eRES Nautical Cargo System

Overview

The diagram, below, shows the major areas of your company that eRES Nautical Cargo supports.

Database

The relational SQL booking database is common to all eRES applications installed at your company. This means that all data can be used by all eRES applications. Data is input only once, thereby eliminated input errors from multiple entries of the same data. Both productivity and accuracy are improved.

eRES Nautical Cargo provides:

• Central, in-house, database
• Data is input only once
• Real-time reporting of all business aspects
• Direct availability of all data to external applications via Java JDBC and MS Windows ODBC
• Every transaction made in the system is summarized and placed into a transaction log. You can view every transaction at any time in the same detail it was input into the system. All transactions are available to anyone with proper authority.

The eRES Nautical Cargo server is installed at our server location. eRES Nautical Cargo terminals would be installed at your shipping company and would include reservations, remote stations, management locations and accounting.

eRES Nautical Cargo Basic Configuration

The relational SQL database shown above is connected directly to the eRES Nautical Cargo server as shown in the image.

The data contained in the relational SQL booking database is originated at:

Local Terminals	Shipping Company: Cargo Management Accounting Operations Maintenance etc..
Internet - World Wide Web	Remote Terminals: Shipping Company Shipping Company Stations Cargo Agents Forwarders Customers Corporations
Communication Lines	Connection To/From: Cargo Agents Customers, Corporations Credit Cards Banks Telex Network

Internet Web Site For Your Cargo Shipping Company

eRES Nautical Cargo provides an on-line Internet web site that is capable of allowing cargo reservations to be booked and tracked by authorized:

• Cargo agents
• Forwarders
• The shipping company's cargo agents.
• The shipping company's remote stations and locations.
• Customers
• Other shipping companies

Connections To Other reservation systems Systems

eRES Nautical Cargo provide an interface to the other authorized cargo computerized reservation systems.

eRES Nautical Cargo System Description

The advanced functionality provided by eRES Nautical Cargo is accomplished by the application and requires no in-depth knowledge by your cargo agents. This allows your cargo agents to focus on the cargo operation, not the cargo application.

A customer/agent file is maintained and when the customer/agent name or identification number is input all data is fetched from the database and placed on the cargo booking input screen. This reduces operator input and possible errors.

System generated pricing and routing, based on input port pair, includes pricing based on house rates, special rates or standard rates. There is no human intervention required in obtaining the correct pricing for every cargo shipment.

eRES Nautical Cargo provides real time, up to the second, reports for accounting and management that allow you to control your shipping company on a real time basis.

To reduce cost, we base our data communication on the Internet. The Internet communication facilities are reliable, fast, and available anywhere in the world, to your shipping company, booking agents, customers and any other group that you choose to give access permission to.

eRES Nautical Cargo Details

eRES Nautical Cargo consists of the following applications.

Booking System

The booking system enables your shipping company to make reservations against specific ships/boats for specific dates and times. There are provisions for storing all pertinent information of a shipment including the:

• Number of items
• Actual and Volumetric Weights
• Contact Names
• Outward/Inward Ports

Some of the features of the Booking System are:

• Quick updating and modification of bookings.
• Ability to see future bookings on all shipments at a glance.
• Printing of loading instruction sheets for handling operations.
• Inquiries and printing of bookings by ship/boat, by date, by agent, etc.
• Once the waybill has been produced, then all information of the waybill is immediately available to the booking system and therefore to the shipping company's personnel.

Waybill Production

The waybill production application has as it's main purpose, the computerized production of waybills, on plain printer paper.

Some of the features of the waybill production application are as follows:

• Ability to produce waybills for a multiple number of shipping companys, as well as house waybills, all on plain printer paper.
• Automatic look up of rates, based on destination, service type and commodity.
• Provisions for special rates for special customers.
• Automatic provisions for published rates.
• Automatic calculation of freight amounts, based on stored rates.
• Inquiry facility of historical waybills and records for an unlimited time frame.
• Optional, automatic, item shipping labels being produced.
• Statistical reports are available by, shipping company, destination, shipper, etc.
• Shipper and consignee master files are maintained, to avoid recapturing the same information and thus reducing human error.

Central Waybill File

The central waybill file is a table in the cargo relational database. The central waybill file is fed by all of the eRES Nautical Cargo applications. With this system the shipping company simply needs to key in the waybill number and instantaneously, it will see where the cargo is and what the status is of the waybill. The important point is that the booking could have been made in London and the inquiry could be made in Manila and so on.

