Fact Sheet - Shireburn Software Ltd

Shireburn Freight SystemOperating a shipping agency has traditionally been avery paper intensive and laborious process with asignificant proportion of back room processing of data.Utilising information contained on manifests, clerkswould create notices of arrival, delivery orders,shipment release documents, invoices/cash sales aswell as compiling performance statistics and reports.Accounting related information is also very exhaustivewith posting of transactions to the accounting systemand maintenance disbursement accounting. Containermovement tracking and reconciliation of depot chargesas well as the management of container demurrage.The Shireburn Freight System (SFS) is a completeintegrated system providing facilities for processing ofimport and export consignments related to containers,trailers, Ro-Ro and conventional vessels as well as theprovision of container tracking facilities and containerdemurrage control.All these modules may be linked to the ShireburnFinancial Manager which manages the completefinancial accounting operation including voyageaccounting.The Shireburn Freight System addresses the completerange of business processing to meet the needs of amodern shipping and/or forwarding agency. Theproduct is modular allowing implementation of just therelevant modules and is able to handle multipleprincipals and multiple operating companies withopportunities for configuration to meet the specificneeds of the individual principals and is able to addressthe needs of both full load and groupageconsignments.The Shireburn Freight System is built upon ShireburnSoftware’s years of experience of implementingbusiness solutions for the shipping industry developedsince 1985 and is implemented in the majority ofshipping and forwarding agencies in Malta.The Shireburn Freight System consists of the followingmodules which are then described in detail below:Imports moduleExports moduleContainer ControlContainer Demurrage & ReceiptingMMA manifest reportingeCustoms ModuleImports ModuleThe imports module is designed to be able to handlecontainers, trailers as well as general cargo includingvehicles, trucks etc. Some support for air freight andparcel post consignments is also available within thismodule. Both full load and groupage consignments areable to be handled. Each voyage is defined with itsown voyage reference and data related to thetransport type. In the case of a container vesselbringing a number of containers then the systemallows recording of the vessel name, voyage number,arrival and departure dates, principal, last port of call,rotation number etc. In the case of trailers then thesystem also records trailer numbers, ware-housingdate etc.Manifest ProcessingThe import manifest is processed allowing creation ofthe details of the bill of lading, descriptions of thecargo and charges associated with the bill of lading.Bill of lading information provides support formaintaining details of the shipper, consignee, notifyparty and invoice party allowing invoicing for an importconsignment to be effected to a 3rd party rather thanthe consignee thus supporting consignments beingrouted for consignees through other agents.The cargo information entered into the systemdepends upon the voyage type (i.e. FCL container, LCLcontainer, trailer, vehicles, general etc.). Containerdetails include container type, weight, volume, sealnumber, temperature, dangerous cargo codes (IMCO).No limits exist as to the number of containers on a b/l.The system supports both foreign and local chargesand the charges are able entered in any currency.Rates of exchange are entered globally for the voyage.Bills of lading are able to be entered without the rateof exchange information thus enabling bills of ladingfrom distant ports to be entered well before the arrivalof the vessel. Full support is provided both for prepaidand collect charges.The system allows definition of charges for eachprincipal, separately for import and exportconsignments. This ensures that the correct chargeProduct Brief – Shireburn Freight System - Page 1

description is used for that principal and also allowsconfiguration of each individual charge to analysed inthe financial accounting system according to the needsof that principal.The Shireburn Freight System also provides facilitiesfor the maintenance of standard rates for chargeswhich are automatically applied to a bill of lading.Standard charges are able to be defined based on theweight or measurement of the consignment, based onthe number and type of containers on the bill of ladingor per bill of lading. Therefore based on the contentsof a bill of lading, the system will automatically apply aset of standard charges in addition to any variablecharges entered onto the manifest. The automaticallyapplied charges can also be modified and/or removedcompletely by the user if they are not applicable to thisparticular bill of lading. These charges are able to beapplied based on the principal allowing a different setof standard charges dependent upon the service.DocumentationThe main objective of entering manifest details into theShireburn Freight System is the creation of the variousitems of documentation, statistics and reports requiredto support this function. Examples of documentationproduced by the system, applicable dependent on thetransport type, are shown below:• notice of arrival - with or without charges• delivery order - with or without charges• invoices/cash sales – optionally linked toShireburn Financial Manager’s voyage ledger• gate pass out,• discharging list• import manifest - with or without freights, withor without consignee/shipper details• freight book - this report allows analysis ofcharges per bill of lading of all the bills of lading onthe selected voyage with bills of lading down thevertical axis of the report and charge types acrossthe horizontal axis of the report. Totals of bills oflading and of charge types are shown within thereport.