LOGISTICS TODAY featured “ZenRead”

On September 25, 2025, LOGISTICS TODAY published an article titled “Zenport Takes on Unstructured Data Processing in International Logistics.” “ZenRead” is a service that uses AI to automatically read trade-related invoices and shipping documents, then adds a final human review to simultaneously achieve previously difficult levels of accuracy and efficiency.

Original article
https://www.logi-today.com/847763

Translation allowed by the media publisher

Zenport Takes on Unstructured Data Processing in International Logistics

Thursday, September 25, 2025

In the field of international logistics, a massive amount of “unstructured data” dependent on paper, PDFs, Excel, and other formats still exists. Enormous volumes of documents generated with every transaction—such as invoices, packing lists, bills of lading (B/L), and certificates of origin—have historically been processed based on manual data entry and verification. Zenport (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) is tackling this structural challenge, which lacks efficiency and has been a hotbed for human error, with its newly launched “AI-BPO” service.

▲Zenport CEO Fumiaki Ota

In September, the company released “ZenRead” as its first offering. It is a system that combines AI-based OCR with specialized human checks to convert unstructured data into structured data that can be linked to core systems. CEO Fumiaki Ota states, “This is not just an efficiency tool; it will become an industrial foundation that ensures the sustainability of international logistics.”

According to research by major US consulting firm Gartner, 80-90% of data handled by companies is said to be unstructured. This ratio is even higher in the logistics industry, where managing PDF email attachments, scanned paper documents, and manual tasks using Excel is commonplace.

Mr. Ota analyzes the current situation: “The information that moves supply chains (SC) spans all processes, including ordering, shipping, transportation, inventory, production, and sales. However, the data for each is not connected, leaving paper, email, and PDFs as the only way to bridge the gaps. That is precisely why trade documents have never been free from manual handling.”

To overcome this “wall” between data, the key is how accurately unstructured data can be structured. While AI-OCR reading has advanced, guaranteeing 100% accuracy is difficult. Zenport has adopted a “Human in the loop” approach, implementing a two-stage system where humans verify and correct the data processed by AI.

Zenport’s new service is integrated with its existing platform function, “SmartGrid.” This allows data to be extracted and used from different perspectives depending on the business operation, such as by order unit for the ordering staff or by B/L unit for the forwarder.

Mr. Ota emphasizes, “In the past, people on-site had to process Excel files and recreate data over and over. However, if they can freely extract from a single dataset, operations become dramatically more efficient. Zenport’s greatest feature is its ability to link order information, shipping information, and transportation information all together.”

This philosophy of “connecting” is also common to the company’s other developments, such as ZenConnect (an architecture that organically links all processes), ZenSync (a standard data linkage platform), and ZenGrid (a personalized UI/UX function).

Multiple players are already moving on the digitalization of international logistics. For example, services specializing in the “transportation domain,” including the digitization of B/Ls, and SaaS-type international logistics platforms have emerged, aiming to streamline specific processes. However, Mr. Ota points out, “Competitors only cover transportation and shipping, and they don’t link to order information.” He states, “Unless data across the SC can be managed in an ‘integrated, end-to-end’ manner, the true DX (Digital Transformation) of complex international trade cannot be achieved.”

▲While adopting digital tools makes some parts more convenient, data cannot be linked across the entire SC, requiring manual Excel files and other methods to piece it together.

Behind the new service are structural changes surrounding international logistics. The 30 years after the Cold War was a “golden age” during which the global SC expanded dramatically, but that premise is collapsing. “Since the Lehman shock, supply chains have lost stability, and geopolitical risks and population decline are accelerating that instability,” says Mr. Ota. If his analysis is correct, the conventional reliance on manual labor will no longer be viable. Mr. Ota added, “Unless we establish a system that can handle information in a labor-saving manner, the flow of goods cannot be maintained, and wealth creation will become difficult.”

Population decline is not just a domestic problem. Labor shortages at ports and warehouses are worsening on a global scale. Mr. Ota warns that the entire SC is “starting to fray.”

The company is looking beyond Japan to build infrastructure overseas as well. Mr. Ota revealed plans for an ultra-low temperature warehouse network in Southeast Asia in collaboration with the fisheries industry. The aim is to replicate Japanese-quality logistics operations locally and distribute frozen foods and marine products while maintaining their high quality. “Japanese automakers expanded their production bases overseas half a century ago and grew to a global scale. Japan’s high-quality fisheries and food industries should be able to do the same, taking the entire SC overseas. Our role is to support that foundation from a data perspective,” Mr. Ota says of his future vision. This concept could be described as a new form of “industrial export” for the logistics industry.

ZenRead is just the first step in the future vision that Zenport envisions. Starting with the automatic linkage of structured data, the company is looking ahead to advanced business automation by AI agents in the future. “If we have a mechanism to structure unstructured data and can share it seamlessly between companies, the entire supply chain will become a common asset. As labor shortages progress, the role of connecting data will take on even greater importance,” Mr. Ota concluded.