The following different types of status can be shown against the waybill number, all data associated with the particular status is also shown:

• Booking made
• Waybill produced
• Cargo received at outbound port
• Cargo manifested
• Ships/Boats departed
• Shipment arrived at destinations.
• Shipment picked up/delivered

The important thing to be aware of is that any display in the system, anywhere in the world, can view the entire data concerning any cargo instantaneously. Any user, with proper authority, can update the data from anywhere in the world. Complete audit trails to be able to determine who did what, when and how are maintained for instantaneous viewing.

The listings/reports are available by any authorized person, outside agents or shipping companies.

Outbound Freight

The main purpose of these applications are the generation of statements for the charging of freight.

The application highlights are:

• Fully informative and user friendly statements.
• Facilities for storing net selling rates, special rates and optional buying rates.
• Facilities for storing published rates
• Automatic checking of waybill rates.

The shipping company personnel, cargo agents, forwarders and corporate customers all see the same sequence and panels that will be described below. The difference is that according to who you are you are only allowed to see and do what you are authorized for.

The user inputs either the account number or a locator for both the shipper and consignee. If the information is not available the user just continues.

After the first time a shipper or consignee is identified the system will retain the information to be used the next time.

If the shipper's account number was input then the shipper information is automatically shown. If the shipper number is not know then the shipper information is input by the user.

If the waybill is external to the reservations system, generated by another cargo reservation system, then the question "External Waybill" should be 'Yes". In this case the shipping company code generating the the waybill is input as well as the waybill number.

If the consignee's account number was input then the consignee information is automatically shown. If the consignee number is not know then the consignee information is input by the user. The panel below allows this input or review of the information if it was automatically shown by the cargo system.

On the panel below the routing information is determine, the weight and measurement units are selected and the currency to be used is selected. The shipping company can define as many currencies as required. The conversion rates are based on standard bank rates. Provisions are supplied to input the conversion rates.

Once this is done then the user selects "Continue" to proceed.

The top of the panel below shows the shipper and consignee information. It will be filled in using the information input by the user in the panels above.

The panel below allows the user to input the cargo descriptions that will be placed on the waybill.

There are provision to select the type of cargo:

1. Mail (This can be what your shipping company calls it)
2. Cargo
3. Animals

There are also selection for dangerous goods and the class of service provided.

This input is done for each cargo item that will be included in the waybill.

The panel below shows that one line (cargo description) was put input the system.

If the user has completed this shipment they would select the 'Continue" link to proceed.

The panel below is produced by the cargo system. Automatic pricing based on house rates or special rates was accomplished.

On this panel the user can select/input:

• Agreed to pick-up and delivery charges
• Select the charge for preparation of the dangerous goods documentation
• Insurance coverage for the shipment can be selected
• Both surcharges and GST are optionally selected

The panel below allows the user to be charged for the shipment. Acceptable payment methods are:

• No Charge
• Collect
• Cash
• Credit Card
• Invoice

Invoicing is only shown if the company making the shipment is allowed by the shipping company to be invoiced. This is accomplished by the shipping company editing the companies record in the cargo system and indicating that the company is allowed to be invoiced.

Once this payment is settled then either a waybill can be produced.

A waybill is shown below:

A house waybill is shown below:

Waybill Tools

A tool is provided to allow the user to locate waybills. The search can be based on:

• Waybill Number
• Shipper Name
• Consignee Name
• Nature of Goods
• Date Range

The Shipper Name, Consignee Name and Nature of Goods allows a fuzzy search. You can input as much of the information as you have. For instance a search of a shipper name with "A" input would show a list of all waybills with shippers name's that contain an "A".

There are a set of tool provided that allow manipulation of waybills and the data in the waybill. The tools provided are:

Remove item from WaybillCancel Waybill

Tool	Description
View Waybill	Will locate the waybill specified and display it
Edit Shipper/Consignee Information	Provides a tool to allow editing of the shipper and consignee data for the specified waybill
Add item in Waybill	Provides a tool that allows items to be added to an existing waybill
Allows removal of items from the specified waybill
Edit Items Specifications	Allows editing of the physical characteristics of the specified item in a waybill
Edit Additional Charges	Provides editing of the additional charges on the specified waybill
Cancels the specified waybill

Loading Cargo Onto The Ship/Boat

Cargo is loaded on the ship/boat using the origin, destination and departure date. When these are input into the system the following panel is displayed.

This panel shows all cargo that has not been assigned to a ship/boat for the input port pair and date. All of the shipments that meet the origin. destination and departure date requirements are also shown.

To load the ship/boat select the desired cargo, select the ship/boat and then select "Add" the cargo will be placed on the manifest of the selected ship/boat.

Cargo Lables

eRES Nautical Cargo supports printing of IATA cargo labels. It is a function in the cargo tool menu.

The printed label includes a barcode.

