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Check carrier updates in Excel
Ask a Midpoint worker to check Outlook carrier emails against an Excel appointments workbook and return conflicting dates, source references and questions.
Nadia coordinates receiving at a building-supply warehouse. Her Outlook folder holds the week's carrier updates: revised arrival estimates, forwarded notices and PDFs with the important date on page two. The warehouse appointments are in Excel. Before calling anyone, she needs to know which loads no longer fit their booked slots.
She gives that check to her Midpoint worker: "Read this week's carrier emails and attachments against the appointments workbook. Return an Excel copy with the deliveries I need to review. Keep the carrier's estimate separate from our booked slot, and ask about anything you can't match. Don't change bookings or email carriers."
What comes back is the workbook with a new Review sheet. Each exception names the consignment, the carrier's estimated arrival (ETA), the booked receiving slot, the sources and one question for Nadia. Her original sheets and dates stay unchanged. She can work through the conflicts without reopening every email thread.
Match the load before reading a new date
The worker takes on the preparation: reading the selected emails, opening readable attachments, finding consignment numbers and comparing them with the appointments sheet. A familiar carrier name or repeated subject is not enough to match a load. If the number is missing, or two appointments could fit, the item comes back unmatched, with a question.
It also checks what each date describes. A manifest's issue date, an estimated arrival and a booked receiving slot are different facts. The worker keeps their labels and source wording. A newer email does not automatically replace an earlier date, especially when it could refer to another consignment.
The result is a delivery work list. One consignment can have several emails behind its row, and an email that changes nothing gets no row.
What Nadia sees in the Review sheet
Each row starts with the consignment number and what Nadia needs to decide. Source references include the email, the attachment filename and page, and the original workbook sheet and row. The two dates sit beside each other, with their times and the warehouse's time zone where the sources give them.
Three situations show what belongs on the list.
An unchanged forward. The carrier forwards Monday's notice for consignment 4471 with "see below" on top. The notice repeats the same arrival estimate and agrees with the booked slot. The worker lists it as checked in the note that comes with the workbook and adds no row.
An arrival after the booked slot. Page two of a carrier PDF gives consignment 4519 an estimated arrival of November 13 at 09:00. The appointments sheet has November 12 at 14:00. Both use the warehouse's local time. The row keeps both values and asks: "The carrier's ETA is after the booked slot. Does the warehouse need a new appointment once the carrier confirms its arrival?" No replacement slot has been selected.
A date with an uncertain load. A carrier writes "the 14th works" and attaches an older manifest for consignment 4502. The manifest's expected-arrival field says November 12, but the email does not identify which load it means. The worker lists 4502 as a possible match, keeps the new date unassigned and asks: "Which consignment is November 14 for?" It does not turn that reply into a confirmed estimate for 4502.
That last row is useful even before Nadia answers. It shows her what's missing, with the old manifest and the new email side by side.
Leave the dock decisions with the coordinator
For this job, the worker changes only the new Review sheet in the returned copy. Bookings, original dates and carrier replies stay with Nadia. A missing attachment, unreadable PDF or unclear time zone comes back as a specific question. The note lists what was checked, what was unchanged and what couldn't be read, so an empty Review sheet can't hide an email the worker failed to open.
The sheet quotes delivery details from the emails, though its references don't give anyone access to the mailbox. Return it only where the receiving team is allowed to see those details. For recurring work with several coordinators, agree who receives each unresolved question before the check runs every week.
When Power Automate is enough
Microsoft's email-to-workbook tutorial uses Power Automate and Office Scripts to record email information in an Excel table. The Outlook connector also supports retrieving attachments. If carriers send updates in the same format each time and the workbook layout doesn't change, a flow like that can be enough. Keep it if it already gives your team the answer.
A worker is worth it for the reading: working out what each date refers to, matching the right consignment and bringing back a question the coordinator can answer. A flow can be built to do more of this too, including citing sources and waiting for review.
Give your worker this week's delivery check
Your worker comes with its own computer and browser. Connect the Outlook account it needs, choose the folder and dates, and attach a dated copy of the appointments workbook. Ask it to confirm it can open the messages and attachments, then return the checked Excel file in your receiving team's private channel. Start with:
Check this week's selected carrier emails and attachments against the attached appointments workbook. Match by consignment number. Return an Excel copy with a new Review sheet showing each conflict, both dates and what each one means, source references and one question. List uncertain matches and anything you couldn't read. Leave the original sheets and dates unchanged. Do not choose a new appointment, change a booking or email carriers.
