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GlobalTrack’s
integrated
supply chain components that deliver a customised solution
that enhances supply chain performance. |
It cannot be stressed enough! Technology must add value in a real business sense. It must give its users a competitive edge and visibly reduce operating costs. Developers of fleet management systems are seemingly moving to a point of consensus on the issue of integration with existing business software systems. One such developer is Global Supply Chain Services, a locally-based operation headed up by Pieter Smits, an enterprising young Hollander whose product, GlobalTrack, is, according to him, making big waves in Africa, the Middle East (trucks carrying supplies into Baghdad use GlobalTrack) and south and central America.
FleetWatch asked him to put his pen to paper on the question: "How will integration help deliver 'the goods' to fleet owners?"
In overseas markets, manufacturers have succeeded in cutting their supply chain costs by creating greater efficiencies. In order to be globally competitive, South African companies need to move in a similar direction. In order to adapt to changing circumstances and market demand, SA manufacturers need to create a more flexible and adaptable environment by implementing advanced supply chain solutions.
Fleet management systems today are an integral component of supply chain management and need to be flexible in order to integrate with companies' existing management information systems (MIS). Whatever the organisation's needs are - from tracking wildlife to the delivery of hazardous materials - these fleet management systems must enhance business operations. Also, they should enable organisations to reduce monitoring cost, reduce risk, and increase efficiency and profits by getting live information of valuable assets via the Internet. Our GlobalTrack solution, for example, ensures that an organisation's business assets are 'visible' and reachable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, anywhere in the world.
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Pieter
Smits says
an Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) system is able to fully
integrate with ERP systems. |
360 degree view
Organisations are demanding integration of all systems in order to view the status of the whole operation from one centralised point of reference. Traditional systems tend to focus on one software product only and lack the expertise and/or knowledge to adapt to the ever changing and more demanding market needs.
Transport operations are also beginning to identify a need for an integrated real-time IT infrastructure to pull information together from all parts of the supply chain. Supply chain visibility should, ideally, provide management with a clear top-down view across activities such as raw material purchasing and production and other operations, allowing for better planning and forecasting.
Getting the best 'fit'
GlobalTrack utilizes three different software packages to help transporters get the right sort of information for their operation. The first package is an off-the-shelf solution whereby the client can choose between web-based or PC-based access. The next step in the line of products entails a corporate solution where we install or utilise an existing database server such as Microsoft SQL. A special program pulls the relevant data from our main server via XML. Customers can connect via FleetTrack (a subsidiary product to GlobalTrack) to their own database server. Furthermore, we can integrate Crystal reporting and other custom reporting modules to the database server.
The high-end solution incorporates a complete AVL solution whereby we can integrate into existing ERP systems, utilise the client's costing system by installing a billing platform and provide full maintenance and support for the system. Typically, clients who utilize this set of products are looking for an outsourced partner to take part control of the last leg of the supply chain within the company.
More integration
From GlobalTrack's perspective, there hasn't been sufficient IT integration within the local transport industry. Different computer systems have been put in place to make different administrative, planning and management jobs easier. Since the systems have been installed, a lot of organisation's find them inappropriate or far from user-friendly, mostly because the systems are all different and not linked together.
As an example, users do not want to utilise three different databases to access the same information. It is my firm belief that integration of systems and processes will be the keyword in fleet management systems in 2005. If this can be effectively achieved, life will become easier at the office and costs will be significantly reduced.
