How to reduce risks with an electronic bill of lading.
Learn how switching to digital bills of lading can make shipping operations faster, safer, and more economical.
Bills of lading are cornerstones of supply chains. They are contracts between the supplier of goods and the carrier transporting them. A bill of lading defines the type, quantity, and destination of the delivered goods. It also serves as a shipment receipt.
Processing bills of lading manually is costly and prone to errors. Switching to an electronic bill of lading can help businesses reduce shipping risks.
What is a digital bill of lading?
A digital bill of lading is an electronic version of a traditional paper document. Suppliers generally distribute them as PDF files. PDFs are the standard digital business document format.
How a digital bill of lading reduces risk.
Digital bills of lading can make shipping less risky in multiple ways, including:
- Accessibility: You can access digital PDFs on any device, from computers to mobile devices, and instantly share them to ensure timely exchange of information.
- Data accuracy. You can annotate or edit a digital bill of lading at any time. This reduces the potential for human error and allows you to stay up to date with changing situations.
- Data security. It’s easy to protect confidential digital bills of lading with passwords to ensure only authorized people can open them.
- Cost reduction. There’s no need to waste money on paper, ink, and postage with digital PDFs. As a result, businesses can save money and invest it in further improvements to operations.
- Faster document processing. With instant transmission and automated data capture, electronic bills of lading enable quicker processing times, reducing the risk of delays or errors associated with traditional paper-based systems.
How to convert to an electronic bill of lading.
By converting your existing system to a digital bill, you can streamline your operations, enhance data accuracy, and reduce risks associated with traditional paper-based systems. Let’s explore the essential actions you need to take:
- Assess your current system. Evaluate your existing paper-based bill of lading process to understand its strengths, weaknesses, and pain points.
- Research electronic solutions. Explore different electronic bill of lading software providers to find a solution that aligns with your business requirements.
- Customize and integrate the solution. Work with the chosen provider to customize the software and ensure quick and easy integration with your existing systems.
- Train employees. Conduct comprehensive training sessions to ensure your team is proficient in utilizing the new electronic bill of lading system.
- Establish data security protocols. Develop robust data security measures to protect confidential information within the digital bill of lading.
How to keep digital bills of lading secure.
- Implement strong access controls. Restrict access to authorized personnel through secure usernames, strong passwords, and consider multifactor authentication.
- Encrypt your digital bill of lading. Use encryption algorithms to protect data during transmission and storage, ensuring that encryption keys are securely stored and accessible only to authorized individuals.
- Ensure secure transmission. Utilize secure communication channels like SFTP or secure email gateways to send electronic bills of lading, avoiding unsecured channels.
- Maintain document integrity. Use digital signatures or cryptographic hash functions to verify the integrity of the digital bill of lading, ensuring it remains unaltered during transmission and storage.
- Educate employees. Provide training on security best practices, including recognizing phishing attempts, handling sensitive information, and promoting a security-conscious culture.
- Learn how to secure a PDF. Familiarize yourself with the tools and techniques for securing PDF files, such as applying password protection, restricting editing and printing permissions, and utilizing digital signatures for document authenticity and integrity.
Easily create an electronic bill of lading PDF.
Businesses often have text editing software templates for bills of lading. You can convert these templates to PDFs with online tools, such as Adobe Acrobat online services. Simply navigate to the PDF converter tool and upload your file to convert it.
You can also comment and mark up digital bills of lading, get electronic signatures, protect them, and more.
Explore everything you can do with Acrobat online services today.
