The Magaya Insider. Magaya Logistics Software Solutions. April In This Issue... Note from Editor

Transcription

1 The Magaya Insider April 2009 In This Issue... In the Works Direct Image Scanning Magaya Database and Communication Server How To How to Create Custom Fields Case Study Advanced Maritime Transport, Inc. Magaya Cargo System In the Works Note from Editor Do you need to track specific information in Magaya Explorer? Now you can. Learn how to use this new feature in Magaya software. You can add a Custom Field to gather data, answer questions, select from a dropdown list, and other options. The data can then be collected into reports. See this month s case study to learn about additional features in the Magaya Cargo System that are giving the logistics company Advanced Maritime Transports a competitive edge in the competitive oil and gas industry. They use the documentation forms in the Magaya Cargo System to prepare shipments to West Africa, ensuring they have all the customs information they need. Here is a preview of what the Magaya software development team is working on for the next software release: Scan Documents and Pictures Directly into Magaya Software: When you are in the Attachments screen of any transaction, you will have the option to add images from a digital camera or to directly scan an image or a document into Magaya Explorer. The images will be loaded directly into the selected transaction as attachments and saved in your Magaya database. In the past you had to save the images to a file and later attach them to the transaction. Magaya Communication Server and Magaya Database Server will run as Windows Services: For the next release of Magaya software, the Magaya Communication Server and Database Server will run as Windows Services. This means that you don t need to be logged in to the server computer to connect to the Magaya database from the workstations or individual computers in your company or remote computer. Our clients running Magaya software products using Microsoft Terminal Services are the ones who will take complete advantage of this feature. This functionality was not possible in the past because we were maintaining compatibility with Windows 98 or Windows ME for customers who were still running those operating systems. From this release forward you will need Windows 2000 or newer to run any Magaya product if you wish to upgrade to the latest version of Magaya software. For the customers still running previous versions of Microsoft Windows, there are two options: 1) Keep using your current version of your Magaya Product, or 2) Upgrade your operating system. Magaya Logistics Software Solutions

2 Page 2 How To? How to Create Custom Fields The new version of Magaya software (7.0) gives you the ability to add custom fields of different types to any transaction and use them in templates, lists, reports, combo boxes (dropdown menus), filters, when transmitting or converting transactions, export/import, and more. For example if you ship vehicles, you may need to track information about the vehicles and generate a report. Now with custom fields, you can add any field you need and answer questions about the shipments such as Is the title with the vehicle? Are the keys in the vehicle? Does the car have gas? What is the color of the vehicle? You can create different types of fields: Dropdown lists of choices (choices you set or choose from your existing list of entities such as customers, carriers, vendors, etc) Text fields that can be filled in (you set the character limit) Yes or No fields Numeric fields and currency fields (whole numbers or include decimal places) Date and/or time fields When you add a custom field, it becomes available as a new tab in the transaction. Other options include the ability to add the custom field as a column in any list in Magaya Explorer. You can also make the custom field visible for employees internally but not visible to customers. Step-by-Step Procedure 1. Go to the Maintenance folder (or the Options menu on the top toolbar) and click on Configuration. 2. Select Custom Fields from the menu.

3 Page 3 How To? 3. In the list of Customizable Elements, select the element you want to customize such as Cargo Release, Invoice, or Warehouse Receipt. For this example we will select Warehouse Receipt and create a custom field for the following: Are the keys with the vehicle? 4. Click the Add button to create a custom field for our question. A dialog box opens: 5. Enter a Display Name. Let s type the Display Name as Keys in Vehicle? This is the name that will appear in the reports and in transactions. (The Internal Name is assigned by the system.) 6. Enter a description (optional). This will not display on the transaction. This will explain when and why this question is used. 7. Change the maximum length (optional). 8. Select what type of field you want. A dialog box opens, displaying different options depending on which type of field you choose. These are the options: Type will allow text to be entered in the field. You can set the maximum number of characters. The default is 100. Decimal will allow you to specify a number to a set amount of decimal places. Use the Precision dropdown to select the decimal places. The default is two places. Pick List will create a dropdown list with choices you specify. Yes/No is used to answer yes or no questions. Date can display the date field. To include the time, check the box Date and Time. Money will allow you to specify a currency amount. Use the Precision dropdown to select the decimal places. The default is two places. Lookup will allow the user to select from a dropdown list of the entities you set such as Customers, Forwarding Agents, Carriers, etc.

