IT provider links SA airfreight clients into US network

Providing EDI link with Sars ALAN PEAT IN TEAMING up with the US Descartes Systems Group, the SA-based Cargo Application Service Provider .Net (Caspnet) will link its air cargo clients into Descartes’ multimodal electronic messaging network – the Global Logistics Network (GLN). Also, through GLN, Caspnet will provide the industry with a direct electronic data interchange (EDI) link-up with SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs. It will also use the network to file electronically in the US, Canada, India and SA for its customer base of air carriers and forwarders. It effectively offers SA users an electronic link with Descartes’ 3 000 customers in 60 countries - including about 1 600 ground carriers and more than 90 airlines, 30 ocean carriers, 900 freight forwarders and third-party providers of logistics services, and hundreds of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, private fleet owners and regulatory agencies. “Ours is a large country with a huge need for technology,” said Caspnet MD Brian Mulligan, “and by teaming with Descartes we can extend our services while meeting the EDI needs of the cargo community in SA and neighboring countries.” Caspnet now markets Descartes’ GLN services and software in SA, Namibia and Zimbabwe – including its PC-based electronic message forwarding system, its ocean connectivity system, and its web-based system for transmitting house waybill information to airlines.