eCargo

Release notes: Improved rates search, simplified rating errors and flexible charges

Tim Strawbridge — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Yet another major release with lots of new and exciting features. In this release we've significantly improved the rates search feature, improved the process of resolving rating errors and expanded the activities eCargo can calculate costs for.

New features

Enhanced Rates Search: The process of finding rates has become much easier and faster with the new improved rates search feature. The search facility has been optimized to function more intelligently, automatically narrowing down the zone, product and supplier criteria as you make your search selections. It also now enables multiple selections.

Improved rating errors: When a consignment or order fails to calculate a revenue or cost charge eCargo now provides more informative messages, assisting you in identifying what caused the error. There is now also a short cut button from the consignment page to the rates page, showing you exactly what rates the consignment used, or tried to use in it's calculations.

Many types of charges on one consigments: Previously a consignment could only have one type of charge attached to it, such as road freight or sea freight. Now a consignment can have many different types of charges attached to it, such as port marshalling, documentation, fumigation or any custom charged added. These charges can then be invoiced as per the standard process. We now also provide the ability to edit existing charges, to cater for situations where an ad-hoc or spot rate has been used which differs from the base rates.

Bug Fixes

Credit charges on invoice lines in Excel: When exported to Excel invoice line charges for credits were showing as a positive value. This has now been fixed and displays as a negative value.
Credit charges on Accruals Report: The handling of credit line charges in the Accruals has been improved. There was the potential for an over accrual of freight costs where consignments had been credited and re-issued in the same month.

Release notes: Super admin user, new quick searches plus more

Julia — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

We've been looking forward to getting this latest version of eCargo Premium out the door for some time now. Version 2.8.0 includes a number of new features and bug fixes that will have a large impact on some of our customers.

The biggest change is providing 'super admin' users with the ability to edit and update consignments after they have been finalised. Now selected users can correct data entry errors such as incorrect pallet counts or actual delivery dates without logging a call with the eCargo helpdesk (just quietly Julia is also quite excited about empowering her users).

New features

Edit confirmed consignments and improved history: Admin users can now update details on consignments that have bene confirmed as dispatched and delivered. We've also enhanced the History feature to provide a more detailed audit trail and changes
New Quick Searches: You can now perform a quick search on two new commonly searched on fields, Booking Reference and Container Number.
Pallet label printing: If you have a Zebra label printer you can print pallet labels for a consignment. A label will be printed for each pallet, containing quantity, carrier, customer and barcode details.

Bug Fixes

Issues with sub-contractors: Fixed a problem where the sub-contractor and vehicle data sometimes got 'messed up' after a series of changes.
Actual delivery quantities not captured when comments entered: When a user entered comments at the same time as modifying the delivered quantities these values were not being recorded in the database. This bug has now been fixed.

Other changes

Updated order change reason codes: A new reason code 'Manufacturing Tolerence' has been added. These reason codes are used by export shipping customers when orders are rolled to another vessel or cancelled.

eCargo Newsletter - February 2010

Tim Strawbridge — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:00 GMT

In this issue

2009 Numbers
Latest product release
Upcoming features and improvements
Planes, trains and automobiles (and trucks and boats)
Did you know...

2009 Numbers

Numbers can be quite useful and informative sometimes, here are some eCargo numbers from 2009:

417,569 freight consignments created
28 million m3 of product moved
46,557 shipping containers exported

Our 2010 numbers are shaping up to be even bigger.

Latest product release

Very shortly you will receive an updated version of eCargo, which will include the following:

Booking Reference & Container Number Quick Search

Based on customer feedback we’ve added two new fields to the quick search function.

Ability to edit completed deliveries

Nominated administrator users will be able to edit completed deliveries. This will help business where there is a lot of incorrect data entered for dates, times and quantities.

Enhanced rates search

Searching for freight rates will become much faster with the added benefits of:

Searching for rates from a selected zone to any zone
Finding the cheapest rate for a particular route
Searching on multiple product types

Upcoming features and improvements

The following new features and system improvements are in the pipeline:

Void Invoices

Being human we all make mistakes, so it’s good to have an option to correct our mistakes. Very shortly we’ll be releasing a new function allowing invoice administrators to Void invoices that have not yet been marked as paid.

Simplified freight cost calculation error messages

In an effort to simplify the often complicated process of managing freight charge exceptions we’ll be releasing a number of enhancements in this area. Firstly we’ll be changing the freight charge error messages to plain English. No longer will you be expected to interpret what ERR_MAP_FROM or ERR_RATE_CARD actually means.

