Cross Application (CAP)
This is the foundation module for SeaLiner and essentially maintains master, or standing data, that is used by multiple modules across the application (hence “Cross Application”). This ensures that there is only a single point of data entry which, in turn, ensures data integrity. Module specific master data is maintained within each of the modules as appropriate. For ease of access and user friendliness maintenance programs with CAP can be accessed from the modules that reference master data in CAP.
Business Partner Management (BPM)
The Business Partner module of the SeaLiner suite provides the functionality to maintain registered business entities whether the role of the business entity is a customer, a vendor or organizations, such as agents. A business partner can be one or all of the three entities.
Next level of classification; for customers can be shipping line, shipper, forwarder or import broker, consignee, notify party etc., and for vendors can be terminal operator, intermodal trucking company, repair shop, etc., organization can be local representative in the respective area or country.
Tariff (TFM)
Trade Ship’s Tariff module provides a detailed store for the management and usage of tariffs and is integrated with the Product Catalogue and Contribution margin engines to provide a very dependable and efficient commercial platform from which to service its customers.
The TARIFF module enables a shipping line to establish a comprehensive tariff structure encompassing their product or service branding. Functionality is included to easily adjust rates, as the business and market dictates, whilst providing the flexibility to accommodate customer specific agreements, and build local tariffs for decentralized teams.
Product Catalogue Engine (PCE)
The Product Catalogue is a powerful tool that provides the capability to build products based on the data held within the various components or functional areas of the system.
These products are built using a combination of route, origin/destination points, load trans-shipment ports and discharge ports, vessel schedules, equipment size/type, available intermodal legs with multiple modes of transportation, and restrictions while maintaining established priorities and multiple options with varying durations. Restrictions may be applicable to countries, ports or commodities.
The ‘Product Catalogue’ enables the Shipping Lines to maintain control over what is sold to whom and at what margin, whilst providing valuable data to enable short-term and long-term business decisions.
The Product Catalogue is fully integrated within the SeaLiner Suite of modules or can be offered as a stand-alone module interfacing to the appropriate legacy systems.
Customer Rate Agreement (CRA)
The Customer Rate Agreement module provides comprehensive functionality to establish an agreement between the shipper and the shipping line, encompassing all aspects of the relationship. As a default, Guideline rates are maintained to support the ‘Product Catalogue’. These rates can be used to build customer specific rates. Multiple versions of the customer rates, such as historic, current and future, can be maintained.
Monitoring tools are built in this module to manage the performance of the customer rate agreements with actual business given by the customer over a period.
Quotation (QTN)
The Quotation Module enables users to generate adhoc quotations for customers who do not have a Customer Rate Agreement. Based on the CRA functionality the module will build a quotation based on the Product Catalogue and Tariff ensuring that the integrity of business processes is maintained.
Contribution Margin Engine (CME)
The Contribution Margin (CM) module provides for the analysis of the revenue, fixed and variable costs of a shipment to estimate the margin that will be achieved. It plays an essential role in the decision-making process when determining the worthiness of accepting a shipment either during a Product Catalogue inquiry, negotiation of Customer Rate Agreement or Quotation, Booking the shipment or finalization of the shipment. The CM can be used to determine the value of carrying forward a business transaction or not. Albeit on certain routes a controlled negative contribution may be acceptable, such as accommodating equipment balancing.
Vessel Schedule System (VSS)
The Vessel Schedule System handles the planning, implementation and maintenance of ports of call, steaming times and associated port operations. The VSS is an integral part of the Product Catalogue, displaying the times of possible sailings and connections. Shipping lines require schedules to offer services to their customers, whilst customers rely heavily on schedules and have expectations of data accuracy to properly manage their supply chains. Through the VSS module, shipping lines can develop or improve schedules, whilst maintaining and controlling their services.
Equipment Management System (EMS)
The Equipment Management System has been designed and built based upon our experiences with numerous shipping lines, leasing companies and depots. Key components of this module are listed below that help manage, monitor and control the equipment inventory of all types; containers, chassis, trailers, gen-sets etc., and support other modules in real time.
- Equipment Leasing – Manage equipment leasing tariff, on-hires and off-hires, generate leasing proforma for accounts payable.
- Equipment Sub-Leasing – Manage Sub-lease tariff, on-hires and off-hires, generate billing for the invoice generation.
- Equipment Tracking – Manage and monitor movements of all equipment and availability. Provide and receive real time information to other EMS sub-modules, booking, documentation, terminal operations, depot management etc.
