USA Customs NetFreight already incorporates frontier import and export Customs for
the UK, which is fully integrated with its freight management,
warehousing and CRM functions.In 2010, we embarked on the first phase of providing a link from NetFreight to US Customs with the interface to the Automated Export System (AES), which is now being used by all of our US customers instead of having to ‘double-key’ the data directly into AES via the web. In 2012, we expect to link NetFreight to the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) for US imports, thereby providing the same frontier Customs capability in the US as we do in the UK. Although not a US Customs requirement, the Import Control System (ICS) introduced in January 2011 throughout the EU will affect US freight companies who will have to pay the airlines and shipping lines to transmit their security data. However, Netfreight now incorporates a facility to transmit the Master Air-Waybill (MAWB) and House Air-Waybill (HAWB) data as FWB and FHL messages respectively, for which the airlines will charge far less than a paper MAWB and HAWB, which saves on your out goings and increases your profit margins. UK Customs Impatex started as a UK Customs software supplier in 1980 and has led
the field in this specialised area ever since, pioneering ‘Intelligent’
Direct Trader Input (DTI) in the UK nearly 30 years ago.In 1995 our Customs software was the first to incorporate the UK Customs Tariff, some 10 years before any other supplier and even before HMSO made available their own electronic Customs Tariff. Since 2002, Customs Manager (CM) has combined its leading frontier Customs software with Duty Management and Customs Processing with Economic Impact (CPEI), making it the natural choice for major ‘Corporate’ forwarders in the UK, most of whom already use Customs Manager, and can now start gradually migrating to its new Integrated Customs for Europe (ICE) in the UK and later throughout Europe. For independent forwarding companies that require integrated frontier Customs with freight management, warehousing and CRM, then NetFreight can replace a multiplicity of disparate systems. Online Functions Because NetFreight is web-based, its principal advantage over any
Windows, Unix, AS400 or legacy mainframe system is not only the ease in
which staff, clients and overseas agents can access it, but also with
what they can access it with, being any web or browser-enabled device,
including the ubiquitous iPhone and iPad. This makes NetFreight
especially useful for people on the move that can access the data
anywhere and anytime.Clients and overseas agents have no access to the agent’s system but can access 'NetTrack' for making booking requests along with attached documents, which can be converted to jobs by the agent at the press of a button, and then be tracked by the client and/or overseas agent. The agent can also make certain documents visible to clients and overseas agents, like the invoice, so that they can print them locally. Excise Warehousing & Movements (EMCS) Excise reporting has been added to Visual Warehousing within Customs
Manager (CM) so that it can cater for the Customs reporting for beers,
wines and spirits, namely the W1 and W5 documents.The old W8 has been replaced by the Excise Movement Control System (EMCS), that is now available within the Integrated Customs for Europe (ICE) software, which will eventually replace the Excise facilities within Visual Warehousing, along with all the other functions in that module and all other modules in Customs Manager. Warehouse Management System (WMS) A basic WMS facility is incorporated into Visual Warehousing, one of
the modules of 'Customs Manager' (CM), for those customers that wish to
combine bonded (Customs) warehousing with non-bonded warehousing within
the same software package.However, for freight forwarders not interested in bonded (Customs) warehousing that wish to combine a sophisticated WMS with their freight management system, then NetFreight is ideal, particularly as it is all web-based and therefore enables easy remote access for staff and clients. Also deliveries from the warehouse can automatically initiate a job within NetFreight. NetFreight's warehousing facility is aimed at forwarders or 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) providers wishing to store goods for multiple clients at multiple warehouses with multiple zones, and provides stock visibility to clients and the facility for them to give delivery instructions to the forwarder or 3PL via the web, any time, anywhere and from any web-enabled device. Task Management All communications with customers and prospective customers can be
stored within the CRM facility in NetFreight so that a full history can
be seen by the user.If a follow-up is required, then the user can enter a reminder within NetFreight to prompt the user when the time comes. In addition there is an internal messaging facility within the CRM function in NetFreight to alert other individual users or groups of users by department, branch office or company. Customer Profiling Customer Relationship Management (CRM) should be an integral part of any
forwarding company's job to maximise sales from existing customers and
target new customers, so therefore CRM is an integral function of
