AGENCY SECTOR MANAGEMENT SOWS THE SEEDS OF SEQUOIA PROJECT

Agency Sector Management (UK) Ltd, the UK’s leading provider of software solutions for the freight industry, is set to commence development work on a replacement for its Global eCargo Management System (GeMS).

Comments Peter MacSwiney, chairman of ASM: “The European freight and logistics industry is on the brink of massive changes. The move to a harmonised Single Administrative Document (SADH) and the changes being introduced as part of the EU Multi Annual Strategic Plan (MASP), represents the start of a paradigm shift in compliance issues for any company involved in global trade and international supply chains.

“Most of the changes are linked to EU initiatives under the general heading of Electronic Customs Systems and Projects and all have a bearing on computer software requirements. Under the project name Sequoia, ASM is looking to further consolidate its position as the leading provider of software that provides functionality for the processing of import and export documentation, by addressing directly the implications of the forthcoming changes.”

With the initial release scheduled for the third quarter of 2009, ASM’s Sequoia Project is aimed at replacing GeMS as the company’s flagship product and will take full advantage of the technological advances that have occurred in the years since GeMS was conceived.

“Furthermore,” says MacSwiney: “Fundamental changes to business processes mean equally huge changes to the software systems that support them. GeMS, and its predecessors ASM2000 and ASM2000NT, was developed to provide the software that would enable freight forwarding and logistics companies to comply with legislation and working practices that are set to undergo considerable change over the next seven years.”

Added Simon Adams, ASM’s Program Manager: “In reviewing the sweeping changes that are on the horizon, we’ve been looking at how best we can help those involved in international trade to meet the challenges they will face as the EU initiatives on Electronic Customs Systems and Projects are introduced. Our answer is the Sequoia Project.

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“The freight industry is changing and greater emphasis is being focussed on collecting and sharing data earlier in the supply chain process. The providers of software solutions, such as ourselves, must adapt to compete, or face being left behind.”

Adam Gane, ASM’s Development Manager said: “With GeMS, we focussed on how best we could add the functionality that our users wanted. July’s launch of Release 11 of GeMS will mark the culmination of ASM’s initiative to provide a “one-stop” suite of software solutions for UK freight forwarders meeting current requirements in regards to Customs documentation and communications.

“Project Sequoia represents a change in technical focus. With Sequoia, we will already start with all the functionality that meets existing needs, so we’re now more concerned with generating real business value for our customers by making the end users more productive and able to comply with new EU initiatives on import and export processing and documentation. Sequoia will be quicker to use, more robust and more highly configurable.

The GeMS release schedule will slow after the SAD Harmonisation release in July and currently, there are no plans to add further modules to GeMS beyond this release, though it will continue to be maintained and supported as it is today.

ASM aims to have Sequoia generally available to all users at no additional cost in time for the introduction of pre- arrival and pre- departure (PAPD) security declarations across the EU in 2009.

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About Agency Sector Management

Founded in 1986, Agency Sector Management is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and owned by its users.

ASM is the foremost provider of software to the UK freight forwarding industry. It supplies solutions to over half of the leading IATA freight forwarders in the UK. Its flagship GeMS product provides mission critical business functionality at over 700 locations throughout the country, supporting over 8000 users. It is widely used for both import and export processing and documentation, in the ocean and air communities.

Davies Turner was founded in 1870, to ship the belonings of Victorian adventurers to the farthest corners of the globe. Even today, we remain a family owned and managed group, offering an award winning and diverse portfolio of international surface and air transport services worldwide through our three distinct operating businesses

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This release was published on openPR.