- Equipment Maintenance and Repair – Manage and monitor repair tariffs with multiple depots, damage to the equipment, identify responsible parties, get repair estimates, get damage repaired efficiently and economically, generate billing to responsible parties, file insurance claims etc.
- Equipment Detention and Demurrage – Manage and monitor tariff, detention and demurrage activities, generate billing etc.
- Equipment Depot / Terminal Storage – Manage and monitor tariff, generate proforma for accounts payable.
Equipment Logistics Planner (ELP)
The Logistic Planner module is a comprehensive tool that gathers information from various modules within the system to present the users with a detailed picture of their current and future stock positions for up to 8 weeks. Tools are built-in to facilitate decision making to balance the available stocks of equipment at multiple locations through re-positioning, lease or sub-lease etc. Information available in this module is viewed from bookings, equipment movements, maintenance and repair, leasing and storage depots.
Slot Management System (SMS)
The Slot Management module is designed to manage vessel slots purchase from and sales to business partners, such as shipping lines or consortium of shipping lines. It provides a comprehensive mechanism to establish contractual commitment and rates with the partners. Utilization of both purchased and sold slots is monitored aggressively to ensure optimum benefits. This module is well integrated with Forecast and Allocation Management System (FMS) and Booking (BKG) modules.
Purchased slots, as and when used, are monitored and recorded to generate proforma for accounts payable.
Sold slots as and when used, are monitored and recorded for the billing for invoice generation.
Forecast and Allocation Management System (FMS)
The Forecast and Allocation module provides two tier business projections to help manage vessel utilization at each voyage level. Forecasting of vessel utilization helps manage long term projections while allocation addresses immediate i.e., four weeks voyage business projections. Allocation will also impact on the ELP (Equipment Logistic Planning) module for the demand for equipment required by size and type.
The functionality for the reserving (allocating) of available space onboard a vessel/voyage for specific shipments whilst managing the actual remain-on-board capacity maintenance. This module is integrated with booking providing real-time, available capacity by showing actual booked quantities and the remaining space on board a vessel.
This module also allows the maintenance of the available space, initialized from Slot Management, during the life span of the voyage.
Booking (BKG)
The Booking module is one of the most enhanced and integrated modules within the SeaLiner suite. A shipping line’s booking system is at the very center of operations and, whilst dependent on data feeds from many different sources, is the ultimate selling tool. It must be efficient and accurate, giving the user sufficient data, at their fingertips, to provide customers with the information to enable them to make booking decisions.
Closely coupled to Customer Rate Agreements (contracts), Quotations and the Vessel Schedule, and dependent on the likes of the Product Catalogue, this system comprehensively processes booking information which, in turn, triggers numerous checks, validations and approvals and provides the user with finger-tip information to allow them to make informed booking decisions whilst best servicing the customers’ needs.
The Booking module is the ‘Hub” that pulls together all the information from the other relevant modules in the system and consolidates these, together with the customer provided real-time booking requirements, to produce a final booking together with all the necessary checks and approvals required to meet international regulations and the lines operating procedures. Empty container bookings and slot partner bookings are also catered for, all with the necessary approvals covering “abnormal” shipments - OOG, Hazardous, reefer, etc.
Intermodal Logistics (IML)
The Intermodal Logistics module is a fully integrated application within the SeaLiner suite. This module can be used as ‘stand-alone’ profit center while catering to other modules within SeaLiner or third-party systems.
Vendor contracts can be established with truckers, rail carriers and barge operators for current as well as future business. Standard Costs are maintained with actual cost and required margins. It links closely with export and import booking data to comprehensively cover pre and on-carriage requirements, complementing this with optimization capabilities to improve equipment utilization and reduce the number of non-revenues earning transport legs.
Transport Schedules and Job Order functionality, enabling lines to manage door-to-door intermodal transportation whilst supporting internal operational business needs. Real-time reporting by the vendors is supported through EDI messages or mobile applications.
Job orders, when completed, are recorded to generate proforma for accounts payable.
Change of Destination (COD)
The Change of Destination module provides the Export and Import Agents with the capabilities to manage and process a Change of Destination request from the Shipper or Consignee and once approved, trigger a manifest Alteration.
Vessel Renomination (VRM)
The Vessel Renomination module provides the capabilities to easily re-nominate bookings and amend or reschedule vessel/voyage information in the transport plans (TP) with various options, depending on the operational constraints or customers' requirements. If the vessel leg change affects any inland leg, e.g., rail, road barge, feeder, the vessel re-nomination transaction will trigger a process to amend the intermodal routing assignment or Job order.
