Cloud based multi-freight, multi-facility and multi-user
Developed on the back of 25 years of experience in the maritime domain, FOS includes all the essential features that required for small and medium sized ports and intermodal operations. Any number of users can access FOS concurrently via hand held mobile phones or tablets mounted on cargo handling equipment. The FOS can be accessed from any location via the internet using any modern web browser.
Flexibly designed for the management of any cargo types e.g. Bulk, Breakbulk, General Cargo, RORO, Cars, etc. and equipment e.g. Containers, Chassis, Trailers, Gensets, etc. Multiple facilities e.g. Marine Port, Inland Depots, Offshore Supply Bases, Warehouses, etc. can be managed from a centralized location. Functionality is regularly updated and the latest version is made available to all users across the world.
System Configuration and Administration
The administrative functions provide the flexibility to setup configurations that are specific to a facility. A new cargo type, equipment or customer can be easily setup in matter of minutes to cater for new business needs. The configured settings can be changed and/or fine-tuned any time if there are any changes that are requested by the business.
ENTITIES
Entities can be used to for configuring stakeholders that play a role in the logistics business e.g. Shipping lines, Customs, Freight Forwarders, Trucking Companies, Rail Operators, etc. Every entity can have properties such as name, physical address, emails, contact details, etc.
FLAGS
Freight facilities are frequently needed to perform actions on cargo, equipment, locations and transports. Flags can be used for performing actions such as applying stops/holds e.g. customs hold, shipping line hold, finance hold, etc. Similarly, Flags can be utilized to perform value adding tasks that are requested by customers on cargo and equipment e.g. checking condition, inspections and repairs, recording reefer temperatures, stuffing/destuffing, etc.
EVENTS
When the status of cargo, equipment, machines, etc. is changed during operations, the changes can be recorded with time stamp. Events be billable and can be searched and integrated with 3rd party financial applications.
GROUPS
Group types and Groups with names and description can be defined to create categories of Bill Of Lading, cargo, equipment, entities, commodities, etc. Grouping helps in pre-planning e.g. grouping cargo and equipment with similar destinations help in consolidation
TRANSPORTS
Freight facilities typically handle multiple modes of transport depending on the nature of the business. The typical Transport modes that can be configured include ship, rail and road with each having their specific properties.
CARGO & EQUIPMENT
Every facility business is different and primarily manage different types of freight/cargoes and/or equipment for their customers. Any types and numbers of cargo e.g. Bulk, Break Bulk, RORO, Project cargo, etc. and equipment e.g. Containers, Chassis, Genset, etc. can be easily configured with their individual attributes, dimensions, weight, etc.
LOCATION
Locations in a facility can be created with names and capacity e.g. Yards, Rail areas, Gate areas, Ship Berths, Truck exchange areas, Warehouses, etc. In addition, virtual locations can be created that are not present physically at a facility e.g. off-site gate and off-site berths can be used to announce equipment and cargo arrivals by truck and ship.
EDI
Electronic files in CSV formats can be uploaded and extracted with field mappings for the purpose of creating cargo, equipment, entities, etc. The EDI bulk payload can be utilized for announcing Preadvice cargo and equipment via Ship, Road and Rail. Similarly, the EDI files can be extracted and used for reporting events and inventory to stakeholders such are shipping lines, customs, etc.
Operational functions and features
FOS integrates a facility operation by maintaining a real-time record of transactions for various processes e.g. Import/Export/Transhipment, Marine Berthing, Ship/Gate/Rail receive and release, Cargo Stuffing and De-stuffing, etc.
VESSELS/VOYAGES
Ships can be registered in advance with dimensions and details such as ETA, ETD, AAT and can be assigned to berth locations. Ships with different structures can be created e.g. cellular, holds and tween decks. Cargo and equipment can be assigned to a ship for discharge/load/transhipment which can be processed in real-time to yard or vice versa using handheld mobile devices.
YARD AREAS
Any number of logical storage areas can be created as per the layout of the facility with different shapes and storing capacities e.g. Container Stacking, Warehouse, Rail Rakes, Bulk Area, etc. As satellite view can be defined to provide a helicopter view of the entire facility with drill down capabilities. Dedicated areas can be created for Cargo and equipment which can be logically moved between areas using the main or mobile applications.
GATE
Single-stage or multi-staged gates can be modelled with interchange areas for In-Gate and Out-Gate transactions. Truck and drivers can be registered in advance and validated at the gate complex along with cargo and equipment that have been pre-advised for pickup and/or delivery.
RAIL
Trains and wagons of different types e.g. Box, Flat cars, Tanks, etc. can be created with a scheduled in advance announcing the ETA, ETD, AAT and ADT of the train. The EDI operations screen can be used to upload a train consist for announcing the expected wagon, cargo and equipment types.
STUFFING/DESTUFFING
Container Freight Stations and cargo consolidation depots can create job orders using Flags (Tasks) for stuffing and de-stuffing cargo into equipment such containers, flat racks, etc. Similarly, loose bulk cargo can be bagged and general cargo bundled at a multi-purpose port facility using the main or mobile applications. All the transactions of Cargo inside a container or equipment can be audited by interested parties e.g. customs and border protection agencies at any time.
ELASTIC SEARCH
Every item in is identified by a unique ID which allow users to search for any item or an event. The results of the query can be viewed on screen, exported to a CSV file or report using PDF. In addition, filters can be also applied to queries for specific search criteria and stored for future use. All query reports and CSV files can be emailed to interested subscribers.
REPORTING & ANALYTICS
recording of transactional data which can to aggregated providing real-time operational insights for the facilities e.g. cargo throughput, inventory count, equipment production rates, truck turnaround times, etc. The information is presented to the user via out-of-the-box dashboards or by interfacing APIs with 3rd party BI tools e.g. Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, etc.