Descartes Systems Group has introduced new AI‑powered Image Document Management tools to help customs brokers, freight forwarders and logistics providers speed up customs entry work and shipment processing.
The new tools use logistics‑trained AI inside Descartes’ existing customs and transportation applications. The system can read commercial invoices, bills of lading, packing lists and other trade documents, then extract and prepare the data needed to start customs and transportation workflows.
Scott Sangster, general manager for logistics service providers at Descartes, said entering invoice data is one of the most time‑consuming parts of the import process.
“Rather than simply digitizing individual documents, our agentic IDM solution interprets commercial invoices, bills of lading, packing lists and related shipment documents in context. It can extract, validate and prepare data that can immediately begin customs and transportation workflows with significantly fewer exceptions and manual corrections. By eliminating repetitive rekeying from multiple documents while remaining within existing Descartes applications, organizations can process higher shipment volumes with greater consistency and significantly less manual effort,” he said.
The AI tools work within Descartes’ Global Logistics Network and do not require separate applications or integrations. The system can handle multiple document types for the same shipment and helps reduce exceptions and rework.
The company says the new capabilities give logistics operators less manual data entry, faster customs entry preparation, more consistent processing across shipment documents and the ability to scale document handling without adding staff.
Ken Wood, executive vice‑president of product management at Descartes, said the goal is to help customers automate one of the most manual parts of customs and logistics operations by using AI that understands the logistics context of each document.
“While document processing remains one of the largest sources of manual effort in customs brokerage and logistics operations, most customers aren’t looking for another separate AI application to manage documents,” he said. “With our solution, customers can automate one of the most time-consuming aspects of customs and logistics operations through agentic capabilities that are embedded within the Descartes platform they rely on every day.
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