Planes, trains and automobiles (and trucks and boats)

You may be surprised to know that the eCargo team is not all just about bits and bytes, there is some high octane unleaded running quietly in our blood. We like things that are big and go fast, and the more complicated and technical the better. Here are a couple of stories that caught our eye this month:

Online TV channel for car mad fans

There is now a web TV channel, Torquetv, which offers kiwis a place to go for all things automobile. From live streaming of new vehicle releases to motorsport viewers can watch what they want when they want, for free! Click here for more details

Boeing 747-8 freight liner

Boeing’s largest plane ever built, the 747-8 freighter, has made it’s first ever flight. The 76 meter long plane is 5.5 meters longer than the 747-400 Jumbo, and will cost you about $US301million. However if you’re an airline company you might be able to negotiate a bulk discount. Click here for more details

Did You Know..?

This month we return with a new tip in the 'Did You Know..?' series:

Ever had problems connecting to eCargo?

Have you ever had problems connecting to eCargo or any other external website and wondered is it just me or is it down for everyone? Well here’s a useful site to help you answer that question: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/. Go to this website and enter the website you’re having problems accessing, eg www.ecargo.co.nz, and it will tell you whether the site is up or not. Hint: If you can’t even get to this site then chances are its you!

Something between a napkin sketch and a roadmap

Tim Strawbridge — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT

As with any provider of software we receive a large number of requests from our customers for new features and system improvements. We try very hard to implement many of these requests, and tend to focus on the ones that provide benefits to all our customers.

There are challenges in providing customised solutions to a customer when everyone uses the same software, such as keeping the user interface clean and simple without cluttering the screen with a plethora of options.

In the interests of keeping an open dialogue with our customer base I thought it would be useful to share a little bit about what we are working on for the coming year. This is certainly not a roadmap, and we'll still keep a few little surprises to ourselves, however this will give you an idea of the core areas we are planning to deliver on this year.

We can summarise our key areas as follows:

Enabling you to better manage the exceptions that occur in freight movements
Streamlining the process of managing your freight rates
Administration of your master data

Exception management

I dream of a world where a consignment always has the correct volume and address, the carrier always delivers in full on time and there are never any invoicing errors. This of course is a pipe dream, systems such as eCargo most definitely reduce errors through system integration (reducing manual data entry) and process automation (reconciliation of freight invoices) however the process will always start with someone keying data into a system.

Your freight management system needs to provide you with the means to identify, manage and correct the exceptions that will always occur. We'll be delivering a number of improvements in this area to help you better manage these exceptions while still leaving an audit trail of actions and changes.

Some examples are changing a consignment's details after it has been confirmed as delivered, the ability to void an invoice or being able to delete an invoice line prior to its approval.

Freight rates management

Maintaining freight rates can be a considerably complex task. Rating models can have such things as multiple tiers, carriers, minimums and maximums, full loads, management fees and different product types, add onto this fuel surcharges and you have room for a lot of error when making changes to these rates.

The current process of maintaining your rates in eCargo via a master spreadsheet and bulk upload can become problematic when making many small changes. We mistakenly believed rates were changed once or twice a year, how wrong were we !

In light of this we'll be bringing to you more features to make small and large changes to your rates directly in eCargo, whether it be deleting a single freight rate, or updating the entire rate table with a CPI change.

Master data administration

We are really taking a push approach this year when it comes to developing new features for managing master data. It's your data to manage, therefore we aim to give you the means to better manage data relating to your users, customers, carriers, products and rates.

Of course all of these new features would be pointless if we couldn't provide a system that was available when you needed it, and ran as fast as required. So we'll also be delivering a number of performance and reliability improvements through upgrades to our servers.

Visibility over freight costs, do you have it?

Tim Strawbridge — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:00:00 GMT

At eCargo our philosophy is to make the freight management process as simple as possible. We do this by hiding much of the complexity of moving freight, and providing an easy to use system to manage freight movements and costs.

A key component of simplyfying freight management is visibility, not only visibility of freight movements, but also visibility of freight costs.

As a freight purchaser, can you comfortably say you have full visibility over freight costs, actual and accrued, at any point in time?

If the answer is no, then you are not alone. After years of providing freight management solutions we understand that many businesses have limited visibility over their freight costs. They usually rely on rough accruals and the receipt of invoices from freight suppliers after the fact.

Transportation costs are now a large component of manufacturer's expenses. These costs are regularly affected by changes in fuel and compliance costs, as well as base rate changes, changes in freight provider and changes to the manufacturer's distribution model.

