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Tell us which logistics data processes consume the most manual team time. We'll map the automation opportunity and give you a fixed cost.
Operations team spending hours per day re-entering shipment data between your TMS and carrier systems?
Carrier invoice reconciliation taking days each month because someone has to compare line by line?
RPA in Logistics
Logistics operations depend on data moving accurately and quickly between carriers, customers, warehouses, and internal systems. Shipment booking, tracking status updates, customs documentation, carrier invoice reconciliation, and delivery exception handling -- these are structured, rule-based workflows that consume significant operations team time.
We build robotic process automation systems that handle these workflows automatically -- so your logistics operations team focuses on exception management, carrier relationships, and customer service rather than data re-entry between systems.
Shipment booking, tracking updates, and delivery confirmation automation
Carrier invoice reconciliation against contracted rates -- catch billing errors automatically
Customs documentation generation and compliance check automation
Integration with TMS, WMS, ERP, and carrier APIs (FedEx, UPS, DHL, freight forwarders)
RaftLabs builds robotic process automation systems for logistics businesses -- automating shipment booking, real-time tracking status updates, carrier invoice reconciliation, customs documentation generation, and delivery exception workflows. Logistics RPA connects TMS, WMS, ERP, and carrier APIs so data flows automatically without manual re-entry between systems. Most logistics RPA projects deliver in 6--12 weeks at a fixed cost.
Logistics data moves constantly. Manual re-entry slows it down and creates errors.
A tracking status that has to be pulled from a carrier portal and re-entered in your TMS three times a day is a task a bot can do every 15 minutes with no errors. A carrier invoice that takes two days of reconciliation because someone has to compare it line by line against contracted rates is a task automation can complete in minutes and flag only the discrepancies.
Logistics RPA doesn't make judgment calls. It handles the structured data processing that surrounds them.
Logistics processes we automate
Shipment booking automation
Automated shipment booking across multiple carriers: bots receive booking requests from your TMS or order management system, select the appropriate carrier based on your routing rules, submit the booking via carrier API or portal, and return tracking numbers and label data. Eliminates manual carrier portal logins and reduces booking cycle time from hours to minutes.
Tracking status synchronisation
Automated tracking status pulls from carrier APIs on a defined schedule -- every 15, 30, or 60 minutes depending on shipment stage. Status updates pushed to your TMS, WMS, and customer-facing tracking portals. Exception detection: bots identify delivery failures, delays, and address issues and trigger defined exception handling workflows. Your tracking data is always current without staff having to check portals manually.
Carrier invoice reconciliation
Automated three-way match: carrier invoice, contracted rate card, and shipment data. Bots extract invoice line items, match them against the rate card for the shipment type and zone, flag billing errors (accessorial charges not in contract, incorrect zone classification, duplicate charges), and approve matched invoices for payment. Carrier invoice reconciliation that catches overbilling before payment without requiring staff to review every line.
Customs documentation generation
Automated generation of customs declarations, commercial invoices, packing lists, and certificates of origin from shipment data. Bots extract product details, HS codes, values, and origin information from your order and product systems, populate documentation templates, and produce compliant documents for each destination country. Flagging for compliance review on complex or restricted shipments.
Delivery exception handling
Automated detection and handling of delivery exceptions -- failed delivery attempts, address correction requests, customs holds, and damage notifications. Bots detect the exception from carrier tracking, classify it, trigger the appropriate response (customer notification, re-delivery booking, return processing), and update the relevant systems. Exception resolution that currently requires staff review and multi-system data entry runs automatically for standard exception types.
Warehouse and inventory data sync
Automated data synchronisation between WMS, TMS, and ERP: inbound receipt confirmation, inventory availability updates, outbound pick and pack confirmation, and shipment despatch notification. Bots keep the systems aligned without manual reconciliation sessions. For 3PLs managing multiple clients, automated client reporting generated from WMS data.