Dangerous Goods (DGS)
The Dangerous Goods module helps to record and process all relevant dangerous goods data received from the Shippers, and generate DG (Approval) Requests, incorporating automated processing that checks the plausibility on packaging used, observance of the segregation rules applicable for incompatible materials and the observance of other defined restrictions. The system will also generate documents such as the DG Carriage Approval Requests, DG Manifest, DG statistical data reports, and reports addressed to public authorities (local, national, and international), partner lines, and vessels’ command, other Business Regions, vessel planners, terminal operators and stevedoring companies.
Data processing is based on the provisions in the IMDG Code, the regulations that prescribe detailed requirements applicable to the transport of dangerous goods at sea by vessel.
Operations System (TOS)
The Terminal Operation module provides a comprehensive and user-friendly tool to monitor and control their terminal operations and related costs whilst providing improved vendor invoice verification capabilities thus eliminating the need to go through hundreds of line items.
Highly customizable reporting with instant results on Terminal Cost, Productivity and Utilization is an essential by product of the solution. It facilitates fully customizable setup, with comprehensive operational and reporting capabilities, to provide easy-to-use interfaces enabling users to comfortably handle the more complex business requirements.
Documentation - Export (DEX)
The Export Documentation module provides the Export Agents with the capabilities to manage and process Bills of Lading (BL) from Shipping Instructions and Bookings, charge calculation - based upon Customer Contract or Quotation - and trigger invoicing of shipment charges to the ‘Bill To’ Parties. Contribution Margin is calculated for confirmed BLs.
It allows the generation of BL print output whilst BL Re-print can be managed by authorized users. Manifest functionality allows the generation of Manifest output including Cargo, Customs and Revenue Manifests. A request for changes to a BL from a Customer is managed by Manifest Alteration, with the appropriate level of approval required and once approved, output Correction Notice generation.
This module incorporates a wide range of functionality to enable the users to produce the necessary documentation to support every shipment and the associated services. Examples of the available documentation and functionality are:
- Export BL Entry
- BL Cargo Release
- BL Print (Export)
- BL Re-print
- Manifest
- BL enquiry
- Manifest Alteration Entry
- Manifest Print
- Manifest Alteration Print
- Arrival Notice
- Generate Delivery Order
- Delivery Order Print
- Incoming BL inquiry
- Rate Extraction
Documentation - Import (DIM)
The Import Documentation module handles all aspects of import processing. “Export Finalized” Bill of Lading data is retrieved and used to generate Arrival Notices to Consignees and/or Notify Parties whilst necessary declarations are submitted to external local authorities. Any changes on existing cargo delivery plans and delivery transportation are processed and checks are made to ensure that all applicable charges are collected before the shipment lifecycle is completed.
IJS module is enabled in real time to manage deliveries to the consignees or rail terminals.
Value Added Services (VAS)
The Value-Added Service module manages additional services requested by shippers for a shipment during the execution of the transport plan.
Vendor Contracts are set up with selling Tariff which are integrated with VAS services, Customer Rate Agreement and Customer Order Management, Job Order execution and Invoice Verification. In addition to the job order processing on commonly used VAS’s, such as cleaning and fumigation of containers for LCL cargo, consolidation of LCL bookings, handling multi cargo pickup & drop off and stuffing and Stripping.
Finance - Accounts Receivable (FAR)
The Finance Accounts Receivable module provides a centralized collection for all agents, owned or third party. ‘Invoice Engine’ provides for unlimited types of billing, such as freight, D & D, slot sales, recoveries etc. This module can interface with corporate financial systems or agency financial systems. Multiple currencies are supported with real-time exchange rate interfaces as provided by third parties.
Collections and adjustments can be applied with proper authorizations.
Extensive reporting is available to generate trial balance, customer statements and collection letters etc.
Finance – Invoice Engine (FIE)
The Invoice Engine module is a central invoicing system where it can receive multiple types of billing information from different SeaLiner modules with predefined collection offices of corporate or agents who are responsible for collection. Invoice generation will create accounts receivable line items for collection for designated collection office.
This module is supported by modules:
Exchange Rates – By dates
Invoice template setup – where customized templates can be set up for each customer.
Finance - Proforma (FPR)
The Proforma module is a centralized repository to maintain and monitor all expected cost items. On demand these can be extracted for pre-audit and approval. Vendor Invoice Verification process is available to ensure correctness and improve processing productivity. Approved proformas can then be sent over to accounts payable for disbursements.
Disbursements by accounts payable are reconciled with the proforma line items.
Extensive reporting capabilities provide corporate management with the data to efficiently monitor and control cost and performance.