Packing list tool

"There has to be a better way to get every HS code on these packing lists."

The problem

Manually copy pasting POs and SOs, copying every unique HS code, putting it in the correct form as required by the customer. It can take up a lot of time and it is easy to overlook an HS code. I wanted to know if I could find a solution for this.

The search

I started with a prompt in Copilot and eventually made a Copilot agent to get the data in the correct form. I could just drop the file in a blank chat and, after a few moments, I usually got the correct output.

But the filename of the packing lists is always the same and sometimes the agent would give me the output from a previous packing list in an earlier chat. I'm also not keen on the idea of relying on external AI for my job. I should not have to go back to doing this manually if I have no internet connection or if there is a Copilot outage. Besides that, I do not like the idea of not knowing exactly what happens with the data, even though Microsoft guarantees enterprise data protection.

The script

With the help of AI, I created a tool that watches a drop folder. When I drop a packing list in the folder, the script finds the details and puts them in the correct form. It clearly states in the output if some required information is missing in the packing list. In this version I also added the full B/L instructions to the output based on country-specific order number prefixes. For example, if a House B/L is needed, both MBL and HBL parties are shown.

The result

Creating goods descriptions takes just seconds and 99% of the draft B/Ls are approved without amendments.

Next up: making it easy to update and add parties to the script. I do not know how yet :).