With the utilisation of cost effective courier software, even a small to medium courier company can rival the service standard set by the larger firms – and the cost of improving your system is not that great, so really there is no excuse not to upgrade your company’s old manual system into an automated track and trace software driven system.

The days of waybills and manifestos stacking up all over the place are over. No more cluttering in the offices of your courier company, because specialised courier software now allows you to run a tight ship; with online tracking to keep both you and your customers up to date with all of your deliveries. The system also makes provision for automated dispatch communication and filing of waybills, POD documents, various spreadsheets and other important documentation on your computer network, making for easy access and a more efficient office environment.

Even small courier companies can now operate with effective systems, bringing them closer to the service capabilities of the big players in the courier business. The idea is to get courier company software to eliminate as many of the physical tasks as possible.

In the past customers would call in and the dispatcher would have to write down the order, and call up a driver to collect it, and then the parcel would be priced manually. This process is revolutionised with a specialised software package. With the right software your computer can take care of all of these steps, calculating the most efficient options with regard to driver allocation and tracking delivery routes.

Dispatch is now a breeze, with the computer identifying the best choice of driver for a particular delivery by taking into account his location and the location of the delivery. Cellular phone text messages are utilised for communicating delivery information and waybill as well as POD scans allow for easy tracking and information storage. The cellular phone messages prove to be extremely cost effective and efficient, saving money and time compared to tedious telephone calls trying to find drivers out on the road.

The cost of switching over to an automated system may seem high at first, but the long term savings and streamlining of the courier process will show great returns on your courier software investment. When it comes to courier companies, customers can be fickle, jumping to another courier service over the smallest of price differences, but at the end of the day it is fast efficient service that wins long term customer loyalty. With the appropriate parcel tracking software for your courier business you will be able to give your customers a more reliable service, and by doing so you should win over more customers and be able to offer a more cost effective courier service to your customers.

Effectively, when your courier company switches to an automated system it puts the customer in touch with the delivery process. The specialised software allows the customer to place delivery requests online, and to track the progress of the parcel as well. This means that while the software makes the company more efficient, it also keeps you on your toes, since the customer is able to see exactly how their deliveries are progressing. This should serve as motivation though, and with the time saved by your dispatchers there can be more time allocated to training drivers to develop greater efficiency in the delivery process overall.

Features provided by a decent courier software system should include:

o An interactive collection control system using SMS / Text messages.

o Individual waybill capture, or bulk importing from a spreadsheet.

o Consolidation of waybills onto manifests for linehaul shipping to same destination hubs.

o Consolidation of waybills onto tripsheets for delivery by drivers.

o Invoice generation and printing for selected waybill date period and specified customers.

o Receipt and credit note allocation through to the invoice or individual waybill level.

o Detailed customer statements including full payment allocation details and age analysis.

o Margin calculations per waybill, customer, period, sales rep, etc.

o Waybill pre-printing for customers and for bulk distributions.

o Tracking of parcels through barcode scanning, and printing of barcoded labels.

o Integrated Proof of Delivery image scanning and linking to waybill details.

o Automatic faxing or emailing Proof of Delivery details.

o Export of all reports in most popular formats, including Adobe Acrobat, Excel, etc.

o Instant emailing of all reports.

o Flexible multi-branch setup, using batch transfers or live connections.

o Electronic transfer of manifest and POD information

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ANT will showcase its new Managed Service concept at IBC. The move follows the recent announcement of ANT Galio hbbtv Platform, the go-to-market solution providing full support for hbbtv services.

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A video showing the highlights of bmw’s European Delivery program.

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www.tagtvonline.com features the entire video program. Watch the final Q&A where, at a recent TAG Smart Grid meeting entitled “Jobs and Economic Growth Opportunities in Georgia,” a panel of experts discussed the impact of Smart Grid technologies, the effect on green jobs and aspects of economic growth in the state, with a focus on economic stimulus opportunities associated with the strategies and experiences of organizations in the Smart Grid ecosystem. The featured speaker, Dr. Deepak Divan, Director-Intelligent Power Infrastructure Consortium and Professor School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology was joined by a panel of executives including – Ivan Urlaub, Executive Director, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA); – Michelle Mindala-Freeman, VP Marketing and Product Management, Landis & Gyr; – Bob Ray,CEO and President, Flint Energies (Member Oglethorpe Power Corporation EMC); – Ken Van Meter, Business Development Director -Enterprise Integration Group, Lockheed Martin; – Chris Womack, President External Affairs, Southern Company. The Q&A ranged from how to cost justify the Smart Grid, the timeframe for adoption and which technologies come first, Smart Grid program challenges and opportunities in Georgia and more. The Smart Grid uses communications and computing technology to transmit and distribute energy more efficiently to reduce our carbon footprint through energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy.

