GT Nexus adds Web-based commercial documents system
Alameda, Calif.-based software provider GT Nexus is introducing a Web-based system to handle and transmit commercial and shipping documents electronically across the logistics chain.
The “global document control” system will provide digital document management. It will feature a set of digitized, configurable documents including: purchase orders (or their equivalent), booking requests (or shipping orders from factory to third-partly logistics provider or consolidator), commercial invoices, packing lists, cargo manifests, bills of lading and U.S. customs entry forms.
GT Nexus cited a study by Aberdeen Group showing that global trade remains highly inefficient because it is an unautomated, paper-intensive process.
The IT firm said its system will centralizes four principal activities:
* Purchase order distribution.
* “Supplier enablement.”
* Document flow.
* Customs broker collaboration.
Supplier enablement means suppliers worldwide can select a customer’s orders to ship, notify transportation service vendors, create associated freight and commercial documents, and then manage document flows with partners.
The software is already used by two major U.S. retailers for its import operations, GT Nexus said.
It said its new IT platform complements shippers’ existing systems, including those for Enterprise Resource Planning, Materials Requirement Planning, Transportation Management System.