Without a good understanding of current freight costs a business will find it difficult to forecast future costs, and understand the impact of changes to their supply chain.

Full visibility over freight costs requires an understanding of the following key components:

What has moved
What it cost to move
What has been invoiced

Having the knowledge of all three elements in an online tool such as eCargo becomes very powerful. You will have more control and visibility over one of your business' single largest expenses . Whether it be for road, rail or sea eCargo lets you manage your freight costs in a single system, providing instant analysis of current transportation costs.

eCargo Newsletter - November 2009

Struan Judd — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 GMT

New team member

We are pleased to welcome Julia Reynolds-Smith to the eCargo team. Julia will be working closely with our customers and development team to constantly improve the overall customer experience of our business applications and support processes.

With a wealth of experience in the IT industry Julia has previously worked as a Consultant/Business Analyst for a number of ERP system vendors. Julia brings a strong customer focused approach to the team, and will champion the rights of our customers to have access to simple, easy to use systems.

Latest product release

You asked for it – and here it is. After feedback from our freight invoicing users we’ve released a whole lot of changes in this area.

Credit and reissue invoice lines

You can now more easily raise a credit against an invoice line and choose to reissue the charge using either the current calculated freight charge, or a manually entered charge. This allows you to correct issues where the wrong freight rate has been applied or the wrong volume was dispatched, and show very clearly on the reissued invoice line what the correct charges/volume are.

You can now also choose to raise a credit now and reissue the charge at a later date.

Comments on invoice lines and invoice PDF

Comments entered against invoice lines will now appear in the invoice PDF file created in eCargo. Details of the original invoice number credited will also be automatically added to the comments of a credit & reissue invoice line. This provides clearer information to your customer or supplier and reduces the amount of queries around why these changes have occurred.

Additional details on invoice export to Excel

We received a number requests to add additional information to the CSV file created from the Export CSV invoice function. We listened and added the following additional fields:

Quantity, unit of measure and rate; values used to calculated the base freight charge
Movement date of the consignment; the actual pickup date used to determine which rate to use
Fuel Surcharge; additional charged added to the base freight charge

Rates export to Excel

Freight rates can now be exported to Excel for detailed analysis. If you do not already have access to this function please contact your eCargo administrator or eCargo Support to be given access.

With these values included customers can now better reconcile individual freight charges with details in their own financial and management systems.

Simpler reconciliation of invoice lines

Invoices which have lines that have failed reconciliation are now highlighted in red, and clearly indicate to you what the next steps are to reconcile the invoice.

Improved layout of invoicing screens

General layout of invoicing screens has been improved to provide faster access to the information you need.

Upcoming features and improvements

The following new features and system improvements are in the pipeline:

Upgrades to servers to improve performance

New web servers are due to be rolled out to deliver improved system performance and more hardware redundancy – that means less time waiting for things to happen and less chance of a single hardware failure causing a system outage.

Improvements to rates management

It’s time for an overhaul of freight rate management in eCargo. As our customer’s requirements become more sophisticated we need to provide simpler ways for these rates to be managed. A series of improvements have been designed and will be rolled out over the coming months in stages. If you have any further feedback or ideas on this area please contact us, we’d be happy to show you our planned improvements.

Did You Know..?

This month we return with two new tips in the 'Did You Know..?' series:

Use tabs in your web browser to run eCargo in MULTIPLE screens to save time

For those invoicing users frustrated with having to flick through many different screens to resolve a rating issue, did you know you can open multiple eCargo screens in your web browser at once by using tabs?

To do this Right Click on a menu option and select ‘Open Link in New Tab’. This will open the selected page in another tab within the same browser window, do this for as many different pages as you commonly need to visit. [Note you will need Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 or greater to support tabs]

..and there's more

While we’re talking about tabs, use the CTRL + TAB buttons on your keyboard to flick through the open tabs in your web browser.

NZL Group Secures Carter Holt Harvey Domestic Freight Contract

Struan Judd — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Carter Holt Harvey, via its logistics solutions arm Lodestar, have selected logistics company NZL Group Limited as the preferred freight manager for domestic road freight activities.

CHH is one of New Zealand's largest road freight accounts, and the appointment has come following an extensive evaluation of the market.

Read full article here.

Rolling out the changes to invoicing in eCargo

Struan Judd — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:00:00 GMT

This morning we released a number of changes and enhancements to the invoicing screens. The release includes major changes to the way invoices are managed within eCargo.