Logistics automation built around your carrier mix and system stack
We map your highest-volume data processes and automate the structured ones. Fixed cost delivery.
How we build logistics RPA
Carrier integration design
Logistics automation is carrier integration. We design the integration architecture for your specific carrier mix -- API integrations for carriers with modern developer programmes, UI automation for portal-only carriers, EDI for freight partners. Multi-carrier environments use a unified abstraction layer so adding a new carrier doesn't require rebuilding the automation.
Business rules configuration
Logistics automation depends on business rules: carrier selection rules, routing logic, rate card structures, exception handling escalation paths, and compliance requirements by lane. We document your existing rules during scoping and implement them in the automation -- not a generic automation that your team then has to configure around.
Exception handling and escalation
Every logistics process has exceptions: a carrier API returns an error, a tracking status can't be parsed, an invoice has a charge category not in the rate card. We design exception handling into every automation -- the bot identifies and logs the exception with context, and escalates to the appropriate team member. Automation handles the standard cases; your team handles the genuine exceptions.
Performance and accuracy monitoring
Automation dashboards showing throughput, error rates, exception rates, and processing time per workflow. Alerting when error rates increase or a process falls behind schedule. Carrier reconciliation reporting showing overbilling recovered over time. The monitoring layer that gives your operations team visibility into automation performance.
Logistics operations that scale without proportional headcount
Automate the structured data processing. Your team handles exceptions and relationships.
Related services
Business Process Automation -- broader workflow automation
RPA Services -- robotic process automation overview
Supply Chain Software Development -- supply chain platforms
Invoice Processing Automation -- accounts payable automation
AI Document Intelligence -- document processing with AI
Frequently asked questions
The best RPA candidates in logistics are high-volume, rule-based data processes: (1) Shipment booking -- bots create shipment records in your TMS, submit booking requests to carrier APIs, and return tracking numbers without staff having to log into carrier portals. (2) Tracking status updates -- bots pull tracking status from carrier APIs on a schedule and update your TMS, WMS, and customer notification systems. (3) Carrier invoice reconciliation -- bots compare carrier invoices against contracted rates and shipment records, flagging billing errors for accounts payable review. (4) Customs documentation -- bots generate customs declarations, commercial invoices, and packing lists from shipment data. (5) Delivery exception handling -- bots detect failed deliveries, trigger customer notification workflows, and create re-delivery or return-to-sender tasks based on exception type. (6) POD collection -- bots retrieve proof of delivery documents from carrier portals and attach them to shipment records.
Integration depends on what each carrier exposes. For major carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL, USPS), we integrate via their published APIs -- booking, tracking, label generation, and rate queries are available programmatically. For carriers or freight forwarders without modern APIs, we use UI automation (bots interact with web portals as a user would) or EDI integration where the carrier supports it. For your internal systems (TMS, WMS, ERP), we integrate via API where available or database integration for on-premise systems. Multi-carrier environments -- common in 3PL and freight forwarding -- are handled with carrier-specific adapters behind a unified automation layer.
Yes, for standard customs documentation scenarios. Bots generate customs declarations, commercial invoices, and packing lists by extracting data from your shipment records -- product descriptions, HS codes, values, quantities, shipper/consignee details, and country-of-origin information. For straightforward B2B commercial shipments, the documentation is largely template-based and fully automatable. For complex shipments (restricted commodities, special regimes, multi-origin consignments), the bot generates the draft and flags the shipment for compliance review before submission. We design the automation around your shipment profile and the specific countries and commodities you work with.
A focused logistics RPA system -- one process automated (e.g., multi-carrier tracking update automation or carrier invoice reconciliation) -- typically runs $15,000--$40,000. A broader logistics automation programme covering booking, tracking, reconciliation, and exception handling across multiple carriers and systems runs $40,000--$100,000. Cost depends on the number of carriers and systems to integrate, the complexity of the business rules, and the volume of exception handling logic required. We scope every project before pricing it.