New Challenges
The changes in the supply chain market dramatically bring new challenges. Those new challenges are emphasizing to the protection and security of cargo transportation. The new dimensions of transportation security, especially when transportation is an international activity, are causing dramatic changes in all involving sites. Equipment, Personnel, Information Systems are the basic sites needing improvement.
Speed, volume and on-time requirements, drive the new strategy of supply chain management. Corporations must coordinate their financial, traffic, risk management, security and most of all information technology departments to integrate shipments electronically. Without these approaches, shippers, transporters, government face continuing increase of cargo crime. Basically, the first mandatory need is the existence of an information system that will take care to exchange information through different platforms all over the world.
Cargo security R&D has focused on four main areas:
- Cargo tracking systems;
- The improvement of locks, seals, and containers;
- The development of fast-working, nonintrusive X-ray and detection devices; and
- The integration of security into the new cargo handling and e-business supply chain management systems.
Our aim is to contribute our expertise in the data interchange through different platforms, information and computer systems, countries and organizations.
Infrastructure
Today’s business environment has become extremely competitive. Global competition, economic conditions, and shorter production cycles have made the marketplace more demanding. As a means of competing, organizations are becoming strategically focused, customer directed, and technology oriented.
The use of electronic data interchange (EDI) technology allows firms to do the above while simultaneously reducing costs. An investment in EDI encourages long-term commitment with trading partners, makes the transmission of information more efficient, and allows firms to be more responsive to customer needs through shorter order cycles. EDI simultaneously decreases costs by reducing paper, mail expense, and delays due to data entry errors.
Benefits
ONLINE.EDI was developed to solve the problems inherent in paper-based transaction processing and in other forms of electronic communication. In solving these problems, EDI is a tool that enables organizations to reengineer information flows and business processes. Problems with the paper-based transaction system are:
- Time delays. Delays are caused primarily by two factors. Paper documents may take days to transport from one location to another. In addition, manual processing delays are caused by the need to key, file, retrieve, and compare data.
- Labor costs. In non-EDI systems, manual processing is required for data keying, document storing and retrieving, sorting, matching, reconciling, envelope stuffing, stamping, signing, etc. While automated equipment can help with some of these processes, most managers will agree that labor costs for document processing represents a significant proportion of their In general, labor-based processes are much more expensive than non-labor-intensive operations involving computers and telecommunications.
- Because information is keyed multiple times and documents are transported, stored, and retrieved by people, non-EDI systems tend to be error prone.
- Uncertainty exists in two areas. First, paper transportation and other manual processing delays mean that the time the document is received is uncertain. Once a transaction is sent, the sender does not know when the transaction will be received nor when it will be processed. Second, the sender does not even know whether the transaction has been received at all nor whether the receiver agrees with what was sent in the transaction.
- High Inventories. Because of time delays and uncertainties in non EDI processing, inventories are often higher than necessary. Lead times with paper processing are long. In a manufacturing firm, it may be virtually impossible to achieve a just-in-time inventory system with the time delays inherent in non-EDI processing systems.
Information Access.
ONLINE.EDI permits user access to a vast amount of detailed transaction data—in a non-EDI environment this is possible only with great effort and time delay. Because EDI data is already in computer-retrievable form, it is subject to automated processing and analysis. Such information helps one retailer, for example, monitor sales of toys by model, color, and customer zip code. This enables the retailer to respond very quickly to changes in consumer taste.
We make it happen
To make EDI happen, four elements of infrastructure must exist: (1) format standards are required to facilitate automated processing by all users; (2) translation software is required to translate from a user’s proprietary format for internal data storage into the generic external format and back again; (3) value-added networks are very helpful in solving the technical problems of sending information between computers; and (4) inexpensive microcomputers are required to bring all potential users—even small ones—into the market. It has only been in the past several years that all of these ingredients have fallen into place.
Innovative software
ONLINE.EDI is developed by On Line Data and characterized as innovative software, unique of its kind in international business market. It uses latest technology (dotNET, SQL Server etc). Reduces daily activity cost. Brings information automatically and on time. It is friendly user. It doesn’t need specialized personnel to use it. It is fully parametrical and user definable.