The result is a much simpler and more effective process to create, view and manage your freight invoices. New features include:

New Invoice Summary screen displaying Receivable and Payable invoices by status
Improved Invoice Search, allowing you to search on customer or supplier and date range
Bulk invoice functions, allowing you to approve, pay or export invoices in bulk rather than one at a time
Quick links to PDF and CSV invoice formats
Consignment search, giving you visibility over individual consignment details, freight costs and invoice history
Simplified buyer created invoice process; purchasers of freight can now generate buyer created invoices against their suppliers with a click of a button
Invoice integration with SAP
Auto-emailing of invoices to customers and suppliers

The team have been working hard over the last few weeks to make sure the release went smoothly. If you have any queries or issues please don’t hesitate to contact us.

eCargo Newsletter - May/June 2009

Struan Judd — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:00:00 GMT

The last two months can best be described in two words: ‘controlled chaos’!

A number of large projects were delivered in April and May, including the Foodstuffs Primary Freight project, the 5Star FMCG managed freight service and a new updated version of eCargo Premium.

Our General Manager Tim Strawbridge and his wife also celebrated the birth of their second daughter.

Congrats Tim!

Foodstuffs now using eCargo

Foodstuffs New Zealand are now using eCargo as the Freight Management System for their primary freight initiative. The project went live late April and the Foodstuffs Inbound team have been rolling eCargo out to new suppliers each week.

The eCargo system enables Foodstuffs to reduce administration overhead and simplify financial processing, and with its suppliers now having access to the eCargo application for viewing consignment status information, freight invoices and various performance reports are all in real time.

You can find the press release here.

New User Administration Features

Nominated administration users can now manage all their eCargo users using our new set of admin pages. Features available are:

Add new users
Disable existing users
Update user details
Set user access levels
Last login date

Logistics Providers can now also manage their Customer’s users. This will save many phone calls and emails to the support desk.

We like speaking to our customers but we like it even better when they can do it themselves!

Please contact us to nominate your eCargo administration users.

5Star chooses eCargo for Managed Freight Service

5Star FMCG Distribution have chosen eCargo to provide a transport management solution for their managed freight service.

After making the tough decision to withdraw from the domestic freight business and focus on Warehouse and Logistics activities, 5Star were faced with the problem of providing a freight solution to existing customers without a full blown transport management system.

5Star approached eCargo for a solution to create a managed transport service, and eCargo delivered this solution for 5Star within a matter of weeks.

Read here for more information…

Did You Know..?

This month we return with two new tips in the 'Did You Know..?' series.

In this issue we highlight two new features that have recently been added to eCargo Online, allowing you effectively manage your account easier.

Auto-emailing of freight invoices - You can now setup your invoicing customers or suppliers to receive freight invoices created in eCargo automatically, emailed in PDF or CSV format. This is available from the 'Change Business Details' link under the Admin tab.
- Contact us in order to discussion your requirements for this new service.
Password security - As much as you may think "it will never happen to me", password fraud is a big issue on the Internet. Make sure your passwords contain numbers as well as letters and don't use the same one on every website. We strongly recommend changing your deafult password as soon as possible.

You can now change your password via eCargo Online and well as through eCargo Premium. Here's how to do it:
eCargo Online: From the eCargo website, log in and click the Admin tab. Locate the My eCargo menu and click the Change Password link.
eCargo Premium: In the Summary screen, click the My Profile button at the left of the screen. This will open your web browser and take you to the Change Personal Details screen. Click the 'cancel' button to go back to the Admin screen where you can change your password from My eCargo.

That’s it for this month, next month we’ll be releasing new invoicing screens to make the management of freight invoices all that much easier!

Regards,
The eCargo Team

5Star benefits from rapid delivery of transport management solution from eCargo

Struan Judd — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT

5Star FMCG Distribution selects eCargo to deliver a cost effective transport management system within a matter of weeks.

After making the tough decision to withdraw from the domestic freight business and focus on Warehouse and Logistics activities, 5Star were faced with the problem of providing their existing customers with a freight solution without a full blown transport management system (TMS).

Forming New Zealand’s third largest transport group and the country’s largest privately owned transport company, 5Star FMCG and its associates are a major player in the local transport industry. 5Star’s customers included some of New Zealand’s biggest and best-known brands such as Nestlé, Sanitarium, Goodman Fielder, Lion Nathan, Griffins, Charlie’s and Phoenix Organics.

Having an existing relationship through common customers 5Star approached eCargo for a solution to create a managed transport service, connecting customers with a network of carriers throughout New Zealand.

