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Issue 3 2014 Freight Business Journal IT NEWS IN BRIEF


EssDOCS has completed its first operational use of its electronic bill of lading solution in the container line market involving an NYK Line electronic bill of lading. The negotiable electronic ocean or master bill of lading was issued by NYK Line to Elite International Logistics Singapore, working on behalf of the customer, for a shipment from Singapore to China.


Tilbury-based Freight Agencies Forwarding says that online backload services like Returnloads.net has given it back control of its inland distribution. The forwarder sends imported sea freight to destinations around the UK, mostly small or full loads of crated consignments of plywood. Managing director, Paul Dodd, says; “We used to find that we were at the mercy of our haulier, having to wait for their availability if things got too busy. We really wanted to be in control of our distribution and not to have to rely on one individual company.” Now, though, he can upload all available work to Returnloads.net which gives hundreds of providers the opportunity to compete for each load.


Young’s Container Transport has implemented Fargo Systems’ TOPS (Transport Operations & Processing Systems) soſtware at its depots in Tilbury and Southampton. It is being used to plan 170 owned and 70 dedicated subcontractors’ vehicles. The haulier’s managing director, Brian Walker, said: “My first objective aſter being appointed MD of Young’s Container Transport was to review our operating system. It became very clear that we needed to introduce a new up to date and robust system that would make us even more efficient, whilst adding value to our customers.”


Everywhere you look, people are using mobiles, smartphones, laptops, tablets and just about every digital device you can think of. But while this ‘always on’ culture certainly has some benefits, it also creates an awful lot of data. And while shippers and forwarders need to know that their cargo is going to arrive at the right place at the right time, do they really need to know exactly where it is every second of every day? In order to get any sort of visibility,


carriers and forwarders need the right IT systems, something the technology companies are happy to provide. Kewill, for example, developed a platform last autumn to underpin the supply chain visibility solution for INTTRA, the ocean shipping portal, integrating its soſtware with INTTRA to enable users to access accurate, consistent and timely supply chain shipment information, including container


FullScreen View information, and identify and


manage exceptions. But there is a limit to how much


visibility anyone can, or wants to, provide. The Freightos Network, an online intra-forwarder portal, allows freight companies to send enquiries, rates and quotes to each other online, allowing them to buy and sell capacity and - it claims - increase their own sales. Freightos claims its FAST


(Freight Automated Sales Technology) service allows agents to provide instant quotes - to an overseas partner, for example. It automates complex multi-modal quotes, uses different mark-up rules automatically and helps in the management of contracts. The problem is, how many


forwarders can - or want to - make that sort of information public? As one expert points out, there is a limit as to what sort of


By Marcia Macleod


information can be provided for consolidation, as quotes depend on so many variables, such as how many shippers contribute to the consignment. And as rates change all the time - with no carrier willing to provide long-term contracts - any quoted rate can be obsolete in weeks. “Bringing rates up to date is a large task,” agrees Hewlett, MD at


our customers want is to be able to give a quick quote without having to update the back-end - but it isn’t possible unless the forwarder employs someone just to keep rates up-to-date.” Then there is the argument that


Christopher BoxTop


Technologies. “There are too many variables and surcharges (from the carrier) go up and down all the time, for different periods and different modes of transports. All


forwarders getting a good rate from their volume of business should not have to pass it on to the customer who only ships once or twice a month. “The shipper is paying for the agent’s expertise,” points out Peter MacSwiney of soſtware company ASM. And expertise cannot be commoditised.


All change at the AFSS


The Association of Freight Soſtware Suppliers enters a new era as Gordon Tutt


replaces


Ken Gower as chairman and expands its membership into transport exchanges. Tutt, a former British


Airways IT guru, has welcomed Transport Exchange Group, Core UK and Grosvenor International Systems as new members, taking membership of the organisation to 33 companies.


TEG marks a departure in


AFSS’s core focus on forwarding soſtware suppliers. Although, as Tutt points out, it does provide soſtware for the freight industry, it does so as a portal operator - the first to become an AFSS member. “We became aware of AFSS


a few months ago and invited Gordon to talk to us,” explains Paul Walton, general manager of Transport Exchange. “There


are synergies between us and other soſtware providers, but sometimes it’s very difficult to shake hands with people in other, related, businesses. People don’t always see the benefits of collaborating with other soſtware suppliers, but forwarder customers of other AFSS members could benefit from using our


Exchanges


when they are looking for sub- contractors.”


China joins the e-freight race


The Chinese airfreight industry is joining the e-freight race with the launch of Unisys’ next generation of air cargo logistics management system, known as LMS Next Generation (LMS NG). Unisys has worked in partnership with InfoSky, a subsidiary of TravelSky, a Chinese government-owned IT company, to deliver the next generation of its logistics soſtware to carriers such as Air China and China Eastern. “We have been selling soſtware


as a service for 15 years,” explains Christopher Shawdon, VP logistics solutions for Unisys. “We went to a Chinese company because the Chinese airlines want to know the soſtware they use is based in China, not half-way around the world. And they don’t want it in the US because they don’t want Mr Obama


looking at their data. So we have worked with TravelSky to provide a Chinese data centre for use by Chinese companies.” The system includes all the


main features Unisys is known for, such as cargo portal services, cargo revenue accounting and in-transit service management, but the company has also added new features, particularly more mobile capabilities. These include a claims service which enables users


to attach a picture and


manage a claim online; a new, comprehensive freight accounting module; and a warehouse function which enables users to scan bar codes with an iPhone, using wi-fi. “These new features will now be


available to customers around the world,” Shawdon emphasises. “Air


Canada has already implemented the warehouse module.” In China, customers now


have access to an electronic airwaybill for the first time - built and deployed across 1,000 users in just six months. In addition, interfaces have been built to link forwarders to carriers to improve communication and help create an electronic supply chain. Visibilty of capacity data by flight and product will be provided which will allow carriers to adjust pricing as needed to maximise utilisation of available cargo capacity. Unisys helps forwarders globally


to interconnect with air carriers. It is also building its soſtware on the new IATA XML standards, already in use by major forwarders such as DHL and Kuehne+Nagel.


///IT NEWS Information overload


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