Taming the email monster

Anyone who works on the customer service end of a logistics business can attest to the challenges of email overload, particularly when work gets busy. Yet because of the nature of the job, these professionals can’t afford to miss a single message or take their own sweet time responding. 

A Connecticut logistics service provider recently found a way to ease its service team’s load, adopting a robotic process automation (RPA) system that's designed for the specific needs of logistics operations. Danbury, Connecticut-based Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp. had previously evaluated other RPA solutions for its customer service operations but couldn’t find a platform that was tailored to supply chain industry needs. That changed when Odyssey found RPA Labs, a Colorado-based company that says its product combines artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and a built-in language library of logistics terminology and can answer any logistics inquiry in seconds. RPA Labs also says its email automation solution, RPA Engage, integrates seamlessly with any email, transportation management system (TMS), or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and can be implemented in weeks.

Odyssey now uses the solution to automatically handle the thousands of emails it receives every month from customers requesting shipment-tracking data. The logistics firm says that new approach helps its customer service teams avoid time-consuming manual work and says it plans to use the technology for additional tasks in the future.

“Automating tracking requests is really just the tip of the iceberg for Odyssey,” Robert Boyle, vice president of Odyssey’s North American business unit, said in a release. “We’re excited to start looking at how we can automate other customer inquiries like quote requests, shipment planning status, and more.”