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Automatic Document Categorization

Clockwork can automatically suggest the document type for files you attach to a shipment, consolidation, declaration, or other workflow—so you spend less time opening every attachment and picking types by hand.

Written by Product Support

What it does

Clockwork can automatically suggest the document type for files you attach to a shipment, consolidation, declaration, or other workflow—so you spend less time opening every attachment and picking types by hand. Suggestions are based on the text inside the file and signals like the filename, using a model trained on logistics documents.

Suggestions are assistive only: you stay in control of what gets filed. Change the category if you’d like.

Document types we start with

These are the categories the model is built to recognize first. They align with common forwarding document types. Over time we will add more types or refine accuracy; the list below is the initial set.

Suggested Categories

  • Commercial Invoice

  • House Bill of Lading

  • Master Bill of Lading

  • Packing List

  • Proof of Delivery

  • Arrival Notice

  • ISF

  • Pre Alert

  • Booking Confirmation

  • Certificate of Origin

What happens behind the scenes

  1. Your email lands in Clockwork and attachments are linked to the work item.

  2. Clockwork extracts readable text from each attachment.

  3. That text (and context such as the filename) is run through our document classifier.

  4. When the model is confident enough, Clockwork maps the prediction to your organization’s document types and pre-selects the matching type in the upload UI.

  5. While classification is still running, you may see “Detecting document type…” next to the document type field. When it finishes, the suggested type appears automatically if a confident match was found.

If the document doesn’t clearly match one of the supported types, or the model isn’t confident, no type is auto-selected—you choose it manually, same as today.

If the suggested type is wrong

  1. Open the document type control for that file (the same dropdown you already use when uploading).

  2. Select the correct type. Changing the selection replaces the automatic suggestion; what you submit is what gets used when the document is filed.

  3. Submit or continue your workflow as usual.

You do not need a separate “override” action—picking the right type is the override.

Tips

  • Review suggestions before you submit, especially for unfamiliar or poor-quality scans.

  • If nothing was suggested, pick the type manually; that’s expected for unsupported document kinds or borderline cases.

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