IT systems evolving to deliver further value to customers

Modern IT systems have moved way beyond their traditional role as mechanisms for the submission of declarations to SA Revenue Service. “While this is a critical prerequisite to a South African customs clearing agent, it grossly underutilises the potential inherent in the use of a modern IT system and users may be missing out on many of the benefits associated with operating in the computerised era,” says Core Freight’s Jonathan Sims. “The Core Freight design philosophy incorporated four goals from the outset,” said Sims. “These were improvement in internal operational processes; enhanced management visibility and control; appropriate integration with the other applications in the overall supply chain; and an emphasis on customer support. And the use of technology is essential to the efficient delivery of these objectives.” But it’s all about evolving to meet changing needs, says Sims. “This places an onus on Core Freight to constantly refine existing functionality and identify new opportunities that deliver further value to our customers.” The company's broad customer base ranges from local subsidiaries of international freight forwarders to large independents and smaller owner-managed operators – and its systems are designed to meet the needs of every customer. CoreFreight is available from a secure hosted environment, accessed simply from any internet connection. “This dramatically lowers the complexity of operating a sophisticated software application for the user,” he explained. “Within the primary application itself logical process and comprehensive audit trails facilitate management of the f low of work within the organisation, and the status of all work is easily identified. Strong financial controls that are available to manage file profitability and the customs declaration processing, including VOCs, bondstore and supporting docs submission are considered a key benefit.” The CoreDocs module integrates document image storage into the operational process which allows clients to centralise processing, while CoreXchange facilitates the electronic movement of data between the CoreFreight application and other third party systems. “This avoids the recapture of data, reducing processing time and ensuring accuracy and completeness of information,” he said, “all of which potentially lowers costs and improves effectiveness for the user.” INSERT & CAPTION The CoreDocs module integrates document image storage into the operational process which allows clients to centralise processing. – Jonathan Sims