BILLVIA.COM I-SYNERGY.COM
billing and customer service custom hosted logistics solutions
http://www.billvia.com http://www.i-Synergy.com
Synergy Software Corporation
e-logistics consulting
800-769-1227(ph)
201-368-7780(fx)
http://www.synergy-us.com
Overview of
CONTENTS
Executive Overview 3
Trends in Logistics 4
Why Web Based Option Is Necessary For
Survival 4
About I-Synergy
Web based Logistics Solutions 5
Benefits for The Company (Freight Carrier) 7
Benefits for the Customer (Shipper) 8
Benefits For The Consumer (Public) 8
Implementation Options 9
About Synergy 9
I-Synergy Web Based Logistics Value Proposition 10
Technology Behind I-Synergy
Solutions 10
See the Big Picture – Future Matters 11
Summary 12
“E-commerce is highly desirable in areas where providers and consumers can collaborate to derive
productivity gains.
Increasingly, transportation
providers will be expected to adapt to e-commerce in order to stay in business”
The
e-commerce revolution has introduced additional requirements for logistics:
·
Efficient
fulfillment becomes a key variable in customer satisfaction.
·
The
Customers’ ability to shop around, pick and choose shipping options has made
“delivery” an integral part of the product value equation.
·
Cost
savings in transportation owing to productivity gains must contribute towards
the bottom line of company, customer, and carrier.
Carriers must deploy Information Technology to:
·
Provide
on-line documents for shippers
·
Schedule
pickups on-line
·
Present
freight invoices electronically conforming to exchange standards
·
Let
customers track/trace shipments on-line and obtain proof of delivery
·
Provide
shipment analysis functions
·
Handle
claims on-line
·
Allow
end-customers to pick the carrier of their choice, and pay freight directly
i-Synergy internet based solutions
is the ideal enabler for the opportunity before carriers – to use the World
Wide Web for competitive advantage and for dramatic business infrastructure
cost savings. Time is of the
essence. And to capture and retain the
broadest market of users reliability, security, scalability, maintainability
and ease of use are paramount requirements.
In addition, you need the flexibility to quickly tune your Web offerings
in response to market demand, windows of opportunity, and things you learn as
you work the Web to your advantage.
i-Synergy Web based solutions
offer a smooth and risk-free option for the carriers. It has a step-by-step
methodology starting with a web-strategy document. The backend solutions are
robust and the technology is the most modern.
You are able to choose the most
appropriate solution for you, and get it customized to suit your requirements.
You can also choose a totally outsourced solution or a totally in-house
solution or somewhere in between.
The industry knowledge, the
availability of i-Synergy frameworks, combined with highly skilled, dedicated
implementers will make the project a total success.
i-Synergy offers a complete
solution including customizations, rate loading, external interfaces, training,
support and on-going maintenance.
Increase in e-commerce is
the #1 growth factor for transportation.
With the growth of Internet
and e-Commerce, Logistics has become the important factor in successful
fulfillment.
The Logistics providers’
business model has been changing – there are new processes to be addressed.
The end-customers will play
increasingly more important roles in choosing the mode, and scheduling the
delivery. The Logistics provider will collaborate with both the shipper and the
receiver. Cost savings is expected in transportation business owing to
productivity gains from the collaboration with shipper, carrier and customer.
Business support functions such as billing, payment, collection, and claims are also changing the way they operate. Interactive exchanges conforming to standards are expected to be in place and Logistics providers need to comply with them.
Affected Business Processes
·
Keeping
track of prospects, and manage customers
·
Providing
freight quotes and ponies to customer, participating in auctions
·
Online
planning and scheduling of resources
·
Electronic
Bill presentment
·
Electronic
BOL/Manifest processing
·
Web-based
complaints handling
·
Shipment
Tracking open to all parties
Other trends in industry mandating web enabling are:
·
Achieve
enhanced user productivity
·
Present
a state-of-the-art image to employees and business associates
·
Increase
user satisfaction with increased functionality
·
Eliminate
extensive development and testing by using ASPs
·
Get
the efficiency, effectiveness and control benefits of net-centric architectures
The telecommunication costs have been coming down
dramatically and the bandwidth has been increasing. As more and more commerce
move to web, it is required to have the business systems work seamlessly with
the Internet. The structure and characteristics of the market place is
undergoing rapid change.
These changes pose opportunities and challenges to
carriers irrespective of size and geography. The carrier systems are required
by the shippers to
Carriers are also required by end-customers to
Work as extension of the receivers systems providing
tight integration
The
necessity to adapt to the new business functions, and the pressures of the
business place will force you to be flexible without losing your uniqueness. It
is a new reality.
Only
the agile, flexible and scalable will survive. If you are not concerned about
the needs of your customer and their customers – you have no business to be in
this business. And the market forces will see to that.
Two major knowledge streams
are brought together to provide i-Synergy web-based applications. Synergy Software has a full range of freight
management solutions including: rating, routing, preshipment planning, consolidations,
BOL processing, invoicing, invoice matching, freight payment, and complaint
processing. Also, Synergy has experience in carrier business functions such as
vehicle maintenance, driver reporting, fuel and labor, truck scheduling and
cost models.