NetFreight.This means that users of NetFreight do not have to use a standalone 3rd party CRM package such as 'Goldmine' or 'ACT', which is not specifically designed for freight forwarders and does not link to their operational forwarding system and therefore requires 'double-keying' of certain details. NetFreight's CRM facility is aimed squarely at the freight forwarder or logistics provider and categorises companies by Type, Location and Industry, enabling sales staff to target specific types of companies in specific locations and specific industry sectors by phone, email, fax or post, whilst keeping a history of all communications for subsequent follow-up. | EU Customs Impatex are no strangers to European Customs software.We had a Danish and Dutch version of our Customs software over 20 years ago when the Single Administrative Document (SAD) was introduced in 1988, but the national differences with the data was so great that it was not viable to continue to address those markets. We did though continue to supply an Irish version of our Customs software until 1994 when the single market was introduced and there was no need for any Customs clearances on the border. Since SAD Harmonisation was introduced in 2008/9, making most of the data elements the same and electronic messages mandatory across the EU, we have been developing our Integrated Customs for Europe (ICE) software, aimed at the larger, multinational ‘Corporate’ forwarders, initially for NCTS, EMCS and ICS and now for frontier exports and imports, and then Duty Management and Customs Processing with Economic impact (CPEI). Financial Control NetFreight incorporates comprehensive multi-currency invoicing and job costing, enabling freight forwarding companies to keep a very tight control of profitability at job level with not only actual sales and costs derived from sales and purchase invoices, but also estimated sales and costs from quotations.Actual and estimated profitability can be reported by date range, customer, mode of transport and a number of other criteria, all of which can also be output as an Excel spreadsheet for further data analysis. NetFreight’s accounting functions cover the Sales Ledger (A/R) and Purchase Ledger (A/P), but can also interface with 3rd party accounts packages such as Sage (50, 100 & 200), Pegasus, QuickBooks, Peachtree and any other accounts package that has a data import capability. Operations NetFreight was designed from the start for multi-modal freight
management, rather than starting life as an air or sea freight system
and then having other modes of transport added.When starting a job, the user chooses which mode of transport is required and whether it’s a single ‘Master’ or a ‘House’ job that is part of a consolidation and the system then guides the user what data fields are required. If certain fields are not available within the job build-up, then the user can add ‘Extra’ fields which can also be named. Documents are user-definable using the 'Document Manager' software which we provide and these and external can be stored and retrieved against a job, customer or the company. A stock of standard reports are provided with NetFreight but customers can create their own bespoke reports using the inbuilt report generator or third party products such as 'Crystal Reports'. Also, any field descriptor can be renamed, even in a different language, which lends NetFreight well to being used on a global basis, and being browser-based, enables access over a LAN, WAN, VPN or the web from any web-enabled device including the iPhone and iPad. Bonded (Customs) Warehousing Customs Manager (CM) caters for bonded warehousing using the 'Visual
CFSP' and 'Visual Warehousing' modules, validated extensively by 'Visual
Classifier', which incorporates the full HM Customs Tariff. Eventually
this function will be added to our new SQL-based Integrated Customs for
Europe (ICE) software, which is gradually replacing CM.Visual Warehousing stores stock at SKU level, whereas Visual CFSP can transmit SDIs and SDWs at SKU or Customs Commodity Number (CCN) level, providing optimum Customs Duty reporting. For the agent's clients with their own WMS, Customs Manager provides a number of client 'downloads' to eliminate time-consuming data entry and transcription errors, which is especially useful for warehouse removals, and enables the software to be used for high volume declarations that would be impractical for manual data entry. In addition to Customs warehousing, Customs Manager also caters for Enhanced Remote Transit Sheds (ERTS) within CCS-UK. Remote iPhone & iPad Access Because NetFreight is web-based, it lends itself well to being used on
the Apple iPhone and iPad and any other web-enabled device.Indeed, as NetFreight supports 'Safari' and the iPad screen is a similar size as most laptops, NetFreight can be used in full on the iPad as it if it were a PC workstation or laptop. On the iPhone, because of the limited size of the screen, then full operation can only be accomplished by expanding the view on the iPhone, which is not practical. Therefore we have developed a number of iPhone 'Apps' for looking up customer and job details without the need for expanding the view at all. Quotation Control For most forwarders, quotations are an important and essential part of
the process of moving goods internationally for existing and prospective
customers, so the quotation facility is included in NetFreight for that
very reason.Quotations can be entered manually within NetFreight using a similar data-entry screen as an actual job, or produced automatically using the contract rates previously entered manually or downloaded from the shipping lines, airlines and trucking companies. Quotations having been produced through NetFreight can be emailed, faxed or printed for posting, and if accepted can be converted to actual jobs at the press of a button. Those quotations not accepted can be listed for follow-up, and if declined then the reason can be entered for further analysis. |
© copyright 2010-2011 Impatex Freight Software Ltd. All rights reserved.