Ontash has released preliminary solution information for ShipNet which is a first of its kind software targeted towards medium and large size Freight Forwarding companies, NVOCC's and 3PLS's. The software automates the management of carrier contracts and quotations. It allows salespersons in freight forwarding companies to view shipping rates and add-on charges over a secure web site and to generate customer quotations with a few mouse clicks. The product has an easily provable return on investment (ROI) as it reduces the time taken for generating a quotation from several hours to less than a few minutes.
For an online demonstration of ShipNet click here. (Requires Flash Player)
Carrier Contract Editor: Carrier contracts (also called rate sheets) can be edited, stored and viewed on the system. The contract editor supports carrier defined commodity groups, bullet rates, arbitrary add-on charges (like Peak Season Surcharge, Origin Charge, Destination Charge etc.) and UN Location Codes for Ports. Contracts can be printed from the system.
Quote Editor/Generator: Quotes can be edited, stored and viewed on the system. The editor supports Customer Defined commodity groups. A quote is generated by specifying routes and customer defined commodity groups. The system will search all applicable carrier contracts and create an initial quote with a default markup. The quote is then edited to create final quote. The quote can then be printed for delivery to the customer.
Integration with Existing Systems: Data can be exported to Accounting/Admin and Operations Systems. Contracts and accepted quotes can be exported to a database independent XML format.
Access Controls: Access to the system is restricted based on the role of the user. By default salespersons can only view contracts and create quotes. Data Entry clerks can input new contracts. Sales managers can view quotes created by their subordinates but not those created by others.
Secure/Encrypted Web Access: The entire product interface can be accessed from a standard web browser over an encrypted SSL (Secure Socket Layer) link. This means that the software can be accessed over the internet or corporate LAN and that data transmission is encrypted for maximum protection of proprietary information. Each user is assigned an id and password for access.
Customer Information: Customer information such as company name, contact name, address etc can be tracked by the system.
The cost of purchasing and installing this software can be recovered in less than a year. This estimate can be arrived at by looking at the tangible cost savings of using the system -- quotes can be generated in a few minutes intead of taking several hours. This saves 1.25 days of a salespersons time every month. This time can be spent more productively on sales efforts. Other savings from using the system include elimination of the need to distribute carrier contracts (rate sheets) to all salespersons, having an electronic record of generated quotes and the ability to monitor quote generation activity and quote profitability across all salespersons.
Please contact us for further information including pricing and to arrange a demonstration.