4 Page 4 How To? 9. Select Yes/No for this example. 10. Check the box to Allow to build reports by this field to allow this custom field to be available in reports in Magaya software. Other options are: If you no longer need a field, there are two options: You can delete a custom field completely, or you keep it in your system but make it inactive. To deactivate a custom field, check the box Field is Inactive. If you want to create a custom field for internal use only, check the box Internal Use Only. You can add as many custom fields as you need. After you add a custom field, it becomes available as a new tab in the transaction. For this example, two more custom fields were added: one text box for the vehicle color, and one Lookup for the third party. Let s go to a Warehouse Receipt to see how the custom fields appear in the dialog box: Custom Tab Added The information added into the Custom Fields will be automatically carried over to any other transactions you create from this Warehouse Receipt such as a shipment whenever the field exists. Another new feature in the latest version of Magaya software is the ability to create custom documents with the Magaya Document Designer 2.0 to display these custom fields. Details will be coming in a future newsletter!

5 CASE STUDY: Advanced Maritime Transports, Inc. Freight Forwarder Expanding Operations Reliably Shipping Oil Supplies with the Magaya Cargo System Advanced Maritime Transports wanted every advantage to help them grow in the competitive oil and gas market. The Magaya Cargo System helps them prepare and send shipments of oil supplies from Houston to West Africa and stay ahead of the competition. The Magaya Cargo System is very user friendly and saves us time by automatically transferring all the information from one transaction to another. AMT president William Netzinger Magaya Logistics Software Solutions

6 ADVANCED MARITIME TRANSPORT, INC. AT A GLANCE Advanced Maritime Transports, Inc. INDUSTRY Freight Forwarders SOLUTION Magaya Cargo System Advanced Maritime Transports, Inc. (AMT) is a freight forwarder based in Houston, Texas, that specializes in logistical services to oil companies. Ninety percent of their business is exports to West Africa. They are a subsidiary of the GETMA NECOTRANS Group and AMTsa, an international transport and logistics company based in Switzerland. In addition to exports from the US, AMT owns and operates two vessels in West Africa that provide regular transport of oil supplies up and down the coast to ports between Nigeria and Angola. CHALLENGE Working on an offshore oil rig requires the right equipment at the right time. Fighting unpredictable weather conditions and handling heavy machinery on a tight schedule can make offshore drilling an extremely dangerous business in a very competitive industry. The last thing an oil rig manager needs to hear is his equipment is hung up in customs. That s where Houston-based Advanced Maritime Transports, Inc. (AMT) makes its mark. They use the Magaya Cargo System to create and track export shipments of oil equipment and supplies from the US to the coast of West Africa where and when they are needed. AMT also provides cargo runs, a value-added service to oil supply companies that need equipment moved from one location to another. Moving all this cargo between the different countries along the West African coast requires knowledge of the individual customs laws and regulations. A big key to success in business in West Africa is being aware of changes in those countries so you can have all your documentation right, said AMT president William Netzinger. Otherwise, shipments can get delayed in customs for six months. AMT has a good reputation with suppliers because AMT avoids those delays and gets the shipments done right. They plan to expand their operations and offer their logistics services to other countries and are using the features in the Magaya Cargo System to help them get there. SOLUTION When AMT became a licensed freight forwarder in 2007, they downloaded a trial of the Magaya Cargo System and saw its advantages right away. Features they use include warehousing, shipment documentation, operations procedures such as Quotations and Pickup Orders, and more. When we first started, we did not own a warehouse, so we did not use the Warehousing portion of the system, Mr. Netzinger explained. In January we moved into a new facility in Houston that has a warehouse. We were already using the Magaya Cargo System on a daily basis for Pickup Orders and shipments, but now we are using it even more in the new warehouse. Before AMT built their own 18,000 square-foot facility, they subcontracted their warehousing. Cargo receipt processes were handled manually, and they had to reenter information from the warehousing company into AMT s database. Now they do not have to enter cargo data twice. The Magaya Cargo System is more user friendly and has sped up the cargo receipt process. Other benefits of their new warehouse are the ability to look at the cargo and make informed decisions for the client such as determining if the cargo needs to be repacked. The Magaya Cargo System enables easy repacking when placing commodities in a shipment. RESULTS In addition to the new warehouse, Advanced Maritime Transports added staff. In a tight economy a company that is growing must be doing something right. When I started about four years ago, there were only three of us. Now there are 14 employees, Mr. Netzinger said. Magaya Cargo System has been an asset in helping us grow. AMT uses many of the features in the Magaya Cargo System that benefit them and their customers. They offer simplified and comprehensive tariffs to their customers for door-to-door services instead of only providing a lump sum on an invoice. Our customers like to see the itemized rate sheet and invoices with freight charges, documentation, customs clearance, airport transfer fees, fuel, security fees, etc. The Charges tab in Magaya Cargo System provides a place to enter different types of charges such as documentation fees and freight charges. You can also set up rates in a customer s or vendor s profile so that each time you use that vendor in a transaction, the rates are automatically calculated. When charges are added to a Quotation and that Quotation is converted into a Pickup Order or Warehouse Receipt, the information is transferred automatically to the new transaction.

