Shipshape set to launch windows programme

ALAN PEAT THE BUSTLING trade market in the Eastern Cape, particularly in automotive products, is stimulating increased business in the area, according to Chrissie du Barry, director of freight software specialists, Shipshape Software. “This is attracting a lot of extra focus on the region,” she told FTW, “where we already have a core customer base – including one who deals predominantly in the automotive industry.” The Eastern Cape, therefore, will be able to share in Shipshape’s new product – a Windows-based export programme which the company is launching at the FIATA conference at Sun City this month. “Basically,” said Du Barry, “we have had a dos-based programme which we’ve now re-written in Windows format to comply with customer preference. “It is also a lot more compatible with other software.” This joins the company’s electronic data interchange (EDI) software – designed to allow electronic communication of customers’ entry information to customs. It also follows the roll-out of Shipshape’s Windows groupage programme last October, and precedes the launch of the import programme, due for the middle of next year. “This last is the big content programme,” said Du Barry, “because of the arithmetic function needed for the duty and value-added tax calculations that are a vital part of life for everyone in the import sector.”