CoreDocs functionality accommodates new Sars electronic docs

“Although Gauteng province occupies less than 1.5% of South Africa’s land mass, it accounts for about a third of the national gross domestic product – approximately 10% of the entire African continent’s GDP – and its total household consumption is 35% of the total Republic. This makes it an exciting place in which to operate.” So says Glenn Lawson of Johannesburg-based specialised forwarding and clearing software systems service provider Core Freight Systems. “In order to remain relevant it is vital for software to evolve with the needs of business – and freight forwarding and customs clearing is no exception to this. Notwithstanding the international slow-down in economic activity precipitated by the recent and perhaps current financial crisis, the efficient import and export of goods remains essential to the world economies. Hence we see ongoing demand for products that facilitate supply chain management.” The CoreFreight application is designed to contribute to both the internal procedures of users and their interaction with other applications in use along the chain, Lawson explains. “The diversity in our client base provides us with the opportunity to identify potential areas in which information technology can be applied to improve these processes.” An example of this is the CoreDocs functionality. “This provides a facility for the storage of electronic documents, including traditional scanned images, Excel schedules or e-mail correspondence. This is integrated into the CoreFreight software which makes it easily accessible to all users of the application and can replace the physical file, with the all the benefits associated with this. This functionality was extended to accommodate the new electronic submission of Sars “Supporting Docs” introduced with the Customs Modernisation programme so that a single audit trail of all documentation on a transaction is maintained. “Another example is the CoreQuery module, which gives users the visibility to determine online the status of processing of all shipments managed within the CoreFreight application, including the direct download of pertinent data.” Few innovations originate in a vacuum, says Lawson, and regular interaction with clients located in Gauteng and the other centres in South Africa provides an ongoing source of improvement to the company’s software, he added.