From pre-alert to a finished lot, without the retyping.
The agents read the pre-alert and the bills, create the lot with its charge lines in the ocean TMS you already run, prepare the customs filing data as a draft, and match vendor invoices to the job’s charges, all from the documents that land in your inbox. Each lot goes to your team in a review email that shows every field, and a person files the customs filing.
Ocean import and export: the work, one job at a time.
Order Entry Agent
Reads the bills and the packing list and creates the lot or delivery order in your TMS, charge lines included.
- On its own
- Creates the record and sends it for review
- Goes to a person
- A party it cannot match, a document that contradicts another
- Status
- In production at a US import forwarder
Tracking Agent
Follows each shipment, tells the customer when something real changes, and sends the proof of delivery.
- On its own
- Sends status and documents for a booked shipment
- Goes to a person
- A late pickup, a cancellation on or after pickup day, a date change in your TMS without your reply
- Status
- In production at a US trucking agency and a US import forwarder
Finance Agent
Matches each line of a vendor invoice to the job’s charges and books the payable. It does not pay.
- On its own
- Books lines that match, for the vendors you have approved
- Goes to a person
- A line with no matching charge, a duplicate invoice number
- Status
- In production at a US import forwarder
Example panels with sample steps on illustrative footage. Not a live feed.
Why does one ocean import job take so much keying?
A single ocean import job throws off a stream of paperwork: the booking, the pre-alert, the master and house bills, the arrival notice, the charge invoices, each from one of the four or five vendors a typical ocean job touches. Today a person reads each one and types it into the TMS. That is the work the agents remove.
30 min → seconds
Lot creation, per shipment, across 25+ ocean import jobs a week.
25+ jobs a week
Lots created by the agent each week at one US import forwarder.
About two days a week
Team time back, every week, from removing the keying.
What is an ocean TMS, and what does it not do?
An ocean TMS is the system of record a forwarder runs for ocean shipments: the lot or job file, the parties, the containers, the milestones, and the charge lines that become the invoice. It holds the data and organizes it well. What it does not do is fill itself from your inbox. The pre-alert, the master and house bills, and the arrival notice arrive by email, and a person reads each one and keys it in. That gap is where the operator hours go, and closing it is the first job of the agents on this page. For the longer explanation of the gap itself, read what an ocean TMS does and does not see.
| The work | Your ocean TMS | The TIO agents |
|---|---|---|
| Reading the pre-alert and the bills | Not its job. A person reads them. | Reads the bills and packing list from the mailbox. |
| Matching the parties and references | A person looks each one up. | Matches them against your existing data. A party it cannot match goes to a person. |
| Creating the lot with charge lines | Accepts what is typed into it. | Creates the lot with its charge lines, then sends a review email that shows every field. |
| Drafting the importer security filing (ISF) | Out of scope for most systems. | Prepares the filing data as a draft. A licensed person on your team reviews and files it. TIO never files. |
| Catching a charge that does not match | Stores both numbers, compares neither. | Matches each invoice line to the job’s charges and lists the lines that do not match. |
| System of record | Yes. It stays the system of record. | No. Your TMS stays the system of record. The agent writes to it through an adapter, and agent writes are recorded. |
Which is why this is not a TMS migration. If your ocean TMS is working, keep it. If you are weighing the two, we wrote up whether to switch systems or add a layer to the one you run.
What do the ocean import agents actually do?
Lot created
Bill of lading and house bill in, a lot in your TMS out, charge lines included, with a review email that shows every field.
Filing data drafted
The filing data prepared from the worksheet and the bills as a draft, for a licensed person on your team to review and file. Due 24 hours before lading, with no room for a second pass.
Charges matched
The finance agent matches each line of the vendor invoice to the dozen or so charge lines on the job, books the lines that match for vendors you have approved, and lists any line that does not match. It does not pay.
Standing audit
Finished lots re-checked against their source documents on a schedule. Each difference is reported with its cause.
Where can I read more about ocean import automation?
See what an ocean TMS actually does and where the email layer is missing, or walk the full pre-alert to finished lot workflow. For the money side, read how the finance agent handles ocean import charge reconciliation, or work through whether your operation needs a new TMS or a layer on the one you run.
Common questions about ocean import automation
What is an ocean TMS?
An ocean TMS is the transportation management system a freight forwarder uses as the system of record for ocean shipments: the lot or job file, the parties, the containers, the milestones, and the charge lines that become the invoice. It stores and organizes shipment data. What it does not do is source that data. Someone still reads the pre-alert, the master and house bills, and the arrival notice, and types what they say into the record.
Does TIO replace my ocean TMS?
No. TIO is the layer between your inbox and the ocean TMS you already run, and your TMS stays the system of record. TIO works through an adapter built for your TMS, and adapters are in production for two TMS platforms. The agents read the documents that arrive by email, resolve them against your existing data, create the lot in that system, and send a review email that shows every field. For any other system, we first check what it lets an agent read and write.
What has to change in our workflow to run this?
The documents keep arriving in the same mailbox and your team keeps working in the same TMS. What changes is that an operator opens a created lot and its review email instead of a blank screen, and the review replaces the keying. Measured at a US import forwarder running the agents in production, lot creation went from about 30 minutes to seconds across 25+ jobs a week. When your team corrects an agent, TIO turns the correction into a rule for your operation.
Does the customs filing get submitted automatically?
No. TIO never files. The agent prepares the filing data from the worksheet and the bills as a draft, and a licensed person on your team reviews and files it. Liability sits with the filer of record registered with CBP. Software cannot hold a filer code, so a person files.
What happens when the documents disagree?
The agent stops and sends the question to a person rather than guessing. When an arrival packet holds two master bills, it sends a question instead of merging them, because one master bill is one job and a quiet merge is the error nobody catches until billing. When the house bill and the worksheet disagree about the consolidator, the agent flags the conflict in the review email and leaves the decision to a person.
See it on your own shipments.
Bring a real document and watch an agent take it to a finished draft while you’re on the call.
Book a demo