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IT NEWS


Nottingham-based freight software supplier, Forward Computers Ltd (FCL) has launched a next-generation suite of web applications


Most web applications currently offered by freight companies or their software suppliers are based on what is known as ‘static web page’ technology: web pages are loaded into the browser and presented as forms, for example report filters; the user enters values into fields within the form and then submits the form to the web server; the web server processes the request as required and returns its response, which is then directed to another web page where the results are displayed. Since static web pages require that a new page is loaded, or the current page be re-loaded from the server, this can slow things down. But recent advances in web technology include ‘Ajax’ or Asynchronous JavaScript and


XML, a group of interrelated web development technologies and techniques used on the client-side to create interactive web applications. With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server in the background without interfering with the display and behaviour of the existing page. It has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages and is used by ‘web 2.0’ applications. JavaScript is programming language code that runs locally in the user’s web browser and provides enhanced user interfaces and dynamic websites. The JavaScript code is dished out from the web server to the browser and, when executed, it can detect user actions which


HTML alone cannot. This allows the browser to respond quickly to user actions such as individual keystrokes, and dispatch requests for information to the web server. All modern web browsers support JavaScript and use their own internal JavaScript engines to interpret the JavaScript source code and execute it accordingly. Extensible Markup Language


(XML) is a set of rules for encoding documents and was created to structure, store, and transport information. It is widely used to interchange data over the internet and, in the context of Ajax, is one of the principal means by which information can be exchanged between the JavaScript code that is running in the web browser and the web server that the browser is connected to. However, XML is not the only means by which data can be exchanged and other formats exist, such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), pre-formatted HTML, or even plain text. FCL’s marketing director, Ken


Stewart, says: “R&D into web 2.0 and the use of Ajax began at FCL in 2006. Work proper began during 2008, with the development of a new Ajax-based version of our Consignment Tracking system, which was piloted by one of our customers early in 2009.” Since then, FCL has been gradually re-writing its remaining web applications using the same new technologies and this work has now finally come to fruition and has been released under the banner of FCL-ASP 2.0. In addition to Ajax, FCL’s


new software is heavily based on a library of cross-browser JavaScript ‘widgets’ on which the user interface is built. According to Stewart “this has enabled us to deliver browser- based software, with a self- installing user-interface, that behaves far more like a desktop- style application than traditional web pages.” For example, the grid-list control allows report columns to be sorted, re-sized, moved or hidden. It also includes a drag-and-drop option that


Compressors drive new cooling technology


Lufthansa Cargo is introducing a fleet of about 40 of a new design of temperature- controlled containers into its fleet in 2010. Unlike existing designs which depend on dry ice for their operation, the Opticooler is compressor driven, requiring only electricity to keep it working while a sophisticated ventilation system and integral accumulators offer more precise and consistent control within a 2-30 degrees Centigrade temperature range. It is also ideal for transporting cargo that cannot tolerate carbon dioxide. The new units offer 90-100


hours’ autonomous operation and will maintain correct temperatures when the outside temperature is between -20 and +50 degrees Centigrade. They will be available in LD3 and LD9 sizes.


Lufthansa Cargo, which


also has a fleet of around 300 conventionally operated dry ice Unicooler units in its fleet, as well as units hired in from Envirotainer, is also looking at ways of managing its refrigerated container fleet more effectively, says Michael Breul, director of the airline’s temperature control


competence centre. Currently units achieve only around three long haul round trips per month, much of their time being spent in the hands of shippers or forwarders, rather than actually being flown. “We are examining whether to keep stocks of containers at our own hubs, rather than position stocks with forwarders or shippers,” he told a conference in Frankfurt on 25 August. The market for temperature- controlled airfreight is still growing, by about 20%, though perhaps surprisingly it still only accounts for about 1% of Lufthansa Cargo’s total business. The airline has increased its temperature controlled container fleet by around 20% in the past six months.


EQUIpMENT cORNER Raising the roof


European ferry freight specialists specialists Bakro International Transport has bought 10 new S.CS curtainsider Euroliners from Schmitz Cargobull, following the opening of new facilities in Felixstowe and Rotterdam. The trailers can be loaded from the side, through the rear or, thanks to the sliding roof, from above. They will provide full load, part load and groupage services to and from Holland, Belgium and the Ruhr area of Germany.


Joloda on a roll in airfreight


Joloda Hydraroll has a new pneumatic roller track (PRT) system for the airfreight industry. The Trailerloda is a new low-profile, stand-alone system that can be installed into a standard trailer and allows airfreight operators to buy or hire standard box trailers, curtainsiders or reefers, as an alternative to long lead time, high cost, bespoke units or to respond to seasonal peaks or sudden demand. Trailerloda can be installed into an existing unit without modification of the chassis or flooring


and typical installation time is around 12 hours - a 75% reduction on the traditional, integrated ‘in- build’ installation time, says Joloda. The unit is also somewhat lighter than a conventional PRT system, it adds. Joloda has also introduced a new variant of its


Vanloda rollerbed system for panel vans and light commercials. The system, which is rated at 600kg per metre, is designed to load and unload pallets, cage pallets, stillages, post pallets or slipsheets up to 1000kg.


This season’s must-have


fashion accessory Logwin has introduced a new version of the AirTextainer, a multimodal hanging garment container for air, sea, road and rail transport. Features include improved protection against pilferage, stronger, lighter design and is adjustable to fit different hangers.


Dematic demo centre


Automation specialist Dematic has opened a customer and technology centre at its headquarters in Offenbach, Germany. The multifunctional installation has been built on two levels in order to demonstrate efficient material flow and an array of new products. It has been designed to show continuous movements from picking, price marking, order consolidation and buffering, through to palletising and conveying to a goods outwards point. Different system combinations can be simulated to meet various customer requirements and scenarios, using various containers such as bins, trays or cardboard boxes.


allows the user to ‘group’ report results by any column. For example, a shipper could group his consignments by customer, an importer his purchase orders by supplier, or even by product code or SKU. “This really enhances the user-experience and provides a great aid to visualising data,” says Stewart.


Chelmsford-based Woodland


Group was quick to recognize the benefits that this new technology could provide to its own customers. IT Manager Jason Theobald said: “The Woodland Group recognised the advantages of the new FCL ASP 2.0 web platform and implemented it at the earliest opportunity to deliver the best tracking and online experience for our customers.” Stewart believes that FCL’s


new product has allowed it to steal a valuable lead over its competition: “To our knowledge, none of our competitors offer browser-based applications with this level of sophistication. We now have a


ISSUE 3 2010 Software firm hopes to clean up with Ajax Ken Stewart


great platform upon which to base a range of additional new web 2.0 developments that we have in the pipeline. And now that legacy web browsers such as IE6 are finally being put out to pasture, and new Javascript processing engines and HTML- 5 standards are being adopted, we have a great opportunity to move things up to the next level and provide features that people really wouldn’t expect to see running in a browser.”


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