“Affinda has improved how we manage our documents. With so many different Proof of Delivery formats, their tool has the intelligence to learn and read the documents, making accurate determinations. What I love most is the simplicity— our warehouse teams can email invoices directly to an address, and the tool eliminates paper entirely. Customer satisfaction is always our top priority, and Affinda has helped us achieve that by eliminating phone calls, manual handling, and delays.
The solution is versatile too—we’ve recognised its potential beyond PODs, exploring use cases for invoices, customer service, and even credit card statements. Plus, the price was right; it wasn’t going to cost an arm and a leg, and the business case was strong thanks to the cost savings and efficiency gains. In an industry where no one wants to be the first to try something new, Affinda has proven its value —and word spreads fast.”
— Jorg Both, Head of Business Systems at Northline
About Northline
Northline is a leading Australian-owned global freight management and logistics business established in 1983. With a network spanning 13 depots across major cities and regional locations, Northline provides a full suite of logistics services, including road and rail freight, warehousing and distribution, and global freight forwarding. Renowned for its ability to handle complex logistics, Northline serves industries ranging from retail to mining, offering tailored solutions for seamless supply chain management.
Northline’s Unique Business Challenge & Requirements
In the transport and logistics sector, paper-based processes remain a persistent and costly challenge—especially for Proof of Delivery (POD) documentation. Manual handling, delayed approvals, and slow invoice settlement collectively erode efficiency and impact cash flow. While digital solutions like sign-on-glass exist, the reality is that a significant percentage of transport and warehousing transactions still rely on printed documents, particularly in regional areas where fully digital workflows are difficult to implement.
Northline faced significant challenges in processing high volumes of logistics documents, particularly POD documents and invoices. These issues stemmed from manual workflows and inconsistent processes across depots. Their existing system frequently struggled to deal with the scanned documents, leading to errors and increased turnaround times. Due to this, Northline required:
- A fast and accurate solution to process over 120,000 POD documents annually, eliminating errors due to poor quality and manual systems.
- A standardised approach to streamline workflows and improve document tracking across 13 depots.
- A way to reduce delays in processing PODs to minimise customer inquiries and improve real-time document availability.
- Automation of manual handling for invoices, PODs, credit notes, bank statements and more to lower administrative burdens and inefficiencies.
- An approach that eliminates the need to retain and store physical document copies, and improve internal document management for the support team
In addition to these requirements, Northline encountered barriers to adopting new technology. These included a reliance on existing systems and concerns about potential disruptions to established workflows. Integration challenges with current systems presented complexities, while apprehension among staff about changes to their roles added another layer of difficulty. These combined challenges highlighted the need for a tailored, low-risk solution that could address operational needs while ensuring smooth adoption.
The Solution
To tackle these challenges, Northline implemented Affinda’s AI-powered document automation solution, customised for the transport industry. The step-by-step process Northline had adopted the following step-by-step process:
- POD documents, along with any relevant attachments like invoices and delivery dockets, are scanned at the depot, either individually or in bulk
- The scanned PODs are sent to Affinda
- Affinda’s AI technology splits any documents sent in bulk into individual PODs with their respective attachments
- Affinda extracts the POD number from each document
- The system then validates the extracted POD number against Northline’s internal ERP system
- If the POD is found, the document is straight-through processed without any user intervention
- If the POD is not found, an operations team member reviews the data extraction within the Affinda app, updates, and confirms the extracted POD number.
- The validated POD is sent to Northline and automatically attached to the corresponding record in their system
This optimised process ensures efficient handling of high document volumes, significantly reduces errors due to manual handling, and integrates seamlessly with Northline’s unique system requirements. Affinda's AI solution’s scalability also enables the handling of other document types, such as invoices and credit notes, ensuring future adaptability.
Impact
- 82% of documents were successfully straight-through processed in the first few weeks of implementation, demonstrating Affinda's document AI platform’s efficiency and reliability.
- Automated document splitting, ensuring incoming files are processed individually and accurately routed to downstream platforms.
- Automatic validation of POD documents against Northline’s ERP system, achieving high accuracy in matching and processing.
- Automating POD workflows accelerated payments for both Northline and their customers, improving turnaround times and cash flow efficiency.
- Documents can now continue to be scanned in bulk with no impact on existing processes, now with faster, more accurate scanning results.
- Decentralised review and correction capabilities, enabling depots to improve document accuracy and turnaround times locally.
- Scalable functionality, allowing the AI technology to extend beyond PODs to handle other document types, such as invoices and credit notes.
- An end-to-end document management platform that enables real-time search and archiving capabilities, enabling Northline teams to easily track the progress of all PODs through their workflow.