The system is intended for use by the following users:
The Freight Forwarder has an Administration screen allowing him to add/amend/remove Overseas Agents and Importers access to PFETrack.
Importers and Overseas Agents apply in advance to PFE to be added to the system who then issue the authorisation Login and Password by telephone/mail/manual email.
Once a User is Authorised they can log onto the system. Any system function they request will check whether they are currently logged in. If not then they are challenged for Username and Password, otherwise the system will retain the user id for the remainder of the session.
The Importer is a
wholesaler or importer in, say, Birmingham, UK. His Supplier in the Philippines produces
T-shirts. He accesses the website and the link
for PFETrack. He enters his Login and Password revealing a page which displays his
orders and options.
The page is divided into 3 sections:
There is also a button for [Reports].
'Shipping Information' and 'Status information' allow the Importer to review the status of his order - hence the removal of the 'Track Order' option.
He goes to Add/Amend Order.
He enters
On [Submit] his order is e-mailed to the Shipping Agent and the Freight Forwarder (the latter for information), and the page reverts to all fields blank.
or
If he wants to amend an existing order, by entering his Importer's Unique order number he can change any of the fields within a previously Added Order of his (e.g. the factory inform him the goods will not be ready for shipment on time) at any time. No expiry limitations. The system should check that the order number input matches his user ID.
On [Submit] his amendment is e-mailed to the Shipping Agent and the Freight Forwarder (the latter for information), and the page reverts to all fields blank.
The Shipping Agent receives the Importer's order by e-mail, sometimes months in advance. As the system generates weekly automated reports, about a week before the shipment is due to be collected from the supplier the agent sorts out the paperwork. He accesses the system and hits a page entitled 'Welcome Blah Blah Agents'. The page is divided into 3 sections: His options on the page are the same:
There is also a button for [Reports].
Going to Shipping Information, the Shipping Agent enters:
THIS SECTION IS OPEN TO DISCUSSION
Quantity - Alongside this field there is a Status field generated by the system reading 'Part [ 1 ] of [ 1 ].'
If the Importer's order from his Supplier is 2000 T-shirts, the Agent could well place 1500 on one container and 500 on another. Therefore the order is split. The system must check the value of Quantity in 'Add/Amend Order' against the value of order in Shipping Information. If, on [Submit], the two do NOT match it must bring up an exact copy of the page, including all fields entered so far, except that the Quantity status now reads 'Part [ 2 ] of [ 2 ].' This should be a hyperlink to 'Part [ 1 ] of [ 2 ].'
On [Submit], the Shipping Information is e-mailed to the Freight Forwarder (info only), the Importer (to show the order has received attention) and the Shipping Agent (confirm what he has done), and the page reverts to all fields blank.
The Shipping Agent might now action another Importer's Order. He would enter the Importer's unique order number, and the relevant details would appear in the Add/Amend section. However, it may well be likely that the Agent will use the same vessel, perhaps even the same container for this new Importer's shipment. Therefore, to obviate the requirement to type in virtually the same information as before, there should be a button on this page called [Use Previous Shipping Information] and which pastes the data from the previous input session into these boxes. The Agent can then amend them to suit.
This section is completed by the Freight Forwarder who, on access to the system, is presented with the following sections:
There is also a button for [Reports].
and he completes the following fields:
Items 8,9 and 10 should be included, although will not be displayed initially when PFETrack goes live.
As above with the [Use Previous Shipping Information], a [Use Previous Status Information] button should be available here.
Reports can be generated to:
Each User should be able to sort a Report by date, Importer, Shipping Agent, and select between 'complete/all'.
There will be a facility to download the database contents into a format readable by Microsoft Access.
The system will be housed with an ISP who will back up the data as instructed by PFE.
If the above cannot be achieved on one screen, please advise as to the best alternative.
Document Dated: Tue Mar 30 19:40:42 1999 by TimP
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