Synergy Software
is an award-winning technology company. The application knowledge is mated with
cutting edge technologies from leading innovators such as IBM, Oracle and BEA,
giving you a winning combination.
The I-Synergy product and services offerings cover
the following:
§ Your customized web presence: A company’s web site is its face to the electronic customer. It is necessary to analyze the requirements, in line with the strategic vision of the organization, before a site can be put together. Synergy can create a web site for the logistics service provider based on the web strategy document. The customized web server, built on i-Synergy framework, does not require elaborate design and programming, because the framework can accommodate most of the functions of a logistics provider. The customization and personalization will provide the required look and feel, which exudes the individuality of the organization.
§
A customer satisfaction
module: keeping
track of customers and prospects has never been easier. All customer specific
information including contracts, fuel surcharges, accessorials, FAKs and
tariffs. Security, password protection, responsibility groups, function, form
and data level access controls are available.
§
A rate calculator : An award-winning rate engine containing your tariffs and
charges with specialization options for each of your customers. The best rate
engine in the industry.
§
Quote Generator/Ponies: Using the rate engine,
quotes can be generated as a response to an individual rate request or a pony.
§
Schedule master : Scheduling a pick-up or a drop-off, and scheduling trucks
and drivers can be done using schedule master. The schedules applicable to the
shipper (pick up schedule) or related to the receiver (drop off schedule) can
be individually accessed and updated the corresponding party.
§
Tracking software: Shipment tracking and proof
of delivery are requirements commonly encountered by the customer.
§
Forms
Server: Forms
required by customers can be delivered via the web site. Such forms are
invoice, BOL, manifests and shipping documents. Besides generating the forms,
i-Synergy gives several delivery options including email.
§
Invoicing
system: Freight
invoicing from shipping documents can be automated. The generated invoices
confirm to the standards for electronic bill presentment.
About
BillVia ASP solution
If the full set of solutions are not required for a
logistics provider, i-Synergy can still be used in areas where outsourced
service is most useful. One such area is Freight Billing.
The shipments are required to be entered into the
computer system. The accessorials and fuel surcharges along with customer
contracts have to be verified prior to invoicing. In the e-Commerce scenario,
the generated invoices need to be electronically presented.
§
Convert BOL/manifests to
shipments/loads: These
are may be manual data entry functions, matching, printing, mailing and other
labor intensive tasks that are candidate for outsourcing
§
Forms
Server: Forms
required by customers can be delivered via the web site. Such forms are
invoice, BOL, manifests and shipping documents. Besides generating the forms,
i-Synergy gives several delivery options including email.
§
Create and generate bills
and present them to customer: The BillVia solution is available for freight
billing and freight quotes.
Benefits
For The company
Think of your business needing to operate in a
collaborative environment. The shippers want your systems to work as an
extension of theirs. The end customers (receivers) also want you to work like
an extension of theirs. And as a logistics company, you have to perform
functions which are unique to your own line of business. How can you adapt to
the growing need of integration without giving up your own functionality. That
is what i-Synergy is all about.
Fast Time to operation is
dramatically reduced because (1) the I-Synergy is a framework which already
gives the basic functions required by a logistics service provider, (2) it
contains a robust rating and customization module, (3) your existing
application can co-exist with i-Synergy components and there is no need to
rewrite, and (4) all required domain consulting and technology assistance is
managed from the same source, thereby issues get resolved fast and firm.
Reliable The key portions of the
i-Synergy framework logic have been operation over several years. They are time
tested and functionally rich. The reliability factor is designed into the
scheme with several levels of planned control and checkpoints. The
multi-platform, multi-layer solution uses technologies that are time tested.
Scalable From one user to thousands –
i-Synergy scales to fit your needs.
Extensible Your system can accommodate
additional functions. The object-oriented design coupled with full
customization and personalization is built for extensibility.
Maintainable Web based solutions has built-in
features including test/production features and effectivities. Administrative
functions, including updating application function, are performed once – on the
server – and are immediately available to all authorized users.
Flexible All of the attributes that
make it so easy to build and deploy e-logistics functions with I-Synergy also
make it easy to adapt to the peculiarities of your implementation.
Cost Effective Contrasted with the cost of new
application development,
I-Synergy’s cost
benefits are compelling owing to the flexible framework, domain skills,
developer skills, time, and hardware and software asset we make use of.
Benefits for the Shipper
It is simple and fast process to bring a new shipper
into the fold. Create the carrier-movement functions, define the contract,
introduce the FAKs, minimums, ceilings, floor, absolutes, fuel surcharges and
so on.
1.
Once the shipper is on-line, we can provide them
with all the shipping paperwork. The BOLs, pro-numbers and manifests can be
pre-assigned. Specialized pricing can save money for the shipper.
2.
The shipper can schedule pickups on-line thereby
reducing cycle times.
3.
