How to automate order entry
For as long as there’s been email, there've been operators manually entering order details into siloed systems. While seemingly a simple task, when you combine volume with un-standardized data, creating loads in your TMS and ERP can quickly snowball into a costly, inefficient, and error-prone process — forcing teams to scale headcount to keep up with demand.
With Parabola, you can streamline your order entry process by automatically ingesting emails and attachments, using AI to extract key details, and mapping data to a standardized import template. The structured file can then be posted to your TMS or ERP via API or CSV upload, reducing manual work and ensuring accurate, real-time load creation.
Video overview
Why Parabola
The value Parabola has added to internal reporting and preparing workflows at Flexport is huge. We've seen such a dramatic reduction in our cost to serve since implementing, and Parabola has been a key partner in our quest to reduce cost to serve and performance transparency.
Freight order entry automation refers to the process of extracting key shipment details from emails, PDFs, or spreadsheets and structuring them for direct import into a TMS or ERP. This eliminates manual data entry and ensures accurate, timely creation of new freight loads or orders.
- Use the Pull from inbound email step to extract order details from emails and PDFs.
- Once your email data is pulled in, use the Extract with AI step to parse key fields such as pickup/delivery addresses, weight, and mode.
- Standardize and clean data using steps like Edit Columns, Standardize with AI, and Format dates to match your TMS/ERP format.
- Send the structured data to your TMS/ERP using steps like Send to API for real-time order creation or Generate CSV file for batch uploads.
- Provide example values and fine-tuning to your Extract with AI step to improve extraction accuracy.
- Implement validation rules using Add If/Else Column to flag missing or incorrect data before pushing to your TMS.
- Automate error notifications with the Email a file attachment step to alert teams of incomplete or failed order entries.
- To start building your freight order entry Flow, use the Template above and check out Parabola University lesson on pulling data from emails.
- Learn more about how to set up an auto-forwarding rule in Parabola here.