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Stratum Engage helps you make the most from your information assets: the data you hold about your members and contacts.Save money by improving the efficiency and consistency of processes by sharing information, improving accessibility and reducing data errors and duplication Boost retention and loyalty by improving your marketing and service delivery Improve staff productivity with simplified access to information, even when staff are out of the office Maximising member satisfaction by effectively delivering useful services is vital to the success of any membership organisation. Stratum Engage, our state-of-the-art software, makes this easy for you. It allows you to create the kind of personalised experience thatll really make your members feel theyre part of something great! What is it that makes Stratum Engage so special? Well, it integrates all of your data and drives relevant information to your members, officers and staff. Members see the news and events that are relevant to their interests, their location and their profile. Officers have secure access to the information relevant to them; member details, committee minutes or standard documents. At the same time your staff have full Customer relationship management facilities based on a feature packed membership database.

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LA 2 Week Miracle ANTI-AGING PROGRAM Scientific 4 Step System for Anti-aging Enter the 2 Week Miracle world each and every day to experience skin that feels different and looks younger. The 2 Week Miracle is a unique skin care system. With just 2 weeks of intensive skin care, the system will encourage the skins natural recovery function. LA 2 Week Miracle is designed to restore youthful skin texture and is quicker and more effective than any other skin care treatment. Now you can indulge yourself at home with a functional superceutical age management system, working 24 hours a day to awaken and revitalize your skin within 2 Weeks.

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Customised Duvet Covers And Quilt Covers

Duvet covers or quilt covers can be customised with a single photo or you can even create your own photo montage and use this to create custom bedding. If you’re not comfortable using software like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Photoshop then you can have a montage designed professionally using your choice of favourite photos. Sizes include single, double, king, and super king size. This range of sizes is another way to ensure that you can add custom bedding to any room of the house.

Personalised Pillow Cases

Pillow cases are another great looking piece of custom bedding and they can add character to a bed and to the whole room. Personalise them with photos of your children or of you and your partner. Alternatively, to make a unique gift they can be customised with a photo of the gift recipient and as well as a picture on the front you can also opt to have a second or the same image printed on the reverse of the pillow case.

Customised Blankets

Blankets are functional and convenient as well as being beautiful and personal, once you’ve added your own choice of photo or other pictures. The customised blanket is also a great way to use a professionally designed photo montage. The size, which ranges from small lap blankets to large bed blankets, means that every photo used in the montage is clearly visible and the quality of the double fleece blanket ensures warmth and comfort too.

Photo Cushions

Photo cushions come in medium and large, and regardless of the size that you opt for you can enjoy the same level of customisation that is offered with all custom bedding items. Choose a favourite photo or a photo collage and have it printed on one side of the cushion; the bottom of the cushion can be printed using your choice of colour or for a small charge you can add another or the same picture here too.

Customise Sausage Cushions With A Name

As well as standard cushions you can also create custom lumber cushions or sausage cushions. Your name is printed in beautiful type on the front of the cushion. The lumber cushion is an ideal back support when in bed and provides added comfort and relaxation when sat in the living room or other room of the house.

Creating Custom Bedding

Creating custom bedding doesn’t just present you with the opportunity to personalise your own bedroom and the other bedrooms in the house. It also represents a unique way of creating personalised photo gifts. Add a photo of the recipient or, for a romantic gift, one of the two of you together and print a stunning photo gift. Because they can be personalised with any single photo or a montage of pictures, it means that they can be used to create custom bedding gifts for any occasion.

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In today’s shrinking world, there is hardly any business transacted which does not require goods and services to cross national shores. Import and export activity is routine for many businesses, and the lifeblood of others. No doubt, you have used imported materials in your company before, but if this is the first time that you are importing or exporting something directly yourself, the following checklist will help you.

It is said that international trade does not deal with goods or services, but with documents. Strange, but true! The importance of correct paperwork cannot be overstated when it comes to import and export transactions. If you’re the type who cannot abide paperwork, may we suggest that you hire someone who can! Documentation is crucial to international trade, and there’s plenty of it to deal with.

The documents required to successfully complete an import and export transaction vary from country to country, but broadly they will cover the following:

Purchase order – sure, this is a business requirement, but a purchase order may also be needed by the buyer or seller for arranging finance. A bank may ask the importer for a copy before it issues a letter of credit to him, which will be used to pay the exporter. On the other hand the exporter might be able to get financing from his bank, on the basis of a confirmed order (also called purchase order financing).

Letter of credit – this is used for making payments for imported goods, once the necessary documents are handed over (see, we told you they were important). A letter of credit basically says that the importer’s bank guarantees to pay provided all the papers stipulated in it are in order.

Shipment documents – a bill of lading is needed for sea shipments or an airway bill when goods are sent by plane, as proof of dispatch.

Certificates of origin – some countries have restrictions on the volume of business that can be done with other countries. Alternatively, there may be tariff benefits accorded to goods from specific supply sources. In such cases, an exporter will need to submit a Certificate of Origin, which is endorsed by a designated regulatory authority or Chamber of Commerce.

Quality or inspection certificates – if the buyer specifies an inspection prior to shipment, be sure he wants to see some proof of that on paper!

Packing list – finally, something that makes sense! How would you like to receive a container full of cartons with no clue as to which one contains what item?

Invoice – but of course! Make sure you’ve written everything correctly, including the currency of transaction.