‘We chose eCargo because of its ability to adapt and provide our requirements in such a short time frame. We were able to deliver to a large sub contractor network visibility of freight, the ability to provide key performance indicators and implement reverse billing within the 2 week period. This gave not only 5Star but our customers an interim and cost effective solution’ says Richard Tyson, General Manager, 5Star FMCG Distribution.

From start to finish eCargo was implemented within 2 weeks, providing 5Star with a system to automate the communication of customer freight requirements to their carrier network and manage the calculation and invoicing of freight costs to customers and carriers.

‘One of the main challenges was being able to deliver a working solution to our customers quickly, without impacting on their existing processes and data.’ says Colin Burrow, General Manager Information Technology, 5Star FMCG Distribution. ‘Selecting eCargo enabled us to meet this challenge, and in a cost effective manner. While the core offering provided most of the requirements, eCargo’s ability to quickly test and deploy minor but meaningful changes meant that we were not burdened with additional processes or their associated overheads’

Collecting customer consignment data via electronic B2B interfaces, eCargo notifies the carriers through a web based application and automated messages. Upon dispatch freight costs are calculated ready for 5Star to invoice the customer and pay the carrier.

eCargo General Manager Tim Strawbridge says ‘We really enjoyed this project as it was a great example of how quickly eCargo can be implemented and start delivering benefits to the customer. It’s all about keeping freight management simple.’

With its recent implementation for Foodstuffs NZ eCargo is a growing presence in the FMCG market for freight management solutions.

About 5Star FMCG Distribution

5Star FMCG has significant warehouse and logistics activities, from export container loading to full pick pack warehouse operations. 5Star FMCG is part of the Hooker Group which forms New Zealand’s third largest transport group and the country’s largest privately owned transport company. The combined strengths of Hooker Pacific, TNL and key strategic partners means that 5Star FMCG has the ability to provide transport for all New Zealand.

About eCargo Limited

eCargo’s Australasian customer base includes FMCG businesses such as Foodstuffs, Griffins, Sanitarium and Nestle, as well as industrial manufacturers Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper, Woodproducts and Packaging divisions & Owens-Illinois Glass Packaging.

For further information, contact: info@ecargo.co.nz, 0800 322 746.

What does the 2009 budget mean for the NZ transport industry?

Struan Judd — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT

So what impact does the Budget 2009 have on the transport industry? We thought we'd help you answer this question by pulling together a summary of all the transport related changes we could find in the budget.

New roads

With around 70% of all freight in New Zealand going by road, new spending on the country's state highways is keenly sought after by the industry. Funding for highways needs to increase as good transport infrastructure is essential to growth.

The Finance Minister's Executive Summary of the Budget states that the new Government Policy Statement on Transport signals an increased investment in the state highway network of about $1 billion over the next three years. Total spending will be $10.7 billion over the next decade.

The additional funding over three years will come from three sources:

$420m reallocation from non-state highway classes (including savings on administration costs).
$258m in new Crown investment (paying for the NZ Transport Agency’s share of Wellington Passenger rail infrastructure).
$283m increases in fuel taxes (commencing 1 October and replacing regional fuel taxes).

Rail

In addition to $258 million of new rail funding, the Government has agreed to make a debt facility available to KiwiRail. This includes $115 million to fund its purchase of 20 new locomotives and to provide it with access to working capital.

Biodiesel boost

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee announced that a new grants programme for biodiesel production will kick-start the biodiesel industry in New Zealand.

As part of Budget 2009, $36 million will be allocated to the programme over three years. The grants will be available to domestic biodiesel producers selling their product to New Zealand consumers for a range of end uses.

Shipping

One glaring omission from the Budget 2009 is the lack of support for the maritime industry. The abandonment of the SeaChange strategy to build up New Zealand shipping in favour of building more roads could be a mistake. We need better state highways but an efficient nationwide freight network cannot be based on one or two key modes of transport. All modes need to be used as effectively as possible to compete against and compliment each other.

Foodstuffs selects eCargo for freight management solution

Struan Judd — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Foodstuffs Inbound Limited has announced that it has chosen online freight logistics provider eCargo to deliver a Freight Management System for their Primary Freight programme.

Foodstuffs Inbound Limited has been established by Foodstuffs Auckland, Wellington and South Island to manage the Primary Freight program on behalf of the three companies.

The eCargo system will become an integral link in the Foodstuffs supply chain, specifically the management of goods from suppliers to all Foodstuffs operations New Zealand wide. This includes its distribution centres, wholesale operations and direct to member stores.