7 ADVANCED MARITIME TRANSPORT, INC. RESULTS (cont.) AMT handles about 20 air shipments a week. They also process two to three ocean shipments per week out of the Port of Houston. The ocean freight is often pipe shipments or other break bulk type cargo. The Magaya Cargo System comes with many forms needed for shipments, and AMT uses this feature to create air waybills, cargo manifests, and Bills of Lading just a few of the documents available in the system. Specializing in getting shipments cleared in the customs offices in West Africa has given AMT an advantage. It s easy to ship materials, but it s hard to get them cleared. We avoid delays that others may experience if their papers are not in order, causing the shipment to sit for months. We pride ourselves on getting the documentation right. We have a very good reputation on the African coast and in Houston, Mr. Netzinger said. Others in this business might think it s just about kilos and containers, but our reputation has been built on providing personalized customer service, including correct and current documentation. Customers don t want problems or delays. The previous elections in Nigeria s government resulted in a change in customs staff. AMT formed new relationships to maintain uninterrupted business for their customers. Changes in customs is just one of the challenges. It s not like shipping within the US or to other countries. Risks in this area include unstable political environments, regional conflicts, worker safety issues and hostage-taking incidents by militants. We stay up to date on import requirements, stay in touch with the local staff, and are very meticulous with the paperwork. Another way of providing good service and communication is AMT s integration of Magaya LiveTrack into their website. Customers can log in to view the status of their cargo in real time. Since about 75% of the material we ship is going to end up on an offshore drilling rig, it s great to have the LiveTrack so the rig manager can log in and see shipment information and where their materials are. They use the Magaya Cargo System for their operations, and they liquidate shipments to see what the profitability is, and then they export the accounting-related data to another accounting program. Mr. Netzinger uses the reports from the Magaya Cargo System such as tonnage reports and frequency of transactions per customer for quarterly reports and to provide updates to management. They can also analyze what destinations and types of cargo are the most profitable. The reports we generate give us a good picture of our business, Mr. Netzinger said. We like the flexible options in the Magaya Cargo System such as the ability to choose columns in our reports so we can tailor them to our needs. IN CLOSING AMT s future plans include adding handheld scanners to their new warehouse. Additional Magaya warehousing features will enable AMT to automatically generate barcodes, print them, and attach them to the boxes, crates, or pallets. Scanning sure beats doing the data entry. They will map out the warehouse and assign locations with barcodes on the locations to scan the cargo into a specific location. This will allow the warehouse staff to receive cargo more quickly, increase volume, and do less paperwork. They also plan to start keeping inventory by part numbers and serial numbers, and they plan on entering line item inventory for future clients. They are expanding to work with customers in South America and the Caribbean. They are using the Magaya Community and Network features that are built into the Magaya Cargo System to reach other Magaya users and agents in those new regions. Our goal is to be a best-in-class oil and gas logistics provider everywhere that we are needed, Mr. Netzinger said. We plan to open an office in Brazil this year and develop relationships there and in Asia-Pacific. After working in West Africa, one of the hardest places in the world, we ve learned a good formula for success. We feel the growth potential for us is very good. All rights reserved. Magaya, the Magaya logo and all products are all trademarked unless specifically specified as of a third party. Copyright 2009, Magaya Corporation. Magaya Logistics Software Solutions info@magaya.com