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1-3 FEBRUARY 2012 I MUMBAI, INDIA

Issue 2 I Vol 2 I Mar May 2011

TECHNOLOGY

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

LEADING service providers are

bringing a quality philosophy to

their freight forwarding, Customs

clearing, warehousing and other logistics

functions. The concepts of doing it right the

firsttime, understanding full needs of custom­

ers eliminate poor quality and excess costs

in the service, thus giving value-additions to

customers and enable continuous improve­

ments in performance and so that their ser­

vices become hallmarks of top performers.

Today, the 21" century systems of logistics

are increasingly becoming information-inten­

sive, 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 pri­

mary need for operators and the winning com­

panies are those with source data capture,

real-time IT systems that provide access and

update, leading-edge applications and capa­

bilities, and advanced decision support sys­

tems for freight forwarding, delivery, logistics

planning, transportation management, ware­

housing and accounting. Software companies

which are keen in providing more quality sys­

tems 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

link is a leading software provider dedicated

to enable companies in logistics industry to

simplify operations through highly specia lised,

segment-specific software products.

Providing simplified tools for operations

since nearly two decades, Softlink has to its

credit over 60,000 satisfied users in organi­

sations exceeding 3,000 across the globe. Ex­

porters, importers, .CHAs, Customs Brokers,

Freight Forwarders, NVOCCs, 3PL companies,

lATA cargo agents and warehouse operators

and logistics service providers have all bene­

fited in terms of productivity and operational

efficiency through use of Softlink products.

Softlink's latest enterprise level soft­

ware for logistics industry, Logi-Sys, 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 exten­

sive system available for logistics industry",

says Amit Maheshwari, CEO & MD, Softlink.

Responsible for Softlink's overa ll global

operations Amit Maheshwari, founder of the

company, has a rich, two-decade cumulative

logistics industry knowledge, experience and

technological expertise. A graduate in Elec­

tronic Engineering, Maheshwari's role spans

strategiC planning, information management,

financial resource management, product de­

velopment and marketing. Under his leader­

ship, 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 ex­

tensible enterprise-level application that

improves productivity and control within the

organisation and enables effective decision

making and profitable business growth, Ma­

heshwari claims. "The different modules

of the system integrate the wide range of

business functions of the logistics service

providers, so that the various departments

can easily access and share information

and communicate with each other", he told

ACAAf NEWS in an exclusive one-to-one. Ma­

heshwari expla ined, "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 centra lised database

linking all departments and branches of a

company".

Briefing on the function ofthe system, Ma­

heshwari told this correspondent, "For exam­

ple, an enquiry received can be locked into

the system using its sales & service module

and all the interaction of the salespersons on

phone or by visits can be recorded. Al l ver­

bal and written quotations can be generated

from the system. Once the order is confirmed,

booking can be made and can be forwarded

to airl ines or shipping lines for confirmation".

Tulsidas Khimji implements Logi-Sys

SOFTLINK announced the selection of Logi-Sys, a comprehensive solution for logistics solu­

t ion provider, by Tulsidas Khimj i Private Limited (TKPL) for its software upgrade. Companies,

including Agil ity, DB Schenker, LP Group and many more la rge and medium logistic compa-

nies are turni ng to the solution, which seamlessly integrates their operat ions, to reduce costs, speed

time to market and improve collaboration.

An ISO 9001:2000-certified company, TKPL is a leading globa l logistics solution provider and wel l

known specia list with proven record of integrity and rel iability in global logistics. They are one of the old­

est Custom house agent and lATA Agent in India and specialize in customized Supply - Chain logistics

HEMANT BHATIA, Director solutions. The company has extensive worldwide agency network, which enables it to provide freight

forwarding and Global logistics. One of the early pioneers, TKPL provides a range of services from air

and ocean logistics to multi modal, consolidation, NVOCC, Customs brokerage, warehouse and consultancy. Over 100 years old, TKPL

offers re liable, consistent and cost-effective logistics solutions with a clear focus on customer satisfaction as the key to its success.

"With Logi-Sys, we will be able to support a mUlti-pronged logistics process to set ourselves apart from our competitors and

provide more value to our customers," said Mr. Hemant Bhatia, Director, TKPL. "Logi-Sys will play an instrumenta l role in helping us

collaborate more effectively with our customers and to achieve new levels of service customization, which wil l lead to a high percent

of reduction in time to market for our customers. We have had a long association with Softlink and know them to be rel iable and

proficient technology partner."

26 I MAR - MAY 2011 I www.acaainews .com l~I:)I~l.

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, De­

liver 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 profitability and profit sharing. The Cus­

toms clearance module facilitates regulatory

compliance and documentation by facilitating

online filing of Shipping Bills and Bills of Entry

through Icegate. The tightly integrated full fea­

tured accounts module ensures that all the

revenue related information is directly posted

in accounts. It facilitates automated gen­

eration 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 accounting system

with provisions of stringent checks and bal­ances like approvals etc. It also meets all re­

quirements of Tax management and foreign

exchange remittances. Billings for shipper,

consignee or the agent are generated auto­matically by the system.

Speaking on its advanced features, Ma­

heshwari said, "Logi-Sys provides advanced

features like automatic alerts and notifica­

tions via SMS and emails. It can also send

daily status reports to shippers and consign­

ees automatically at a pre-defined time 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 CEO­MD said.

Some of the additional modules like ware­

housing, transport, container management

are under-development and 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 prod­

uct offers a comprehensive, online Customs clearance solution, anytime, anywhere, and

cargo forwarding through Indian Customs.

"The system can be used by importers, ex­

porters or their CHAs, to handle the transac­

tions 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 classifi­

cation that is always updated. In a nutshell, Live Impex is a comprehensive solution for

Customs clearing in India "~

&)14.11 www.acaainews.com IMAR - MAY 2011 I 27