Foodstuffs recognised eCargo as being a good fit with the programmed roll out plan for Primary Freight. 'We liked the fact that both companies are 100% New Zealand owned and operated businesses, with eCargo currently working within the Grocery industry in New Zealand.' says Stephen Baker, Foodstuffs Inbound Operations Manager.

eCargo General Manager Tim Strawbridge confirms the synergies that existed 'eCargo already has a presence in the FMCG industry, and with over 90% of Foodstuffs requirements already being met by the standard eCargo solution, it was clear that there was an excellent fit for the two
businesses.'

The three Foodstuffs companies, as part of their supply chain strategic plans, have made a decision to take responsibility for all their inbound freight from their suppliers and are implementing this program over the next 3 years.

Over the last 12 months Foodstuffs Inbound has worked extensively with suppliers, the transport industry and the NZ Food and Grocery Council to build an effective Primary Freight program that concentrates on delivering a supplier to customer transport solution.

eCargo will collect supplier consignment data via electronic B2B interfaces and a web based application, forward this data to the appropriate freight company and calculate freight costs for invoicing.

Foodstuffs suppliers will have access to the eCargo application for viewing consignment status information, freight invoices and various performance reports, all in real time.

The eCargo system will enable Foodstuffs to reduce administration overhead and simplify financial processing.

About Foodstuffs NZ

Foodstuffs NZ is the country's biggest grocery distributor and retailer and one of New Zealand's largest businesses. Operating 633 stores nationwide including major names such as New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square, plus Wholesale operators Gilmours, Toops and Trents.

Foodstuffs is a co-operative consisting of three co-operative companies: Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd; Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Ltd, and Foodstuffs South Island Ltd. All businesses are 100% New Zealand owned and operated.

About eCargo Limited

eCargo represents the 'classic' start-up to fully fledged business story - starting life in a business incubator in Wellington, eCargo moved to The Icehouse in Auckland, before being purchased outright by Carter Holt Harvey in 2005. With an Australasian customer base eCargo is successfully holding it’s own amongst larger software vendors and carriers to provide a simple freight communication and management solution.

Other eCargo customers include FMCG manufacturers such as Griffins, Sanitarium and Nestle, as well as industrial manufacturers Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper, Woodproducts and Packaging divisions & Owens-Illinois Glass Packaging.

For further information, contact eCargo on 0800 322 746 or info@ecargo.co.nz.

Tweet, tweet! eCargo now on Twitter

Struan Judd — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT

eCargo is now on Twitter. Follow our General Manager, Tim Strawbridge, as he tweets about eCargo's activities and strategy here @eCargoTim.

You'll find us using Twitter to communicate with our users, handle small support issues and just offer an insight as to what we are up to. It's a great way for us to send a short update on things and of course listen to our customers!

eCargo Newsletter - Feb/March 2009

Struan Judd — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Firstly, we promise not to talk about the economy! With Christmas long gone let’s focus on what we’re going to achieve this year .

In this newsletter we'll cover new, upcoming features in the eCargo Premium application, announce a major new customer, continue our regular tips series, and update you on our search for software testers.

Read on...

Foodstuffs Chooses eCargo

Grocery giant Foodstuffs New Zealand have chosen eCargo to deliver an online Freight Management System for their primary freight programme.

This is a major win for eCargo and strengthens our growing presence in the FMCG marketplace. Well done to the entire eCargo team who worked tirelessly on this project!

Watch this space for a press release to follow shortly.

Upcoming New Features

A new release of eCargo Premium is scheduled for mid April. This release will include the following:

Refreshed look: eCargo will be given a minor makeover to make it easier for you to find, manage and execute your freight movements.
Hazardous Goods: You will now be able to enter Hazardous Goods Classes and descriptions for consignments, this detail will also print out on your consignment note.
Protection Types: Consignments can be given a protection type (Ambient, Chilled or Frozen) with the default type being Ambient.
Real DIFOT: Carriers will now be able to enter the actual quantities delivered to the customer, which allows for a real Delivered In Full On Time report. Please contact us if you’d like us to configure the Real DIFOT report.
Enhanced Container Management:We are enhancing our container management functions, making it easier for you to track your container movements and the orders packed into those containers.

Changes to Reporting

As a result of us upgrading the reporting in eCargo all reports currently provided via the Advanced Reporting function in Premium will be moved to web-based reports online.

The Excel spreadsheet-based reporting will no longer be available, however users will still be able to export data into Excel spreadsheets for ad-hoc analysis. If you have any queries or concerns about these changes, or wish to make some suggestions on new reports you would find useful please contact eCargo Support.

Testers Required!