Others(!) – these are specific requirements, and change from country to country. For example, Australia has stringent quarantine restrictions governing the trade of food and animal products. You would need to secure a permit, or subject your goods to an inspection or both.

This might seem like a long list, but is in no way exhaustive. That is why you need to hire someone who understands import and export documentation, so that you can be sure that your international business proceeds smoothly.

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On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor that decimated the U.S. Pacific Fleet and forced the United States to enter WWII. That’s what most of us were taught as school children…

But, except for the date, everything you just read is a myth. In reality, there was no sneak attack. The Pacific Fleet was far from destroyed. And, furthermore, the United States took great pains to bring about the assault. With Roosevelt’s approval, the United States manipulated Japan into attacking, purposefully allowed their operation to proceed, and then played the victim for all it was worth

The Sneak Attack Myth

On January 27, 1941, Joseph C. Grew, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, wired Washington that he’d learned of the surprise attack Japan was preparing for Pearl Harbor. U.S. intelligence, which had broken every major Japanese code, also deciphered many Japanese dispatches.

In May, Japanese Adm. Nomura warned his superiors that Americans were decoding his dispatches. However, nobody in Tokyo thought the Japanese codes could be broken, and the transmissions continued.

On September 24, a dispatch from Japanese naval intelligence to Japan’s consul general in Honolulu was deciphered. The transmission was a request for a grid of exact locations of ships in Pearl Harbor. Surprisingly, Washington chose not to share this information with the officers at Pearl Harbor.

Then, on November 26, the main body of the Japanese strike force–consisting of six aircraft carriers, two battleships, three cruisers, nine destroyers, eight tankers, 23 fleet submarines, and five midget submarines–departed Japan for Hawaii.

Despite the myth that the strike force maintained strict radio silence, U.S. Naval intelligence intercepted and translated many dispatches. And, there was no shortage of dispatches: Tokyo sent over 1000 transmissions to the attack fleet before it reached Hawaii. Some of these dispatches, in particular this message from Admiral Yamamoto, left no doubt that Pearl Harbor was the target of a Japanese attack:

The task force, keeping its movement strictly secret and maintaining close guard against submarines and aircraft, shall advance into Hawaiian waters, and upon the very opening of hostilities shall attack the main force of the United States fleet and deal it a mortal blow. The first air raid is planned for the dawn of x-day. Exact date to be given by later order.

Even on the night before the attack, U.S. intelligence decoded a message pointing to Sunday morning as a deadline for some kind of Japanese action. The message was delivered to the Washington high command more than 4 hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. But, as many messages before, it was withheld from the Pearl Harbor commanders.

In addition to the US-decoded radio transmissions from the attack fleet, there were many specific warnings delivered to Roosevelt via non-American sources: a Yugoslav double agent named Dusko Popov, a dispatch decoded by the Dutch Army, a message from Kilsoo Haan of the Sino-Korean People’s League.

Despite repeated denials, it’s clear the Roosevelt administration knew full well of the “sneak” attack long before it arrived.

The Destroyed Pacific Fleet Myth

Although many ships were damaged at Pearl Harbor, they were all old and slow. The main targets of the Japanese attack fleet were the Pacific Fleet’s aircraft carriers. But, Roosevelt made sure these were safe from the attack: In November, at about the same time as the Japanese attack fleet left Japan, Roosevelt sent the Lexington and Enterprise out to sea. Meanwhile, the Saratoga was in San Diego.

The Myth of U.S. Reluctance for War

It’s true the American public, still nursing an anti-war sentiment leftover from the first World War, was reluctant to jump into a second World War. There were also many members of Congress backed by wealthy Americans who had significant financial ties to the fascist powers of Germany and Italy at the time.

But, Roosevelt wanted a piece of the war pie. Having failed to bait Hitler by giving $50.1 billion in war supplies to Britain, the Soviet Union, France, and China as part of the Lend Lease program, Roosevelt switched focus to Japan. Because Japan had signed a mutual defense pact with Germany and Italy, Roosevelt knew war with Japan was a legitimate back door to joining the war in Europe.

On October 7, 1940, one of Roosevelt’s military advisors, Lieutenant Commander Arthur McCollum, wrote a memo detailing an 8-step plan that would provoke Japan into attacking the United States. Over the next year, Roosevelt implemented all 8 of the recommended actions.

As with recent wars, it all boiled down to oil. In the summer of 1941, the US joined England in an oil embargo against Japan. Japan needed oil for its war with China, and had no remaining option but to invade the East Indies and Southeast Asia to get new resources. And that required getting rid of the US Pacific Fleet first.

Although Roosevelt may have got more than he bargained for, he clearly let the attack on Pearl Harbor happen, and even helped Japan by making sure their attack was a surprise. He did this by withholding information from Pearl Harbor’s commanders, and even by ensuring the attack force wasn’t accidentally discovered by commercial shipping traffic. As Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner stated in 1941: “We were prepared to divert traffic when we believed war was imminent. We sent the traffic down via the Torres Strait, so that the track of the Japanese task force would be clear of any traffic.”

The plan worked.

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