Fast BOL submission with the Scanbot Document Scanner SDK

Goal

ArcBest wants to enable its drivers on the road to conveniently forward digital copies of documents like Bills of Lading to the headquarters.

Challenge

To make the physical transfer of documents by drivers obsolete, ArcBest needs a mobile scanning solution that easily integrates with its internal app, produces top-notch results, and operates offline to enable usage on the road, even in rural areas.

Solution

With the Scanbot SDK, ArcBest Technologies was able to create a digital workflow for transferring documents, significantly reducing processing time and eliminating the effort invested into the physical delivery to the headquarters.


Key Results

Offline operation

Perfectly suited for work on the road.

Intuitive UX

Precise document scanning functionalities that are easy to use.

Real-time data access

Up-to-date data. Whenever, wherever.

How ArcBest Technologies cut document transmission time by up to 9 hours with the Scanbot SDK

The ArcBest subsidiary ABF Freight offers an industry-leading LTL network. ABF Freight city drivers pick up numerous shipments from a range of customers every day. This means a large number of Bills of Lading (BOLs), which must be submitted to headquarters daily to manage pickups correctly. An outdated transmission process required the drivers to travel to headquarters to physically submit the paper BOLs. This slowed workflows significantly – a major hurdle for planning outbound loads.

To streamline document transmission, ArcBest Technologies sought a Document Scanner SDK that they could easily integrate into their internal iOS and Android applications, which are based on Xamarin.

To support companies in a wide range of industries, Scanbot offers adaptable document scanning functionalities that are easy to use, produce perfect results, and guarantee maximum data privacy. In years of working with companies from different industries, our experts have gained deep insights into best practices and requirements for streamlining document transmission. Developers can efficiently integrate the component – and customize the UI to match corporate design – within just one working week.

By integrating Scanbot’s document scanning features, ArcBest Technologies accelerated its document transmission workflow significantly. Flawless, on-the-go BOL scans save its drivers and back-office staff time and effort.

After integrating Scanbot SDK into ABF’s proprietary pickup & delivery app, the quality of the images has greatly improved. This will provide ABF access to valuable information about the customer’s shipments hours earlier than the prior procedure by allowing the billing process to start shortly after the freight is picked up.

Lee Easley Director Information Technology

BOL submission process: Prior and after integrating the Scanbot Document Scanner SDK

Process before the Scanbot SDK

  1. A driver picks up freight from a shipper and receives a paper Bill of Lading.

  2. After finishing all pickups of the day, the driver delivers all BOLs to the service center.

  3. Here, the hardcopy BOLs are digitized with a hardware scanner.

  4. Finally, the scans are sent to the data input personnel for further processing.

Process with the Scanbot SDK

  1. A driver picks up freight from a shipper and receives a paper BOL.

  2. Now, they can immediately scan the BOL with the in-house app that includes the Scanbot document scanning functionality. The backend software can now process the scanning result straight away.

  3. The results are then presented to the data processing personnel.

With its user guidance feature, image-enhancing filters, automatic rotation, and cropping, the Scanbot SDK is the ideal foundation for streamlined mobile document scanning. It was a perfect match for ArcBest Technologies’ specific requirements.

 

Now, document submission takes just a few seconds and incorporates the drivers into a seamless digital workflow. Accurate scan results enable essential data to be available to other applications much sooner. As such, they are fundamental to ArcBest’s efforts to provide best-in-class service.

By integrating the Scanbot Document Scanner SDK, ArcBest Technologies was able to:

  • Shorten document submission times by 4-9 hours.

  • Enable its drivers to create flawless digital copies of BOLs on the go.

  • Make freight shipping information available in real-time.