Over the course of this quarter, we've been working on a number of new features and enhancements, as described above. Many of these are a result of the feedback we’ve received you, our customers. Before we go live with these changes we'd like some experienced, and not so experienced, users of eCargo to put these new changes through their paces. We’re also just looking for general feedback and ideas on how we can further improve our user experience.

If you’re interested in becoming an eCargo Tester and having a say in the future direction of eCargo please send through your details to eCargo Support.

Did You Know..?

This month we return with two new tips in the 'Did You Know..?' series:

Advanced Search: This can often be overlooked, especially when the Summary screen gives a quick-glance display of jobs in varying statuses on a per-site basis - but what if you wanted to list all jobs to a certain destination up to a certain date? Or the total amount of jobs for all sites in 'Confirm Dispatch' status? The Search box provides you with a wealth of criteria to streamline information for your needs. Need help? Check here for a run-through.
Forgotten Password: A downside of our increasing online society is that we have many logins and passwords to remember, and of course we don’t always remember them all! In the unlikely event that you forget your eCargo password you can easily retrieve it by:

Going to www.ecargo.co.nz, then clicking the Login button at the top of the screen.
Clicking the Forgotten Your Password? link below the password box. Enter your email address and eCargo will then automatically send you your password.
If you’ve forgotten your email address also, please contact eCargo Support for assistance.

That's it for this month - see you again in April!

Regards,
The eCargo Team

Advanced searching in eCargo Premium

Struan Judd — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:00:00 GMT

While the Quick Search boxes in the Summary screen are great for bringing up a specific job or manifest, often more general criteria is required, such as a date range or a common delivery point. This is where the 'Advanced Search' box comes in handy.

Delivery Number
If you know the actual delivery number of the job then enter this directly into the Delivery No. field (A). NOTE: It’s often advisable to click the Clear button (D) before entering delivery number in case existing criteria excludes your job.

Pickup or Deliver To sites
You can define which sites the job(s) you are looking for came from or were being delivered to. Click on the Business Search button (E) to find the particular site or customer you’re looking for.

Action (Status)
The Action options (B) represent the next action to be performed on the job. This is in fact the job status. Narrow your search down by selecting the specific status(es) the job is expected to be in.

Additional Options
To search for other items such as Purchase Order No, Sales Order No or Container No then select the ‘More’ button (H) to show these extra search fields.

Date Ranges
Narrow down your search criteria by selecting the dates the job was planned to be picked up and/or delivered (C). You can further refine your search by looking for the dates the jobs were actually pickup and/or delivered by specifying them as Actual dates (F).

Vehicle
Enter the name of the vehicle on the jobs you are searching for (G). You do not need to enter the full vehicle name, it will find partial matches. If you wish to narrow this down to the particular vessel for an export job, enter this here too.

Performance Search
You can quickly search for jobs that are either late for pickup or late for delivery by selecting either option in the Performance criteria (I).

Carrier or Sub-contractor
To view a list of jobs assigned to a particular carrier or sub-contractor. Click on the business search button and enter their name (J).

Intergen wins Microsoft Partner of the Year

Struan Judd — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:00:00 GMT

eCargo's hosting services partner, Intergen, was named the 'Partner of the Year 'at Microsoft New Zealand’s annual Partner Awards in 2008.

Although this is now last year's news, we felt it important that eCargo's customers know the level of excellence our partners have achieved.

You can read more about Intergen's award here.

eCargo Newsletter - December 2008

Struan Judd — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the December issue! With Christmas just around the corner, it's a naturally busy time of the year for our customers, so we have been hard at work over the last few weeks to release a number of new features in time for the New Year, along with some exciting enhancements to existing services...

New design for eCargo

The 1st of December was a milestone for us as we launched a redesign of the eCargo web application.

As well as the visual enhancements to complement the new website, there have been a number of structural changes to simplify navigation and improve reporting.

For a more comprehensive rundown on the new features, read the article on the latest release notes.

Support Desk Hours over the Christmas period

The support desk will operate as usual during business hours over Christmas and the New Year.

Phone support is available for urgent issues at any time on 0800 322 746 (NZ) or 1800 113 775 (Aus).

For non-urgent issues or queries, please email support@ecargo.co.nz.

New Reports available

The Reporting module has been given an upgrade - DIFOT reports are now available for manufacturers to measure the performance of their carriers.

In January, we will also be introducing 'Freight Spend' reports, which will give our customers the ability to view total freight costs by destination and delivery customer.

The new reports provide additional visibility over your freight spend and KPIs. We will contine adding new reports to eCargo, if you have any specific reporting requirements, please contact us.

