The key to effective supply chain management is Information Technology and Business-to-Business (B2B)
e-Commerce - data exchange between trading partners delivers accuracy, efficiency and productivity.
The 1990’s saw the growth of VAN’s and “traditional” EDI solutions. While these undoubtedly have their
place, they are often fraught with difficulties and can be expensive to implement. In the new
millennium, we are witnessing a new growth in the use of the Internet for B2B e-Commerce, with XML as
the standard. Far more flexible, extensible and less costly to implement than “traditional” EDI, it
offers enormous potential for the supply chain. The ultimate goal has to be to drive the whole business
process through electronic transactions.
FCL has a long involvement with e-Commerce, from the early development of EDI links with UK customs,
through to a variety of unilateral and bilateral EDI solutions for customers, partners and carriers.
ForwardOffice incorporates facilities for data exchange through a variety of interfaces and formats,
including XML.
With the launch of our hosted “WebTrack” Internet Consignment Tracking system in 1998, and the
subsequent development of our “FCL-ASP” platform, we have also been able to provide our customers with
highly cost-effective web-based solutions.
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 Key Features:
• General Features:
• Supports XML, EDIFACT, ANSI, CSV and proprietary message formats
• Transfer via FTP or e-Mail
• Trading partner-based mapping and code correlations
• Customer and Partner EDI:
• Consignment bookings from customers
• Bi-directional partner movement exchanges
• Bi-directional Status Updates - fully integrated with Operations, Consignment Tracking and Event Management
• Status updates can trigger automatic Post- Shipment Confirmation, POD update, Milestone and Diary updates
• Sales/Purchase Order EDI (ForwardVision):
• Bi-directional Order exchanges
• Sales Invoicing EDI:
• Outbound Sales Transaction messages
• Supports Individual and Bulk Transactions
• Airline EDI:
• Via the Syntegra portal
• Outbound “FWB” electronic Air Waybill
• Outbound “FHL” Consolidation List (e.g. for US CBP implementation of Air AMS)
• Inbound “FSA” Status Updates as Customer and
Partner EDI
• Ocean Carrier EDI:
• Via the INTTRA and GT Nexus portals
• Outbound Bill of Lading/Shipping Instructions
• Dual-purpose - use for AMS submissions
• Inbound Status Updates as Customer and Partner EDI
• UK Customs EDI:
• Bi-directional exchange with HMC&E CHIEF system via CSP’s or EDCS
• Imports, Exports and CFSP message sets
• Inbound Status Updates as Customer and Partner EDI
• US Customs AESDirect:
• Individual or Batch upload
• AES Weblink
• Bespoke EDI:
• Bespoke consultancy and developments undertaken
• “FCL-ASP” Web Applications:
• ForwardVision - Order Management
• WebTrack - Consignment Tracking
• WebStock - Stock Enquiry
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