Freight Manager v3 (FM3)

There are several performance reports included with the system. Here are just two examples:

This report shows turnover for all your clients, in descending order of turnover for the year to date and makes comparison between the current year and the same period in the previous year, enabling you to spot up-trade and down-trade trends. We have obscured client names as this is an extract from a real database.

This report can be run for a single client and for any chosen date range. It lists all consignments moved within the date range, sorted by Mode (Air, Sea, Road, Courier etc) and by departure date. We have obscured any reference to real clients.

Drag and drop options for adding emails/files/images to quotes, jobs, consols or addresses.

FM allows for air, road, rail and ocean forwarding. You can generate sales invoices, create accruals and approve purchase invoices in any currency.

The central part of the job creation, most users will create either an "Export Job" or an "Import Job". In this one form the user can setup most of the details for the job.

You can enter the address details for the different parties involved in the job, as well as the details about where/when the cargo is destined, and describing the cargo itself (including a list of dimensions).

"FM Gateway" is the collective term for our server based "plug ins" which can act as an intermediary between FM3 and any external system, as well as carry out other tasks. The idea is that if you have information within FM3, it can be sent to another database, application, or server, via EDI or any other method.  Likewise, it can import data back into the application.

We have created bespoke interfaces for different clients to meet their EDI needs.  Such applications include (but not limited to)

• Customs (ASM/NES)
• Track/Trace
• Bar coding
• Third party invoice submission
• EDIFACT data interfaces

Please feel free to ask us about creating a module to fit your needs.

A job is made up of more than just an initial "job" page. FM allows you to add any number of extra document forms to a job in order to provide more detail, and to also print a variety of documentation.

FM3 comes supplied with the following forms by default, however, extra forms can easily be created upon request.

• HAWB
• MAWB
• POD
• BOL
• FBL
• SSN
• CMR
• Collection Notes
• Delivery Notes

Once you have created your job and its relevant documentation, you may want to send an invoice to your customer. Additionally, you may want to enter the charges incurred from your suppliers for carrying out work related to the job. This is all easily acheived within the Job Costing form.

At any stage during the jobs build up, you can click on the "Enter Charges" task item and then begin entering charges into a simple pair of data entry grids. Each chargable item can be identified via a unique charge code (definable by yourself), an address code, and then the amount details (including support for multiple currencies and Rates of Exchange). Each charge line can be given a charge type to help generate invoices or credit notes (and depending upon the charge code used, Duty/Vat Invoices/Credit notes).

Once you have entered your charges, you can raise them into invoices (or credit notes) using the Invoice Generation Wizard, then all you need to do is print off the paper work and mail it to the customer.

Sometimes you may want to quote for a job before actually receiving the order from your customer. In this case a "Sales Quote" can be created, where you can enter the basic information required for that quote, including the costs you expect to incur and the charges you wish to make to the customer. If approved at a later time, the quote can be posted into a full job, saving you the hassle of recreating it.

The flexibile nature of the user forms means that not only can they be tailored to edit your own data, but they can also pull in data from any windows accessible database and make it available within the application.

This allows a fairly wide degree of integration to blur the lines that can exist between multiple systems. If data is available from an external source, then it can be made readily available within FM3 and could save the user time (from having to switch between multiple systems). Additionally, such data could be queried and reported on.

FMGateway is collective term for server based "plug ins" which can act as an intermediary between FM3 and any external system, as well as carry out other tasks. The idea is that if you have information within FM3, it can be sent to another database, application, or server, via EDI or any other method. Likewise, it can import data back into the application.

In addition to an ASM-Gems module, we have created bespoke interfaces for different clients to meet their EDI needs.

The "gateway" also takes care of other modules to carry out tasks such as data maintenence, interface to Bar Code scanners, etc.

In addition to the "User Forms", FM3 takes a far more modular approach than its predecessor (FM2000), implementing some of its functionality through dll modules. This allows more specific tailoring if required, and also new bespoke modules can be created should features be required that can't be handled by the "user forms" (such as hardware access requirements).

Additionally, as time goes by the core application may gain extra functionality that could be made available for the "user forms" themselves to take advantage of.

FM3 offers "Internal Messaging". This allows you to send a message to any other FM3 users. That message will invariably be related to the job/document you are currently working on, so when that message appears on the other users screen they can optionally reply to it, or open the job the message related to.

The messages themselves can be entered ad-hoc, much like sending email or instant messages online, or you can take advantage of the "templates" feature to have the message body built up automatically using data from the job/document itself (much like mail merge).

This messaging feature could be used when you have created a job, in order to notify someone else that they need to look at that job and add extra detail, or to take whatever action you wish to request of them. On top of this, the "User Forms" can be taken advantage of so that thay are tailored to send messages automatically when certain actions occur.

What are rates?

Rates allow charges for your jobs to be automatically calculated as you enter charge lines against them. This is acheived using a combination of the charge line data and the information from the job itself. Rates can be configured to follow your tariff of charges, saving you time and reducing errors during the data entry process, as well as helping to enforce consistent pricing across jobs and different users.

Programmable Rates?

The rates are defined using a combination of scripted code, and if you require them, breakpoints. You can easily use any details from a job to calculate your rate value, and also to enforce the pricing policy should users try to amend the calculated amounts. You can even have your own messages displayed to the user in these situations.

When you start the application the "dashboard" is the first item loaded. This central resource can be tailoried to your requirements so that it presents you with the information you require. This can be as simple as having a list of recently created jobs, or something like a profit loss overview by customer.

As per the job forms themselves, different user groups can have their own versions of the dashboard and so can therefore have access to data that makes more sense to them.

Using the built in Report Builder tool you can create any number of different document layouts to produce the printouts and documentation you require. Your company logo can easily be included anywhere on the layout, as well as any data required.

In addition, the reports can be "programmed" so that they adapt to the data being printed. For instance, if your job is an "Air" job, then you may want to see the "airport of loading", but if the job is a "Sea" job, then you may want to see the "Port of loading" instead. Rather than having two seperate reports with each showing the right data, you can have the one report that looks at the jobs mode and then shows the correct data.

Data can be exported, or read in from, and external system, via the FM Gateway services normally installed on your designated server.  For more information, please read the FM Gateway article.

Here is an invoice header as seen by a normal user...

.. and below when the "ADMIN" user opens the same invoice

Notice that the ADMIN user has the option to change the invoice batch, the invoice number itself, and the client for the invoice (not shown here).

FM3 offers the ability to be tailored to your requirements. The data entry "User Forms" you use on a daily basis are actually stored within your database, and as such allow the application to be as unique as your business.

In addition to this, each data entry form can have multiple versions, each one with permissions assigned to allow a given user group to use it. In this way, a user form can be tailored to the requirements for each user group. For example, one user group could open an invoice form and see all of the details, and perhaps change the client for that invoice (such as an "Admin" user needing to correct a users erorr), whereas another user group may not be able to edit any of the details or perhaps have the information presented differently.

When you first see the "Dashboard" or open a job, you will see a task list on the left hand side of the window. This enables common options to be readily available to the you.  Additionally, due to the flexibility of the "user forms" concept, items can be added to the task lists as required.  This allows the application to be moulded around your workflow requirements, and can also ease the learning curve for new users.