Benefits of buyer created electronic invoicing

Struan Judd — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Electronic buyer created invoicing enables buyers to gain greater control over their accounts payable processes; saving on invoice processing costs, eliminating overpayments and providing real time access to invoices and cost accruals.

Using eCargo to generate buyer created invoices for freight and logistics costs buyers can achieve the following benefits:

No manual data entry: Buyer created invoices are created instantly, generating the invoice in PDF format and integrating with buyer and supplier finance systems. There is no need for manual keying of data.
Single point invoice access: Both buyers and suppliers can search for and view current and archived invoice documentation and status.
Real time cost accruals: All non-invoiced freight and logistics costs are available for real time accrual reports, providing finance teams with accurate end of month information. A measurable reduction in accruals is also achieved through more regular invoicing.
Streamlined dispute process: Users can log a dispute against an invoice line online, requesting a credit or POD. An integrated credit and re-issue process then follows, providing single standard and visible process, replacing lengthy email and telephone conversations.
Reduced processing costs: Forrester Research reports that by automating their accounts payable processes companies can save up to 75% of their per invoice processing costs.
Eliminating overpayments and invoice errors: Not all businesses have the resources to reconcile supplier invoices line by line, particularly with complicated freight cost rate tables. eCargo gives the buyer control and ownership over their freight data and rate tables, and the necessary tools to attain 100% certainly in the calculation of their freight costs.

eCargo’s customers recognise the benefits electronic invoicing provides:

“The reality of reverse billing has hugely reduced effort required by the finance team, freight costs are more accurate and the freight supplier relationship has strengthened markedly. Costs are largely accepted as there’s nothing to question and invoice negotiation is a thing of the past”, says Peter Levett, Sanitarium’s NZ Distribution Manager.

Woodproducts’ Assistant Accountant, Tania Teddy, explains “eCargo now does the hard work of checking invoices for us. Where processing weekly invoices from a single supplier used to take around a day and half effort, we’re now completing that in an hour and we trust the results”.

See our earlier post on eCargo's new Buyer Created Invoicing Dashboard, with screenshots.

Please contact us to discuss how we can assist with your electronic invoicing requirements.

New Freight Invoicing Dashboard

Struan Judd — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:00:00 GMT

eCargo now provides users with a simple and intuitive real time dashboard for creating buyer created invoices and managing exceptions. As freight movements are executed within eCargo, the freight costs are calculated based on freight rates and business rules configured in the system.

Using the Invoice Dashboard a user can view all freight costs that are ready to be invoiced, or have errored during calculation - due to missing freight rates or incomplete consignment data.

From the dashboard the user can drill down to resolve the calculation errors or create an invoice for all calculated costs in a one-step process. The user has control over cutoff dates for invoicing and the invoice date itself.

eCargo caters for multiple suppliers and multiple logistics activities, such as Roadfreight, Rail, Sea Freight, Port Logistics - any activity that incurs costs and can be measured.

Once created eCargo will generate the legal invoice document as a PDF file, immediately sending the invoice electronically to all integrated buyer and supplier finance systems. Users can optionally manually export the invoice into their finance system.

eCargo Online Release Notes

Struan Judd — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:00:00 GMT

If you have logged onto eCargo Online this week, you would have noticed the new colour scheme and user interface, which has been re-designed to incorporate the look and feel of the relaunched website. It also includes a number of layout changes to improve user functionality and ease navigation.

With this comes a rearrangement or rewording of menus and their items:

Menu re-design

The new design has moved away from the old ‘drill-down’ style on the left of the page, to a more simplified ‘tabbed’ approach along the top. The amount of menus that appear will now be dependant on the features you subscribe to.
The sub-menus from the old design are now grouped via section headings under each active tab.

Menu item changes (Invoices Menu)

A number of menu items have either been moved or consolidated into existing sections to simplify navigation. This includes a number of items that have been reworded and/or relocated from obsolete menus in the old version.

Under Common Tasks:

‘Import Invoice’ is now ‘Import an Invoice or Pre-Invoice’
‘Extra Charges’, ‘Variances’ and ‘Location Mappings’ have all been re-named with ‘Manage…’ in front of them.
‘Maintain Invoice’ is now accessed via ‘Change the Status of an Invoice’.

Under Invoicing:

‘Maintain Report’ is now accessed via ‘Invoice Details’ under the new Invoicing heading. Search for the invoice and then click the ‘Invoice Report’ button.

Breadcrumbs

This new feature sits below the main menu tabs, giving the user an at-a-glance browsing history of the last 3 pages visited – very useful if juggling between a small number of common pages, eg. for invoicing purposes.