Five days to arrival and the pack is incomplete
The vessel is due in five days. Your broker emails to say they need the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading to prepare the entry, and one product line needs a certificate of origin. You have the commercial invoice, but the quantities do not match the packing list. The certificate is 'being prepared' according to the factory's sales contact, who is now offline for the night because of the time difference.
Over the next few days, someone in your office sends emails at eleven at night and six in the morning, forwards attachments between supplier, forwarder and broker, and hopes nothing is still missing when the container lands.
Why documents are always the last thing
Each shipment needs a set of documents that depends on the goods, the route and what your broker asks for. That list is not written down per shipment, so nobody knows it is incomplete until someone downstream asks. Suppliers send documents by email in whatever order they finish them, often with filenames that say nothing. And no one checks whether the invoice, packing list and PO agree until a problem surfaces.
| Document | Common problem |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | Values or quantities differ from the PO |
| Packing list | Carton counts do not match the invoice |
| Bill of lading | Sent late or with wrong consignee details |
| Certificate of origin | Requested late, issued late |
| Product certificates or test reports | Old versions, or for a different product |
Which documents your shipments need is for your broker and forwarder to tell you. The problem this article is about is collecting them on time once you know.
What late paperwork costs
Clearance can be held while documents are found or corrected, and containers sitting at the port start to cost money once free days run out. Staff work odd hours to catch suppliers in their time zone. Mismatched documents create queries from your broker, which take more rounds of email. And stock that should be on the shelf is at the port, while customers wait.
The document tracker we build
- Each shipment gets a document checklist, built from templates you and your broker agree for each supplier and product type.
- When a shipment is booked, the tracker emails each supplier a request with a secure upload link, listing exactly which documents are needed and by when.
- Uploaded documents are read by an extraction step that pulls out quantities, values, carton counts and references, and compares them with the purchase order and with each other.
- Mismatches are flagged for your team to raise with the supplier before anything is sent on.
- Reminders go to suppliers automatically as the deadline approaches, timed for their working day.
- Once the checklist is complete and checked, the pack is sent to your forwarder and broker in one go, and filed against the shipment.
- One place to see which shipments have missing documents.
- A history of which suppliers are reliable with paperwork.
- Documents filed per shipment for later reference.
How arrival week feels after
Most shipments have a complete, checked document pack before the vessel is close to port. Mismatches are fixed with the supplier while there is still time. Your broker gets everything in one email. And your team stops working around the clock to catch suppliers online.
Is this your arrival week?
- Documents are chased in the last few days before arrival.
- Your broker regularly asks for missing paperwork.
- Invoice and packing list quantities do not match.
- Staff email suppliers late at night to catch them.
- Containers wait at port while documents are sorted.