Importers get trade and track system free of charge

CLIVE EMDON
A SYSTEM needs to be “fast, simple and intuitive” says Arnold Garber of Compu-Clearing who has provided electronic solutions to the freight industry for 22 years. Now he is about to bestow a major gift on importers – a system allowing them to trade and track absolutely free of charge. Garber says he has a main frame system running on IBM I-Series computers that is fully accessible from Windows platforms. “It’s one of the best systems in the world.” He has spent R3 million in providing recovery systems to clients in case of disasters or mishaps. “The more attractive a system is the slower it will be. We use a terminal emulator that only transmits characters – there are no fonts and no pictures.” What he will be offering importers will be software that has a costing facility “costing goods down to the last cent”; a provision for calculating forex; for placing orders; and for calculating profits. “We have followed the philosophy of technology based on business solutions. It’s not really efficient if it isn’t fast.” He believes technology is often misused. “A lot of people use it because it’s there rather than to solve problems. “Freight forwarders go through a lot of trouble to pick up cargo. Just imagine a shipment sent from a small town in China to Beijing, and from there to London and on to South Africa. There is ongoing costing necessary – the formalities, the tracking of deliveries of goods packed and unpacked or refrigerated. The forwarder pays for all expenses in relation to the transport of goods but not the trade finance. To finance the goods, the forwarder has to have every piece of paper relating to them. “We will provide these electronically with a facility to make forex payments through the system. One step further and there is trade finance through niche banks. The computer technology makes it available.” At 17 Garber was a computer operator, then a programmer and he then worked in software for Arthur Andersen. In the early 80s he used the concept of a ‘package’ of options. By 1984 he had 45% of the market. He went on to list Compu-Clearing on the stock exchange with Bidvest taking 25% of the shares. Today he has a staff of 60, “half of them professionals”. “The system is ideal for local conditions and for working with countries abroad – and it’s up for grabs.”