Adding DG to ERP

INTELLIGENT FREIGHT

SOFTWARE • COMPLEXITY IN THE DANGEROUS GOODS SHIPPING CHAIN CAN BE SMOOTHED WITH EFFECTIVE SOFTWARE, AS LABELMASTER’S DGIS IS PROVING

COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE IS nothing new: systems have been around for decades that help shippers and carriers to verify the accuracy of packaging, labelling, marking and documentation. Such systems have, though, become more sophisticated, especially in the past few years.

Nowadays, in an increasingly digitised and integrated world, there is also the potential to embed the compliance function within other business systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms. The idea is that such integration allows a seamless flow and verification of data without repeated re-keying and with the assurance that all regulatory and compliance information is up to date.

Furthermore, with the progress made by IT systems in the past decade, users are now

INTEGRATING DG COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE INTO ERP expecting a straightforward means of managing their operations, something that has always been difficult in the complex and ever-changing world of dangerous goods compliance.

Ashok Vasan, president and chief revenue officer of Chennai-based Pando, which offers a transport management system (TMS), explains it like this: “Shippers around the world are looking for out-of-the-box solutions for managing freight but many of the transportation management systems lack the necessary dangerous goods management capabilities.”

INTEGRATED SOLUTION To get over the shortfall, Pando has integrated Labelmaster’s Dangerous Goods Information System (DGIS) into its TMS. This now provides a seamless, integrated solution for planning and executing the shipment of dangerous goods and ensures compliance with global shipping regulations. “By integrating DGIS with Pando’s TMS, we can now give our customers access to best-in-class DG shipping software, on a single integrated interface,” Vasan says.

The aim of Pando’s TMS is to help businesses digitise, monitor and optimise their supply chain operations. By means of a networked TMS, Pando helps enterprises of all sizes automate and manage their transport planning and execution and connect to logistics vendors through a central control tower. Through the integration of Labelmaster’s DGIS, Pando’s TMS can offer shippers access to up-to-date hazmat tables, compliant shipping papers and more. DGIS also validates all dangerous goods data against the latest rules and regulations, reducing the chance for a rejected shipment or fines due to noncompliance, and helping maintain a smooth supply chain.

“Shipping dangerous goods involves complex rules and regulations but, unfortunately, the process is often highly manual, and can be cumbersome to manage and update and highly prone to errors,” says Alan Schoen, president of Labelmaster. “Integrating the two systems enables organisations to automate and streamline their shipping processes by providing all of the necessary dangerous goods shipping forms and rules within the Pando TMS. Pando

customers can be confident that their shipments are compliant with the latest regulations and reduce the risk of supply chain delays and expense.”

GOING TO SEA When it comes to ocean shipping, particularly for groupage cargo, the complications mount. Compliance with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code requires complex stowage and segregation calculations. “The complex, ever-evolving nature of hazmat regulations makes shipping those goods challenging and timeconsuming,” says Joseph Cabrera, managing partner of ShipERP, which describes itself as the leading SAP-integrated shipping solution, providing advanced shipping management functionality to users of the SAP ERP system, and helping businesses seamlessly integrate more than 250 shipping carriers to realise a more efficient shipping operation while reducing freight costs.

ShipERP has now likewise integrated Labelmaster’s DGIS into its system, allowing its clients to create compliant shipping documents, labels and more within a single interface, while DGIS validates dangerous goods data against the latest rules and regulations, including carrier variations that may differ from other industry or government regulatory bodies.

“Integrating DGIS with ShipERP will help automate the process and reduce the risk of fines or delayed shipments by ensuring shipments are in full compliance with the latest regulations,” Cabrera adds. “This not only helps take the guesswork out of transporting hazardous goods, but also streamlines the shipping process to create a more efficient supply chain.”

ShipERP’s system enables businesses to fulfil their shipping requirements, whether that is for small parcel consignment, less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments or a combination of the two, using integrated carrier real-time rate quoting, tracking, proof of delivery, transport planning, shipping compliance and many other functionalities. ShipERP says it is dedicated to increasing supply chain efficiencies for businesses looking to transform their order-to-cash process via shipment optimisation.

“Maintaining a smooth and efficient supply chain is more important than ever as businesses around the world are working hard to navigate a range of supply chain challenges and disruptions,” says Kristen Dapore, director of business strategy at Labelmaster. “Shipping hazmat adds another level of complexity and risk to the supply chain, so we’re excited to partner with ShipERP to provide a best-in-class DG shipping software that will enable its users to better manage shipping operations and further promote a safe and compliant supply chain.” www.labelmaster.com www.pando.ai www.shiperp.com