Electronic invoicing cuts down on the manual labor
and mailing functions. Shipper can participate in any bill presentment scheme
or use i-Synergy as one.
4.
Claims can be entered and resolved on-line thereby
reducing labor time.
5.
Tight integration with freight carrier’s systems
makes it easy for tracking and proof of delivery functions.
What Are The Benefits For Users?
The
end customers also benefit from I-Synergy. The productivity gains by supplier
translates to cost reductions to the end customer. The reduction in
transit-times also makes the purchasing experience more enjoyable.
Customer
can now co-ordinate with carrier so that the drop off times can be scheduled
for best convenience.
Claims
can be resolved on-line.
Tracking
and tracing proof of delivery can be done online – which makes it easy for the
customer to plan internal functions better.
From
a user perspective, the speed of delivery means that changes in business
operations or emerging windows of business opportunity can be quickly reflected
in processes. In addition, users
experience the intrinsic benefits of a being in the knowledge.
Implementation Options
I-Synergy
offers many implementation options. Synergy provides the complete solution –
not bits and pieces. Synergy designs, develops, installs, trains, and proves
production. We also provide further handholding where required. If it is
necessary, we will run the complete solution for you, on our hardware
infrastructure.
Synergy
has developed proven methodologies including standards, specifications, and
project management structure. Please note that all steps may not be required
for all projects.
Internet Strategy development: Analyze requirements in line
with strategic plans of the company and develop a formal document to tackle the
Internet.
Personalization requirement: I-Synergy offers frameworks, which cover most
requirements of the logistics provider. Graphics, layout and navigation schemes
are customizable. In order to retain the individuality of the organization,
customization services are provided over and above the standard configuration features.
Rate Engine Load: Tariffs,
transit times, market lanes, accessorials, customer contracts, and fuel
surcharges are database load activity, which are required before the system can
rate.
Interfaces: Interfaces
and scheduled jobs are to be configured. Interfaces allow interaction with
foreign systems.
Deployment Implementation,
testing, training, support – all of these go towards deployment.
Synergy has a staff of experts to provide training,
consulting, and project implementation.
To ensure that our customers have access to this type of expertise where
they want it, when they want it, and to expand access to local expertise,
Synergy supplements its own staff with affiliates. Based on proximity, availability, and any other criteria that are
important, our customers can choose the services provider that is right for
their needs.
Founded
in the US in 1992, Synergy Software has a rich heritage of expertise in the
Logistics applications area, and strong relationships with companies such as
IBM and Oracle. Besides delivering state of the art e-commerce solutions,
Synergy provides consulting in e-commerce strategy, development of frameworks
and their deployment. Synergy has direct operations in the United States and
India. The infrastructure facilities are both in the US and in India, where
dedicated teams of experts form a twenty-four hour development schedule that
allows price reductions and improves response times.
I-Synergy Value Proposition
I-Synergy
imparts value to your organization at several levels by enhancing your business
processes at various points
By Providing an elegant Internet
Presence
By allowing the best technologies to work for you
By allowing your customers plan shipments directly
with your system, thereby enhancing the customer value
By extending your return on investment in your
applications by providing interfaces
By allowing consumers to plan deliveries directly
from your system.
By allowing customers and shippers to resolve claims
on-line
By providing on-line electronic invoices and
documents in appropriate formats which reduces costs for you and your business
partners.
Internet is the era of collaboration, not
competition. As you provide more and more value to your customers where your
value additions are larger, you tend to build upon the positive aspects.
I-Synergy exemplifies this value.
Technology
Behind SYNERGY Solutions
Delivering maximum
value to its customers by leveraging advanced technology - it is part of
Synergy's mission statement. This means that Synergy has the responsibility to
keep itself abreast of the new developments in technology.
Advanced features
incorporating three-tier architecture and XML interfaces allow true
scalability. IFX-compliant design features and architecture allow collaborative
processing with various service providers and B2B exchanges. A host of schemes
to interact with your systems employing HTTP, SMTP[e-mail], FTP, EDI or XML
protocols. I-Synergy utilizes advanced
technology to put you ahead; even while it offers the convenience of easy
integration with legacy systems.
As
we turn into the e-Commerce era, our operations become collaborative. Our
systems and processes must work seamlessly with our business partners while we
retain our individuality. It is important to have a vision of the future,
however small your business. I-Synergy comes with a vision for the information
technologies and a plan to manage it. The diagram below shows the internal
functions in blue and candidates for exchange functions in green.
I-Synergy
has a complete set of solutions focusing on the enterprise architecture. It is
not necessary that all these functions are employed by the user’s business.
However, a viable technology solution must provide for possible interfaces.
New business functions necessitated by e-Commerce
introduce new processes. Traditional solutions do not offer adequate handling
of new processes. I-Synergy provides the logistics providers with an easy
choice incorporating –
No risk, High technology – a view to the future,
Complete solutions – from concept to completion, Low cost, Maximum empowerment,
Guaranteed performance
for more information, please contact
Info@synergy-us.com
800-769-1227
i-Synergy.com