Inbound Freight Operation

When the freight arrives it is possible to print a display manifest and to do inquires against those waybill numbers.

It is possible to print an in-check manifest which has one line per house waybill, where one can write in the number of parcels that have arrived against each waybill.

The in-check manifest can then be input into the system. When the agents arrive with their delivery orders, the ground handling agents simply key in the master or house waybill and it is then possible to tell exactly where the cargo can be found. After various security checks, the cargo can be released.

Charging Of Collect Charges

Automatic production of invoices including currency conversion are produced. Reports are also produced for hand over of the collect charges to the originating shipping company.

Location Of Cargo And Control

By simply keying in the master or house waybill number, it is possible to find out the precise location of the cargo.

Security

The name of all employees of the different agents who collect cargo are stored in the system when they collect the cargo. It is impossible for an unauthorized person to collect cargo from the ground handling agents.

Inquiries By shipping company

Data is stored for as long as your shipping company wishes to keep the data on-line, and therefore, by simply keying in a master or house waybill number, it is possible to get all the particulars of a shipment. There are inquiry reports by ship, by waybill number, by shippers name, by agent or any sorting sequence needed by your shipping company.

Inquires By Outside Agents

One of the most important aspects of eRES Nautical Cargo is that agents have access via the Internet, and thereby themselves, are able to do inquires by ship/boat number, by manifest or by waybill number. They can see that the shipment has arrived, who it is for, who cleared it, etc. No shipper or consignee data is displayed to inquiring agents. The major benefit of this aspect is that it puts the shipping company at a level where it is providing a high level of service to it's clients. Furthermore, there will be a lower number of incoming telephone calls. This facility is available 24 hours per day seven days per week to agents who have been given authorization to use it.

Dynamic Route Modification

eRES Nautical Cargo configuration provides dynamic insertion and modification of routes based on todays or even this instant requirements.

The configuration tool allows insertion of new routes(s) in a matter of minuets. Routes can be modified or new ones created in a matter of minuets. This feature allows an shipping company that has a requirement to dynamically change a schedule or route to do so with a minimum of effort and in minuets.

Tool	Description
Ship/Boat Definition	Allows ship/boat definition
Port Definition	Allows a specified port code to be inserted, deleted or edited
Leg Definition	Allows a leg to be edited, deleted or inserted
Rates
Update Schedule	Allow an individual schedule on a specific day to be modified: Departure Time Arrival Time Boat/Ship

Shipment Following

The shipment following is input by the operations personnel. The shipment following panel is shown below.

Cargo Reporting

The cargo reports are available, to the appropriate personnel, on a real-time basis. The reports can be reviewed, printed or exported to external applications. The following represents a basic set of reports. We will produce the necessary reports to allow you to run your business at no additional cost to you. The data contained in the following reports are based on the information as we understand it and will be refined to reflect what you actually need.

Operational Reports

Booked Cargo

The booked Inventory Report shows the inventory booked and charges on a shipment basis.

Shipment Manifest

This is a report that shows the cargo boarded on a ship/boat basis. It is provided to the boat/ship captain in a printed format and can be viewed, printed or exported by the personnel allowed to access this report.

Management Reports

Booking Report

The Booked Revenue report shows the number of waybills made for a specific date and time frame as input by the user.

Shown in this report are:

• Cargo Cost
• Taxes and Charges
• Payment Method and Amount Paid

A total summary is provided for each column including the total cargo booked.

Future Booking Report

The Gross Revenue Report is a report that is intended for planning and accounting purposes. It allows management to produce a report that shows for a specific period (time and date, from one minute to as long as desired) the number of cargo bookings on every ship/boat in your shipping company.

Accounting Reports

Financial Application

A full range of financial applications are provided. These include debtors, creditors, cash book and the ability to export date to the general ledger. Should the ground handling agent use other financial systems, it is possible to export the invoices onto a file, sent it to the agents via the Internet, to be imported into their system. Further, any of the financial applications are available without the others.

Accounting reports can be tailored as shown in the figure below:

An explanation of the selectable items are:

Selection	Description
Report Content	Each of the following reports are tailorable for content, presentation and time period of the report: Report Content Cargo Gross Revenue Total earned and unearned income Cargo Earned Revenue (delivered) Earned revenue Cargo Un-Earned Revenue Un-Earned revenue (not delivered) Booked Revenue Income Summary Report Contains only two lines cargo booked and income Customer Refund Passenger credit card refund tracking Credit Card History Display the history of a specific credit card or all credit cards Cargo Agency Due Commission payment report for cargo agents Corporate Booking Bookings made by all or a specific corporate customer Corporate Invoicing Invoicing for corporate customers Cargo Invoicing Invoicing for cargo customers
Credit Card Number	Used to specify a specific credit card for the Credit Card History report. If left blank all credit cards are reported.
Report Coverage	The report can be for a specific port or for the entire shipping company
Port	Used to select a port if report coverage set to port
Report Detail	Summary Condenses the data in the report. For instance when a shipment is reported summary shows the shipment as one line for each date selected. Detail Expands the report for instance when a shipment is reported it shows the ship/boat and all cargo on that ship/boat.
Report Date	Start Date Defines the time and date of when the report will start. End Date Define the time and date of when the report will end
Presentation Mode	Export Provides a space delimited file of the report. Report Displays the report on the Internet Bowser for viewing and printing.