• charges audit trail - this report shows a list ofthe various charges included on all bills of lading ofthe selected voyage. The report can be producedeither in local or foreign currency for either prepaidor collect charges. The report is able to list allbills of lading using a particular charge andanalysis can also be provided by port of loading.• other administrative reports e.g. lists ofconsignees for a selected vessel, ship's bag andport entry passes.Client Import StatisticsThe data entered into the manifest process, as well asbeing used for generation of documentation andreporting is used for the generation of statistics.The Shireburn Freight System provides facilities for theanalysis of all shipments received by a particularconsignee, showing the weight, volume and TEU'swhere relevant as well as loadings in weight, measureand TEU's per port of loading for a particular service.This analysis is able to be provided for one or a rangeof clients, for a particular principal and between 2dates of arrival. Statistics relating to imports aremaintained separately from those relating to exports.Links to Other ModulesLink to Container TrackingIn the case of container shipments, the data enteredinto the manifest process is automatically used as thebasis for the container tracking module. Containersreceived for those principals identified as requiringcontainer tracking is automatically shown as beingreceived at the quay using the container movementappropriate for the principal in question. See theContainer Tracking section below for more details.Link to Shireburn Financial ManagerAs defined in the Shireburn Financial Manager productbrief, SFM contains a voyage ledger designed to allowanalysis of income and expenditure per voyage.Charges invoiced to the client will be postedautomatically to the debtors account of the client (orcash account for cash sales) as well as the voyage cardof the voyage in question within the Ship's Ledger ofSFM with each charge type being able to be subanalysed.Configuration of the "destination" of eachcharge within the Ships Ledger is effected once at thelevel of each charge for each principal. Direct postingto the voyage account in the Voyage Ledger is thenpossible in SFM through either the sales, purchase andnominal ledgers including the cash book. This voyagecard is then used for the preparation of thedisbursement account. See SFM Product Brief formore information.Links to Malta Maritime AuthorityThe Shireburn Freight System provides the requiredlinks to automate the sending of shipping statistics toProduct Brief – Shireburn Freight System - Page 2

the Malta Maritime Authority in electronic format. Thistime consuming and low value added task wouldotherwise be required to be undertaken manually. SFSautomates this process. Customs Department linkagewill be offered for January 2004.Exports ModuleThe core functionality of the export module is the sameas the imports module with obviously the reverseeffect upon processing and different reporting needs.Below we define the differences from the imports.As charges are able tobe defined for eachprincipal separately forimports and exports,the system allows theloading of charges forexport according to theneeds of the exportfunction. For containertransport types relatingto principals for whom container tracking is effected,,the Shireburn Freight System validates the existenceof export containers within the container trackingsystem. In addition however, full support exists forshipper owned containers.Client export statistics are maintained in the samemanner as the import statistics. The appropriate linksto container tracking and to the Shireburn FinancialManager are maintained for exports as they are forimports. Facilities for the generation of exportmanifest in EDI electronic format for onwardsubmission to discharge agent and/or principal areprovided by means of the Manifest EDI module.DocumentationThe area of largestdifference between theimports and exports moduleis that relating todocumentation. Theavailable elements ofdocumentation and reportsconsist of:bill of lading – customised principal waybills.invoices/cash salesFreeport gate inloading listexport manifest - with or without freights, withor without consignee/shipper details. This isavailable both in A3 and A4 format.freight book - this report allows analysis ofcharges per bill of lading of all the bills of lading onthe selected voyage with bills of lading down thevertical axis of the report and charge types acrossthe horizontal axis of the report. Totals of bills oflading and of charge types are