I

Official Publication of The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport-India

~TRANSPORT~ ~ & lOGISTICS~ www-itln-in I Issue 6 Vol 1 I March - April 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Softlink's Logi-Sys catapults b.usiness growth through visibility, integration V. RAMANUJAM

LEADING service providers are bringing a quality philosophy to their freight forwarding, Customs clearing, warehous­

ing and other logistics functions. The concepts of doing it right the first time, understanding full needs of customers eliminate poor quality and excess costs in the service, thus giv­ing value-additions to customers and enable continuous improvements in performance and so that their servic­es become hallmarks of top perform­ers. Today, the 21st century systems of logistics are increasingly becom­ing information-intensive, and service providers from around the world can­not be leading-edge players without first-class IT systems.

Clearly, this requirement which con­tinued from the 1990s into the 2000s is now a primary need for operators and the winning companies are those with source data capture, real-time IT systems that provide access and up­date, leading-edge applications and capabilities , and advanced decision support systems for freight forward­ing, delivery, logistics planning, trans­portation management, warehousing and accounting. Software companies which are keen in providing more qual­ity systems for less cost have already responded to this need and started introducing a number of IT initiatives, creating a niche market for superior quality IT tools. Mumbai-based Soft-

through use of Softlink products. Softlink's latest enterprise level

software for logistics industry, Logi­Sys, is a web based, comprehensive, modular application that combines all operations and functions of logistics service providers into one integrated system. "Developed in over 200-man hours, Logi-Sys is the most exhaustive and extensive system available for lo­gistics industry", says Amit Mahesh­wari, CEO & MD, Softlink.

Responsible for Softlink's overall global operations Amit Maheshwari, founder of the company, has a rich, two-decade cumulative logistics in­dustry knowledge, experience and technological expertise. A graduate in Electronic Engineering, Maheshwari's role spans strategic planning, informa­tion management, financial resource management, product development and marketing. Under his leadership, Softlink has now grown to have strong presence in every major city in India in­cluding Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi.

Logi-Sys is a modular, scalable and extensible enterprise-level applica­tion that improves productivity and control within the organisation and enables effective decision making and profitable business growth, Mahesh­wari claims. "The different modules of the system integrate the wide range of business functions of the logistics service providers, so that the various

using its sales & service module and all the interaction of the salespersons on phone or by visits can be recorded. All verbal and written quotations can be generated from the system. Once the order is confirmed, booking can be made and can be forwarded to airlines or shipping lines for confirmation".

The system helps in freight forward­ing by managing entire operations and generates all the required documents like AWB, HAWB, BL, HBL, Manifest, Cargo Arrival Notices , Deliver Orders etc digitally, creating a paperless of­fice. The freight forwarding module also helps in consolidation and keep­ing track of containers. It also includes imports activity right from pre-alerts, generating CAN and DO to profitabil-

link is a leading software provider departments can easily access and ity and profit sharing. The Customs dedicated to enable companies in lo­gistics industry to simplify operations through highly specialised, segment­specific software products.

Providing simplified tools for opera­tions since nearly two decades , Softlink has to its credit over 60,000 satisfied users in organisations exceeding 3,000 across the globe. Exporters, import­ers, CHAs, Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders, NVOCCs, 3PL companies, lATA cargo agents and warehouse operators and logistics service pro­viders have all benefited in terms of productivity and operational efficiency

20 I MAR - APR 2011 I wwwjtlnjn

share information and communicate with each other", he told INDIAN TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS NEWS in an exclusive one-to-one. Maheshwari explained, "A web-based modular ERP system, Logi-Sys can fulfil the needs of all segments of logistics industry such as 3PL, NVOCC, Freight Forwarding and CHA. The system works on a cen­tralised database linking all depart­ments and branches of a company".

Briefing on the function of the system, Maheshwari told this corre­spondent, "For example, an enquiry received can be locked into the system

clearance module facilitates regula­tory compliance and documentation by facilitating online filing of Shipping Bills and Bills of Entry through Icegate. The tightly integrated full featured ac­counts module ensures that all the revenue related information is directly posted in accounts. It facilitates auto­mated generation of invoices on the basis of contracts (quotations), freight and actual expenses, regulation of Credit limits of the customers and many more advanced features.

Maheshwari is proud of the fact that Logi-Sys has a very advanced account-

ing system with provisions of stringent checks and balances like approvals etc. It also meets all requirements of Tax management and f<;lIeign exchange remittances. Billings for shipper, con­signee or the agent are generated au­tomatically by the system.

Speaking on its advanced features, Maheshwari said, "Logi-Sys provides advanced features like automatic alerts and notifications via SMS and emails . It can also send daily status re­ports to shippers and consignees au­tomatically at a pre-defined t ime and frequency. The system is developed using state-of-the-art technology and uses MSSQL as its database. Being a modular logistics service providers have choice to implement any module as per their requirements" .

Logi-Sys is available both under SaaS and in licence mode which can be implemented by the LSPs on their own servers, the CEO-MD said. Soft-

link's team of implementation engi­neers study the business requirements of the organisation and create the im­plementation programme that is fine ­tuned to their requirements .

Logi-Sys is serviced by Softlink through its own offices spread across the country.

Some of the additional modules like warehousing, transport , container management are under-development will be released in the next few months, Maheshwari told this correspondent.

He added that Logi-Sys can be used by transporters, freight forwarders, 3PL or 4PL companies and CHAs.

Asked about Softlink's another product, Live Impex, Maheshwari said that the product offers a comprehen­sive, online Customs clearance solu­tion, anytime, anywhere, and cargo forwarding through Indian Customs . "T~e system can be used by import­ers, exporters or their CHAs, to handle

the transactions with the Customs . Live Impex supports both manual Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills as well as online transactions via Icegate.

To a question on the salient features of the system, Maheshwari replied, "Created with over 20 years of domain knowledge, Live Impex efficiently han­dles all intricacies of complex Customs clearance process in India. The system is being made available to users on pay-as-you-use basis and is available on demand, eliminating investment on servers and software licence. Live Im­pex includes many high-end features like SMS, e -mail, updates to custom­ers, as well as provision to daily status report. The system also includes many other features like licence muster, MIS reports and masters for duties and classification that is always updated. In a nutshell, Live Impex is a most comprehensive solution for Customs clearing in India" .

www.itln.in I MAR-APR2011 121

I

•