No Horn · Booking and RFQ

The RFQ you didn't get to, went to someone else.

Let's see how a typical day looks: a human at the desk on one side, an AI agent on the other.

The email lands

Meera · Pune Auto Components · Thu 09:12

RE: FW: Rates needed — export dispatches last week of Aug + urgent air

Deepak, as discussed on call — need your best rates on the below by tomorrow morning latest, customer is pushing. The two Rotterdam boxes must gate in before cutoff so note cargo ready 22 Aug at our Pune plant. Also see attached packing list for the Chicago shipment, dims are in there, it is urgent — airline space this week if possible. And quote the pre-carriage from the plant to Nhava Sheva as well, one 32 ft SXL should do.

Rgds, Meera

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Purchase desk · Sub: Quote request — August dispatches

1) 2 x 40HC Nhava Sheva to Rotterdam — auto components, approx 21 MT per box, cargo ready 22/08

2) 1 x 20ft Nhava Sheva to Jebel Ali — ready 25/08

3) Air Delhi to Chicago 480 kg / 3.2 CBM — URGENT, dims per attachment

Pls advise all-in rates incl THC + BL charges.

1 attachment · packing-list-chicago.xlsx

This is one of [STAT: RFQ emails per day] that hit the desk this morning.

One email, four shipments

1. Ocean FCL · 2 × 40'HC — Nhava Sheva to Rotterdam, ready 22 Aug, ~21 MT / container
Pulled from: equipment, route, weight (forwarded thread) · ready date (email body)
2. Ocean FCL · 1 × 20' — Nhava Sheva to Jebel Ali, ready 25 Aug
Pulled from: everything (forwarded thread)
3. Air · 480 kg — Delhi to Chicago, ready This week, 3.2 CBM, urgent
Pulled from: weight, volume, route (forwarded thread) · dimensions (attachment) · urgency (email body)
4. Domestic FTL · 32 ft SXL — Pune to Nhava Sheva CFS, ready Before 22 Aug
Pulled from: everything (email body)

Shipment 4 is a leg of shipment 1, not a fifth booking.

It reads like a separate request — it sits in the covering note, not the numbered list. It is the pre-carriage for the Rotterdam boxes. Splitting is a judgement task, not a parsing task.

The race

Same input, same day, two timelines.

Your desk

09:12 — Email arrives; it is one of many unread, several are RFQs.
09:40 — Opened, thread read, attachment downloaded.
10:05 — Realises this is four shipments, not one; starts a new Excel sheet.
10:20 — Pulls up the rate sheet; last updated 4 Aug; nothing on Delhi → Chicago air.
10:35 — WhatsApps two co-loaders for the air rate.
11:50 — One replies; the other does not.
14:00 — Carrier portal for Nhava Sheva → Rotterdam; THC has changed since the last quote.
16:30 — Assembles the quote in Excel, formats it, checks margin.
next day 11:00 — Quote goes out.

elapsed ≈ 26 hours · hands-on ≈ 3.5 hours

The agent

09:12:04 — Email read, classified as an RFQ.
09:12:20 — Split into four shipments; fields extracted from body, forwarded thread and attachment.
09:12:50 — Fires in parallel: internal rate card, three co-loaders, carrier portal, spot rate feed.
09:31 — Rates back. Stops. Waits for you. Pricer reviews the air margin and the carrier choice.
09:34 — Approved.
09:34 — Quote assembled in your customer's format.
09:35 — One click, sent.
on confirmation — All four bookings created in the TMS/ERP.

elapsed 23 minutes · two human decisions

The difference

The desk works 09:00 to 18:00; the agent works around the clock. The same email, two desks:

	Your desk	The agent
Quote sent	Next day, 11:00	09:35, same morning
Elapsed	≈ 26 hours	23 minutes
Hands-on	≈ 3.5 hours	Two human decisions
Overnight	Offline; the inbox keeps filling	Still working
Booking entered in TMS	Retyped by hand	Created on confirmation

For a desk like this the old answer has been to hire another pair of hands. But not anymore.

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