Good systems help optimise capacity

In view of the complex

demands of the

consolidation market,

consolidators should not

underestimate the importance

of a well-developed information

technology (IT) system,

according to Nachi Mendelow,

general manager of global

business development for

CompuClearing.

“It is very

important to

have a system

that at any

given moment

allows you to

accurately view

your schedules

for sea, air,

road and rail

as well as

your available

capacity and

used capacity,”

he said. “This

helps to

ensure that

consolidators

sell all of the

space appropriately."

Automatic communication

to all of the different parties

involved in the consol is also

important. “Instead of having

to send an update to all of

the parties involved in the

consol, the

system should

automatically

trigger all

updates to

all parties

involved,” said

Mendelow.

He said that

customers

often required

status updates

and the ability

to track the

location

of their

goods. He

believes that

any system should provide

this through both accurate

reporting and web portals

where the customer can view

the data in real time.

“Using online platforms to

allow customers to request

quotations and place bookings

considerably reduces the

resources needed for these

tasks."

He said as consolidators

often worked with multiple

carriers on multiple routes with

multiple container types with

each carrier, they spent vast

resources managing hundreds

and even thousands of rates on

a monthly basis.

“Having a good system

in place makes a major

difference. WiseTech

Global and

CompuClearing

are both

currently

developing a

module to allow

for the automatic updating and

management of carrier freight

rates to assist consolidators

with this major task.”

He said the CargoWise

One system provided full

consolidation functionality

for air, sea, road and rail and

allowed profit and

loss to run at

job level. It

also allowed

tracking at

container,

voyage and

job levels.

INSERT & CAPTION

A module to allow

for the automatic

updating and

management of

carrier freight rates

is currently being

developed.

– Nachi Mendelow