In the last four years, Malaysia's Kelang Port Management has maximized the use of its information systems to help it achieve significant increases in performance. Container Services throughput has grown by over 290% and ship calls by over 70%. Despite increasing competitiveness in the region, turnover has increased by over 75%.

With the phenomenal growth of South East Asian markets in recent years has come an ever-increasing volume of goods being imported to and exported from the region. As the words import and export suggest, the lynchpin in this massive movement of goods is the port business.

Not so long ago, a port was seen as a center of the community where there was a constant buzz of people and boats streaming to and fro. Today, where time is money in any industry, the port business is all about information systems. The success of a port hinges on how quickly the ships can unload and how quickly they can be re-loaded again to be sent off to their next destination.

In December 1992, Port Klang, Malaysia's main port, was privatized. The challenge for the new commercial organization was quite simple - the port had to become competitive to attract its ultimate customers, the ships, to bring business ashore. Central to this strategy was the newly formed Kelang Port Management Sdn Bhd (KPM) which took over the running of all port facilities in the dockyard and north and south ports.

From the very beginning, IT was seen as a key element in re-engineering KPM's processes to ensure it met up to the requirements of the thriving trading business and to compete with other ports in the region. KPM's directors ensured that IT would play a critical role in enhancing the ports competitiveness.
Mohd Ilhan Foong Abdullah was appointed to head up the IT services department and transform it into the engine behind the ports processes. His immediate task was to build the foundation that would enable the development of a mature and flexible computing environment.

"The first step we had to take was to choose a completely open platform on which we could develop the future of our systems," says Ilhan. Hewlett Packard provided the solution he was looking for, on which HPUX and Windows operating systems formed the basis of the architecture. One early success with the new computer system was reducing the billing cycle from 7 days to the same day.

"Back then, I viewed the IT infrastructure as a desert, but I was confident that when it rained we would see an abundance of beautiful flowers". Ilhan is very fond of the flower analogy and from those basic beginnings he has built up a complex infrastructure that he has termed POISE: Port Online Integrated Services Environment - the flowering of services.

Integration of Primary Processes
POISE covers all areas of KPM's primary processes: Marine Services, Cargo Services, Container Services, Office Automation, Human Resources, Financial Systems and Client Online Services.

Marine Services is the sea-based side of the business. As ships do not make money while in port, the objective is to bring them in quickly and safely and then take them out again. A task complicated enough in its own right, but which also has to cater for additional difficulties such as preventing collisions in the recent haze. This requires a constant crunching of information, from making sure the appropriate berths are scheduled in time for a particular type of vessel, to matching tidal information and the draughts of the vessel to ensure there are no delays in docking.

Simultaneously, Cargo and Container Services need to be on hand to unload and dispatch the incoming goods and have ready the next load of cargo for the onward journey. The hauliers have to be at the right berth and the re-loading has to be organized to minimize the time the vessel will spend at its next destination, as well as make sure the balancing of the ship ensures safe passage.

All the documentation has to be in place from customs clearance to the billing papers. In the meantime, Client Online Services receives and communicates all the information to the shipping agents, harbor pilots, stevedores and haulage services to make sure the correct resources are in place at the right time.

This massive flow of scheduling information and documentation from internal services and external agents used to be managed by phone and fax. Tracking and management was manual and largely relied on the re-keying of data into disparate systems.

Some of KPM's more sophisticated partners were linked by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). It was the implementation of EDI in 1995 which started the latest transformation of the port's IT infrastructure - electronic commerce.

Using a central Informix database at the back-end, KPM came across a messaging software called AMTrix, provided by Viewlocity.

"We chose AMTrix because unlike some other electronic commerce systems, it did not limit us to a proprietary environment and was scaleable so we could start off automating some simple processes at first, but do it at a cost-effective price."

AMTrix is an application messaging engine that helps organizations speed up their decision making and business processes by optimizing their dataflow. With over 25 different software applications running internally as well as the need to integrate their processes with customers and partners, AMTrix has provided the engine for a seamless flow of information between all partners at KPM.

"The concept is to allow our customers to realize the power of information by enabling them to integrate and communicate with anyone, from customers to partners to internal organizations", says Ian McKee, Commercial Director for Viewlocity Asia Pacific.

Currently, using the AMTrix backbone, partners share information with KPM via a fiber optic network, by modem or by an Internet browser.