shown within thereport.charges audit trail - this report shows a list ofthe various charges included on all bills of lading ofthe selected voyage. The report can be producedeither in local or foreign currency for either prepaidor collect charges. The report is able to list allbills of lading using a particular charge andanalysis can also be provided by port of loading.Container Tracking ModuleFor agents representing principals involved in containeroperations, the Container Tracking module providesfacilities for the recording of all container movementsand the generation of the appropriate reports. Aseparate view for all domestic and transhipmentcontainers also exists. This module replaces a tediousand error prone aspect of manual container operations.The module is supported by a file of containermovement codes. These movement codes define thestatus of a container at a point in time and are able tobe configured to meet the coding system appropriateto the agency.The system provides facilities for the recording ofcontainer movements. These are usually between theship, consignee, depot and shipper. A history of allmovements per container is maintained and used formovement reporting. The history of a container'smovements is maintained for all visits to Malta for anunlimited period of time. On-line access to informationrelating to each history of a container to Malta isstored including the vessel that it came to Malta anddeparted Malta on, the consignee and shipper, arrivaland departure dates etc.Through the link between the Imports module and theExports module, containers processed through thesemodules automatically result in the first and lastmovement of the container. Movements into depotlink with the Demurrage module (see below) for thecalculation of any demurrage amounts due by theconsignee.Product Brief – Shireburn Freight System - Page 3

PricingThe Shireburn Freight System is a module applicationenabling the implementation of the various modulesappropriate to the business needs of the shippingagency implementing it. The cost of the modules is asdefined below:Shireburn Freight SystemModules Cost €Excl VATCost LmExcl VATImports Module 2,329.37 1,000.00Exports Module 2,329.37 1,000.00Container Control Module 1,747.03 750.00Container Demurrage 1,164.69 500.00MMA Statistics Reporting 1,164.69 500.00eCustoms Module 1,164.69 500.00Software SupportClients who implement information systems to managetheir core operations become significantly dependentupon their continued operation. Reliability and stabilityof the system is crucial both to our clients as well as toShireburn. As a result, reliability of operations was acore design objective which has been achieved.However, our clients also require Shireburn’s supportin the use of our systems to ensure that their evolvingneeds are addressed by the solution on an on-goingbasis.Shireburn offers its clients a support agreementthrough which we provide assistance to our clients andwhich also caters for enhancements and new versionsbeing introduced within the Shireburn solutions.New versions of software are able to be downloadedon-demand or according to a schedule off thecompany’s web site.The support agreement is available at an annual rateof 15% of the software module cost (minimum €250)and provides free upgrades to new versions of thestandard software as developed by Shireburn SoftwareLimited. We offer a 90 day warranty periodcommencing from commissioning after which thesupport scheme would normally start to operate.Why choose Shireburn for freight?The Shireburn Freight System is a fully functionalsystem designed to cater for the needs of the modernshipping agency and provides facilities to automate thetime consuming aspects of the agency leaving yourstaff to concentrate on the customer and businessdevelopment.The system increases the efficiency of the agency’soperations by automating repetitive tasks andreducing posting errors while also incorporating thenecessary audit and control mechanisms.The system is tried and tested and currentlyimplemented in the majority of major shipping andforwarding agencies in Malta. The system providesa level of reliability which allows reliance on thesystem. The system is secure allowing authorisedusers to define the access control of groups ofusers.The system uses modern techniques both in termsof its user interface as well as the developmentenvironment.Shireburn Software Ltd is committed to providingongoing support for its users of the ShireburnFreight System and in providing a continuousprocess of development of systems to cater forincreasing needs.The integration with accounts, EDI systems, MaltaMaritime Authority and eCustoms systemsstreamlines operations.Shireburn’s Freight System is the most widely usedin the market in Malta. This means that not only isShireburn interested to keep developing thesolution with evolving needs as these arise but alsothat the cost of implementation of new modulessuch as the MMA reporting module or theeCustoms module is able to be shared across awider number of organisations.Carolina Court, Guze Cali StreetTa' Xbiex, XBX 1425, MALTATel: (+356) 2131 9977 Fax: (+356) 2131 9528sales@shireburn.com www.shireburn.comShireburn Software Ltd © 2007/8Product Brief – Shireburn Freight System - Page 5