The reports can be for a period of one minute to as long as you desire.

Credit Cards

Credit Card Batch Reconciliation

Credit cards can be processed using two methods.

The first and most used method is that the credit card is authorized and cleared by the credit authority in one step. This means that when the cargo reservations are made the credit cards are authorized and cleared into your bank account.

The second method is when credit cards are only authorized at the time the cargo reservation is made. And the reconciliation is handled at a later time when after a reconciliation batch is built and sent to the bank.

The building of the batch file is accomplished by utilizing the "Credit Card" function, this is the reconciliation batch to be sent to the bank. This report assembles into one report any unreconciled credit card charges into one reconciliation batch to be sent to the credit authority. Once the report is verified as correct the accounting department can send the report automatically to the credit authority using the supplied support.

Each report is time stamped and dated. When the credit card payments are received the accounting department is required to input the actual payment received into the system. When the entire batch is reconciled it may be move to the archive files for later use.

System Management Functions

System Definition Functions

• Cargo Agent edit/create/delete
• System Default Settings
• Language Used
• Currency Used
• Credit Card Clearing
• Rates IATA/TACT
• Date Format
• Report Headers
• Include Cargo
• Include Flight Operations
• Function(s) Priority Definition
• Use standard waybill
• Use bank rates for currency conversion
• Add Class Of Service
• Use Internet
• Port Code and Description Definition
• Schedule creation/edit/delete
• Ship/Boat Definition
• Optional Charges (Up to 10)
• Block schedule for a specific time and date
• Edit Customer Credit
• Edit Agent Commission
• Edit Passenger or Company Records
• Internal Cargo Rate Tables
• Dangerous Goods Code Definition

Networking

Cargo reservations may be made by anyone who has a Personal Computer and an operating system that supports a World Wide Web browser.

Access to the eRES Nautical Cargo functions can be connected to using the following methods:

Type of Access	Method of Access
Local Connection	Ethernet Local Area Network or by a direct communication connection
Remotely Access	Internet's World Wide Web or by dialing into the system or via leased lines Satellite.

Interline Connections To Other reservation systems Systems

eRES Nautical Cargo provides an interface to the other reservation systems systems.

eRES Nautical Cargo Backbone Networking

eRES Nautical Cargo supports a backbone network using the Internet WWW, traditional shipping company networks or via a satellite network. The standard solution is via the Internet. Below is a description of each of these backbone network options:

This backbone network can provide connectivity for all functions within the shipping company. A gateway to the Internet would allow users, passengers, cargo agents, forwarders and corporate customers to make their reservations over the Internet.

Internet	eRES Nautical Cargo supports a backbone network using the Internet. Shipping company remote ports/locations. passengers, cargo agents, forwarders and corporate customers to make their cargo reservations over the Internet. This provides the least expensive solution and in all cases performance that is acceptable to all users.
Traditional Shipping Company Networks	eRES Nautical Cargo provides an interface to the traditional shipping company networks.
Satellite	eRES Nautical Cargo can provide a backbone network based on Satellite connection. The satellite backbone network connects the remote shipping company locations to the reservation server. Passengers, cargo agents, forwarders, and corporate customers continue to make their reservations over the Internet. This provides the an inexpensive solution that can be installed where the Internet does exist not does not provide the necessary performance. The satellite connections provide full duplex DSL performance.

Terminals

Local and remote terminals can be installed in less than 15 minuets.

The terminals are inexpensive Personal Computers with any Operating System installed that supports an Internet browser. This includes Microsoft Windows/NT client or Linux.

All inexpensive terminals include the necessary programming. There is no additional programming to load onto the terminals other than what is shipped with them.

To install a remote terminal you connect the remote terminals to the Internet, select the reservations system with the browser and it is installed.

To install a local terminal plug the LAN cable into the Personal computer, select the reservation system via the browser and it is installed.

There is no limit to the number of terminals you can connect to the reservation system.

Traffic Analyzation

We install, at no cost, a network/website traffic Analyzation tool that will allow you to understand the people that are accessing your reservation system and what areas they are accessing.