"The great advantage is that now we can communicate with partners of any size, no matter what their own IT systems are," commented Ilhan. "However, our customers have to be sure that their information, some of which is confidential, is transported securely." AMTrix also enables KPM to implement sophisticated security mechanisms to ensure data integrity and confidentiality is maintained.

Poised for the future
KPM's systems are still developing at a rapid pace. Recently, they purchased two network controllers connected to antennas which send radio signals to moving vehicles, such as quay cranes and straddle carriers. All these vehicles are being equipped with vehicle mounted terminals capable of receiving information from the network controllers.

According to Ilhan, "new technologies today are making the management of our business a much easier process, but importantly, AMTrix allows us to take advantage of the latest innovations without having to re-invent our existing IT infrastructure."

Looking to the future, Ilhan would now like to see more intelligence integrated into their systems. Decision-making is still very much a human task. AMTrix may be able to help him out on this aspect as well through the use of its Intelligent Messaging technology which applies a set of business rules to a process. This enables the relevant exceptions to be highlighted to the appropriate individual or application.

DHL collaborates with customer via Viewlocity's e-Business solutions
Delivering what a company has promised to deliver - and precisely at the time the company promised to deliver it - is an essential and basic part of satisfying customer requirements. It is also the basis for operating a successful express delivery company and logistics operation.

DHL, the world's largest international air express carrier, has a progressive strategy of moving to become a complete logistics partner. EDI (electronic data interchange) is a key component of this process evolution, with Viewlocity's AMTrix technology at the core of operations. When it first adopted EDI, DHL took the traditional approach of using it as a tool for administrative efficiency. Now, it's a driving force involving the company, its customers, and partners.

DHL operates in some 226 countries with over 49,000 employees. The company is organized into three geographical regions where Europe/Africa - headquartered in Brussels - is the largest division with 118 countries served. DHL accounts for more than half of the UK air express market, handling 11 million shipments per year. Running such a demanding global operation, and with competition from the likes of UPS and Federal Express, means DHL has to maintain a competitive edge and satisfy its customer requirements completely.

EDI Development Manager for DHL in Europe and Africa, Gert Houben, says, "DHL's rapid growth in business, new services, and customers using EDI increased the need for a messaging solution with more flexibility and capacity. The involvement of many parties, coupled with short delivery times, called for a rugged system that can support multiple data types and non-standard formats".

"DHL adopted a distributed open systems architecture, running a truly decentralized operation" says Houben. "Countries operate their own servers - mostly HP 9000 series 800 - running a variety of applications that interact with one another via DHLNET, our global Frame Relay based network. We needed a product to allow us to exchange messages with partners and customers".

World-wide ambitions
"There was a query over the ability to support us at a regional level", says Houben. "Sufficient support would be required if we were to implement the software in every country in which we have a presence. Viewlocity stepped up to the challenge, using a third party organization in certain countries. The company has offices in the UK, and has other major international offices in the US, Singapore, and Beijing. Now support is available on a country, regional, and world-wide level".

To date in Europe, AMTrix is being used by DHL in 11 countries - Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Italy, UK, and Sweden. Some key customers using EDI with DHL are Ciba Vision in Germany, Philips in the Netherlands, Bang & Olufsen in Denmark, Pharmacia in Sweden, Informix in Ireland, and Nike in Belgium.

The AMTrix system is deployed
DHL uses AMTrix in offering the following services to customers:
· receive shipment data/transport instructions from customers
· send shipment status (track and trace) to customers
· send invoice data to customers
· send declarations to customs
· receive clearance from customs.

Extending the reach of information delivery
But what about the Internet? Can this not provide these EDI functions?

"The Internet is very important as well", says Houben. "It is handled separately from EDI, as it is a different area with a different audience. The two disciplines will come together one day, but not yet."
"Via the Internet, users can access information about DHL's services. Our Internet-based tracking option provides the ability to track any international shipment for a known airway bill number around the world. With EDI however, that information is provided to the customer on a continuing basis without their having to ask for it - as soon as we know internally about the status of a shipment, the information can be passed on to the customer".

"Having an EDI capability creates a competitive edge, in addition to the acknowledged benefits such as data quality, lower costs, and control", says Houben. "With Viewlocity's AMTrix product specifically, we are able to provide a better service to our customers by offering and creating integrated solutions. It's a path to full electronic trading".

©1999 Viewlocity
All rights reserved