Shipping 101: Start With Electronic Signature Capture

This past summer, a large northeast manufacturer with several warehouses throughout the region and plans to add a few more by year's end, was experiencing growing pains with its paper BOL (bill of lading) process.

As problems arose with shipping issues, claims and other processes, and these paper documents needed to be retrieved to provide answers, this antiquated, paper-intensive system was proving to be increasingly inefficient – and thus a potential deterrent to business.

“As we were growing so quickly, our old school process was suddenly exposed as being a major problem to further growth,” said the company's COO.

Productivity was thwarted, and extra staff had to be hired at each location simply to facilitate this paper dilemma.

Not Uncommon

In today's age of “need it now” expectations – a must to stay competitive – many businesses are facing these issues of streamlining any and all aspects of operations from paper to electronic.

Especially Electronic Signature Capture.

Like the aforementioned manufacturer, these types of companies have multiple locations which take signature on paper BOLs, then placed in a cabinet, or scanned into some form of image capture system.

But this takes time, and it's not centralized for all locations.

A Simple Solution

Thus, the Electronic Signature Capture is really a no-brainer.

What this does is exactly as it sounds. Upon completion of the Electronic Signature Capture, it's automatically reconciled with the BOL and then transmitted to a central shipping database for all in the company to access instantaneously.

Problem with a shipment to Orlando and your hub is more than 400 miles away in Atlanta? No problem!

With Electronic Signature Capture, the BOL is located immediately to process any claim or other issue. All shipping documentation – including the vaunted recipient signature – is consolidated and centralized for any back office user, at any location, to quickly retrieve without spending hours trying to communicate with a warehouse for faxed copies.

All it takes is one person and just a few minutes of time – if that. Which is exactly what happened with this manufacturer mentioned above.

“We were amazed at the ease at which this application was installed into our system, and how operation's overall efficiency has increased ten-fold,” added the COO. “We couldn't be more thrilled.'

A leading company which provides this type of service is SmartBOL, a New Jersey-based company which has developed state-of-the-art shipping software for both Windows and Internet applications.

“Often the last thing a growing company will think of when it comes to growth is how to best handle shipping documentation,” said SmartBOL President Abhay Raut. “They usually come to us when they're mired in paper flow and gross inefficiencies. Systems like ours automatically take an electronic signature and reconcile it with all associated BOLs, orders and otherwise.

“It's a system that pays for itself almost immediately.” And isn't that something every business wants to hear?


About SmartBOL
SmartBOL shipping software products and services are used by shippers, freight carriers, and third party logistics (3PL) companies. SmartBOL delivers exceptional high quality service with great emphasis on customer care. Low overhead and efficient operation gives SmartBOL a competitive edge in pricing and performance. With years of experience developing client-server and web-enabled software systems, SmartBOL provides a core of expertise you can rely on. SmartBOL services are on demand, on time and on budget. Visit SmartBOL Online.