shipped PO and SKU data, improving planning and supplier payments.
Operational Efficiency: The new workflow minimized errors, saving $15 per shipment and increasing Flexport’s gross profit margin to 58%.
Scalability: Successfully rolled out to 40 Order Management clients, with 10 data service team members trained in the new process.
The Solution
Flexport implemented a Container Load Plan (CLP) with API, which introduced a structured Packing List digitization and validation process. The solution consisted of:
Client-Facing Shipment Manifest: A standardized, validated document providing visibility into what was shipped.
Automated Workflows for Operators: Integration into Freight Forwarding App (FFA), using Rossum OCR for digitization and exception handling.
Account Manager Overrides: A failsafe mechanism allowing manual corrections to ensure accuracy.
This transformation eliminated trust barriers, improved operational workflows, and positioned Flexport as a leader in data transparency and automation for order management.
PROBLEM & OPPORTUNITY
Clients lacked accurate SKU-level shipment data, making it difficult to reconcile purchase orders, facilitate supplier payments, and manage inventory across distribution centers. The existing PO-CI reconciliation process was inefficient, accounting for 75% of operational workload and costing $300,000 per month to process over 6,000 purchase orders. Additionally, data validation was manual and prone to errors, creating trust issues for clients.
The opportunity was to streamline the process by digitizing Packing Lists (PL) and integrating shipment manifests into an API-driven workflow.
ROLE
UX Project Lead
PARTNERS
(PM): Jameson Dowell
(UX): Eunice Choi
(ENG): 6 Developers
CONTRIBUTION
Partnered closely with PM to develop product requirements, design a new operations service, app design, and development documentation.
Want to Learn More?
Shoot me an email! Let’s discuss your questions, comments, and organizational needs.