AI Operators · Use cases
AI Operators detect shipment exceptions, coordinate the next action across teams, carriers and customers, update connected systems and escalate decisions under your rules.
Explore your workflowYour SOPs. Your systems. Your team in control.
The operational opportunity
An exception is not resolved when an alert reaches an inbox. An operator still needs to identify the shipment, understand what changed, reconstruct the operational context, contact the right parties, present the available options and keep following the case until the systems and people agree on the outcome.
Shipflow’s Exception Management AI Operators connect that work into configurable playbooks. They can monitor agreed notices, deadlines, documents and status changes; classify the event against the relevant shipment; collect the evidence; and coordinate approved next actions through email and supported phone workflows. Each action remains bounded by your customer, carrier, branch and mode-specific policies.
Routine cases can progress through the defined steps. Commercial decisions, unclear information, policy thresholds and high-risk actions go to the responsible person with the shipment reference, detected issue, communication history, available options and next decision required. The goal is faster, more consistent handling without removing operational judgment.
Detection, communication and resolution authority depend on the connected data sources and the playbook configured for each exception. A detected issue, a proposed action and a confirmed resolution are separate milestones and are recorded separately.
How it works
A roll affects more than the sailing date. The operator reconstructs the shipment stage and coordinates the customer, carrier and system actions that follow.
Read the agreed carrier email or schedule event, identify the shipment and distinguish a booking-stage roll from a roll after shipping order release or SI submission. Preserve the original notice as evidence.
Compare the revised ETD, ETA, route, shipping-instruction cutoff and other relevant milestones with the current plan. Surface potential freight-charge impact and apply the customer-specific handling policy, including the agreed treatment of NAC or FAK business and incoterms.
Prepare or send the approved update to the shipper, consignee or internal owner. Explain the revised schedule, material cost difference and available next actions—such as waiting for the next sailing or reviewing an alternative carrier—without presenting an unavailable option as confirmed.
When the customer or responsible operator selects an option, perform the permitted rebooking or follow-up steps, capture the latest shipping order and cutoff information, update the TMS and documents, and send the configured confirmation. Constrained cases remain with the team.
Output: The selected response is executed within policy and the revised shipment plan is reflected in the relevant systems and communications.
The operator works ahead of the cutoff, then switches to a recovery playbook when required information is still missing or late.
Monitor the carrier cutoff associated with the shipment and calculate the reminder schedule defined by your SOP—for example, one day and a configurable number of hours before the deadline.
Send the approved reminder to the shipper through email and, where configured, a supported phone workflow. Connect each reply and attachment to the correct shipment rather than treating it as an isolated message.
Extract the agreed SI fields, check them against the shipment and document rules, and request correction when information is missing or inconsistent. A document that was received is not treated as ready until the configured checks pass.
Submit through the supported carrier channel when the instruction is complete and the action is authorized. If the cutoff is missed, request an extension or late-SI approval, surface possible late fees and roll risk, and route the decision to the responsible operator when required.
Output: The SI is validated and submitted through the agreed channel, or the recovery case reaches the right person with the deadline, risk and carrier response attached.
Common exception scenarios
Each playbook connects the operational risk to the information, communication and next action needed to move the shipment forward.
Human control
Getting started
Choose the first exception types and bring representative carrier notices, documents and difficult cases. For each one, define the trigger, evidence, severity, permitted actions, completion condition and conditions that require immediate escalation.
Document the customer- and carrier-specific handling rules, tolerance windows, approval thresholds and approved message templates. Name the owner for commercial, operational, customs and customer decisions so every handoff has a destination.
Identify the inboxes, carrier sources, milestone data and TMS fields needed by the playbook. Define the source of truth and preserve the original notice, actions taken, approvals and final outcome as an auditable case history.
Measure the complete exception lifecycle—from detection through customer communication, operational action and confirmed closure. Separate cases resolved within the configured playbook from cases that correctly required judgment.
Common questions
An alert tells the team that something may be wrong. Exception automation connects detection to the next work: identifying the shipment, assembling evidence, following the relevant playbook, coordinating the parties, updating systems and escalating decisions until the case reaches a defined outcome.
It can execute a rebooking step only when the available options, carrier channel, customer policy and authority are explicitly configured. If the action is constrained—for example after SI submission—or the commercial impact requires approval, the operator presents the case and waits for the responsible person.
Yes, through the approved email and supported phone workflows included in the deployment. Your team defines the recipients, message rules, contact hours, approval requirements and information that may be shared.
Yes. Playbooks can account for customer tolerance, carrier policy, lane, mode, incoterm, service level and commercial handling. The shared workflow remains consistent while the permitted options and escalation thresholds reflect the relevant account.
No. This page uses Ocean examples because space rolls, SI cutoffs, VGM and container free time make the workflow concrete. The same operating model—detect, understand, coordinate, act and escalate—can be configured for Air and Road exceptions.
The workflow records the source event, shipment context, communications, actions, approvals and resolution status. Permissions and thresholds determine which steps can proceed and which require human review.
No. It removes repetitive monitoring and coordination from defined cases while keeping policy changes, ambiguous situations, commercial decisions and high-risk actions with the responsible people.
Start with one workflow
Map the inputs, decisions and systems with Shipflow. Define a useful first deployment with clear boundaries and measurable outcomes.
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