|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Document Management
Home
→
Solutions
→
Export
→
Document Management
|
Export Document Management Issues and Challenges
|
|
Although many governments now encourage electronic filing of global trade
information, and partners are connected through networks, data is still largely
exchanged in the form of "documents". Filling out
forms has always been an exercise in collecting the right data and putting in
the format required by the recipient. Although paper has largely been
eliminated, PDFs have taken its place.
Exporters have the responsibility
to generate and transmit forms to their
freight forwarders, customers, and
appropriate government authorities. Each transaction may have several associated
documents that must be sent to different parties. Once those documents are sent,
they may need to be revised and they ultimately need to be stored with the
transaction for audit and reference purposes.
|
|
Challenges include:
|
| ▪ |
Identifying and completing all the
documents needed to satisfy the governments and agencies regulating the
transaction |
| ▪ |
Producing the documents needed by
forwarders, customers and brokers |
| ▪ |
Distributing the correct documents to each
appropriate party |
| ▪ |
Managing the revision, transmission, and
storage of documents |
| ▪ |
Tracking document requirements, such as
notarization or whether an "official" version is needed |
| ▪ |
Establishing and enforcing business
processes around document functions |
How Amber Road Can Help
Amber Road's export solutions use a document
generation system to manage the activities associated with document
determination, distribution, and storage.
An extensive set of configurable
business rules help determine which documents are required for the transaction,
based on criteria such as the transaction type, countries of import and export
and partner. The engine draws document requirements from the
Global Knowledge®
system, which is updated daily by Amber Road global trade specialists.
The system comes with extensive
document templates in multiple languages, and also provides a flexible document
design function for the creation of custom forms and templates. Documents are
also generated according to configurable business rules. Since some rules may
produce duplicate documents, there are consolidation and validation processes
where field data is checked and verified. Electronic signatures are supported,
where required on the forms.
Once documents are
generated, they can be distributed by email to the appropriate parties.
Documents are then stored in a centralized repository and associated to
the transaction for efficient search and retrieval.
|
|
Features |
Benefits |
Document Determination |
▪ |
Automatically analyze the documents
required for an export transaction using sophisticated business rules |
|
▪ |
Automatically determine which documents
are needed for different legs of multi-leg shipments |
|
▪ |
Establish consolidation and precedence
rules in case of duplicates |
|
▪ |
Verify that document requirements are
satisfied |
Document Generation |
▪ |
Custom-design documents using an intuitive
interface to include system fields, set fonts, and assign colors |
|
▪ |
Draw from numerous included document
templates, such as commercial invoice (CI), shipper's letter of
instruction (SLI), packing list (PL), and bill of lading (BOL) to meet
business and regulatory requirements |
|
▪ |
Include an image to use as an electronic
signature |
|
▪ |
Choose when to generate documents based on
business rules |
Document Distribution |
▪ |
Create, modify, and preview the list of
documents that will be sent for certain transaction types |
|
▪ |
Select a pre-defined list of recipients or
enter them manually; send to system users or outside email addresses |
|
▪ |
Configure the subject line and body of the
document email |
Document Management |
▪ |
Define document types in the system;
indicate their lead times and whether they require notarization,
signature, or must be in official form |
|
▪ |
Display all documents associated with a
particular transaction |
|
▪ |
Upload new documents and associate them to
a partner or transaction |
|
|
|
|
