Logistics and operations process automation
Logistics and operations process automation uses AI agents to run order intake, scheduling and back-office coordination end to end: reading every request, applying your rules, and raising only the exceptions that need a person. Softblues builds these systems in production, connected to the systems you already run, including older platforms.
Re-keying and scheduling, by hand, all day
Orders arrive by email, web form and attachment, then get re-keyed and scheduled by hand against a head full of rules. It is slow, error-prone, and it scales only by hiring. Reading every order, scheduling the routine automatically and raising only the exceptions is what stops the back office chasing the next step.
What can we automate?
Order intake, scheduling and coordination end to end, with a person on the exceptions.
Order and request intake
An agent reads orders from email, web forms and attachments, pulls out the details, and writes a clean, structured record into your system without re-keying.
- Reads email, web forms and attachments
- Pulls out the details
- Writes a clean record, no re-keying
Manage-by-exception scheduling
A rules engine schedules the routine bookings automatically and triages the rest with a GREEN, YELLOW, RED flag, so a person only touches the ones that need judgement.
- Routine bookings scheduled automatically
- The rest triaged GREEN, YELLOW, RED
- A person only on the ones that need judgement
Run sheets and coordination
Run sheets, confirmations and handovers generated from the schedule and pushed to the right people, so the back office stops chasing the next step.
- Run sheets and confirmations generated
- Pushed to the right people
- The back office stops chasing
Legacy-system integration
Connected to the order, planning and back-office systems you already run, including older platforms, with proper authentication and audit logging.
- Connected to older platforms
- Proper authentication
- Audit logging on every step
How we build an operations automation
Three steps, mapped to how your orders flow, connected to your systems, with a person on the exceptions.
Process Discovery
A short, paid engagement that maps how your orders flow from intake to a scheduled run sheet today.
- We map intake, scheduling and coordination
- We capture the rules behind the schedule
- You get a fixed-price plan with the payback line
The build
Built around the order and planning systems you already run, including older ones, with a rules engine doing the routine.
- Connected to your legacy systems
- A rules engine schedules the routine
- A person on the flagged exceptions
Run it
It goes live with monitoring and an SLA, so scheduling keeps working as volume grows.
- Evals and monitoring in place
- An SLA as volume grows
- Money back if the proof of concept fails
Where this has been designed
Discovery deliveredOrder-to-schedule (a secure-logistics operator)
Manage-by-exception scheduling: an intake agent plus a 70-plus-rule engine that schedules by exception with a GREEN, YELLOW, RED triage, integrated with the operator's legacy systems.
What does it cost?
Fixed price, quoted after a paid Process Discovery, with a payback line so you know when the investment returns. As a rule of thumb, a £20,000 build that saves £4,000 a month pays back in about five months.
Estimate your savingLogistics and operations automation: at a glance
- What
- AI agents that run order intake, scheduling and coordination end to end, in production.
- For
- Mid-market operations and logistics teams with high-volume manual order intake and scheduling.
- Capabilities
- Order and request intake, manage-by-exception scheduling, run sheets and coordination, legacy-system integration.
- How
- Paid Process Discovery, fixed-price build, then evals, monitoring and an SLA.
- Delivery
- Production in 90 days, fixed price, money back if the proof of concept fails.
- Proof
- Order-to-schedule discovery delivered with a secure-logistics operator (pilot designed); Softblues runs its own company on six Claude agents; 50+ AI projects delivered.
- Based in
- London-based, working with mid-market firms.
Common questions about logistics automation
Can you integrate with our legacy systems?
Yes. We connect to the order, planning and back-office systems you already run, including older platforms, through native connectors or a custom integration with proper authentication and audit logging. In the secure-logistics discovery the design integrated with the operator's existing legacy systems.
What is manage-by-exception?
The rules engine handles the routine bookings on its own and triages everything else with a GREEN, YELLOW, RED flag. GREEN runs automatically, YELLOW gets a quick check, RED goes to a person. Your team stops processing every order and spends its time only on the ones that need judgement.
Will this replace our coordinators?
No. It removes the re-keying and the routine scheduling, and keeps people on the exceptions and the decisions that need judgement. A person stays in the loop wherever the cost of a wrong booking is high.
How does the intake agent handle messy orders?
It reads orders from email, web forms, phone notes and attachments, pulls out the details, and writes a clean, structured record. Where an order is incomplete or unclear, it flags it for a person rather than guessing.
How long until it is live?
Production in 90 days is the standard. Discovery is short, typically one to two weeks; the build timeline is fixed in the discovery plan.
How do you keep our data secure?
Builds run with role-based access, audit logging and data handling built around ISO 27001 principles, on the platform you already trust. We are a registered partner across Anthropic, Google Cloud and Microsoft, so we meet you on your stack.
Scope your operations automation
Start with a paid Process Discovery. We map how your orders flow today and come back with a fixed-price build, connected to your systems, with a person on the exceptions.