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An Event Not to be Missed!

Descartes annual global user group conference, Descartes Evolution 2007, is taking place on March 19-21, 2007 in Orlando, Florida. Descartes’ solution experts and customer panelists will present a variety of sessions designed to assist you in driving further improvements within your logistics operations.

• Learn how Descartes' Global Logistics Network solutions and services currently address and are evolving to meet changing business and market challenges.
• Gain a better understanding of new government mandates for cross-border trade and the different solutions available from Descartes to help you comply with regulations and streamline customs clearance whether you ship goods via air, ocean or ground.
• Find out more about how Descartes workflow management and freight audit tools can improve productivity and reduce costs.

• Network with other customers to share experiences, best practices and uncover new opportunities.

Descartes is also pleased to host two great networking events.

On Monday evening, enjoy a reception and technology fair that showcases Descartes’ different products and services, as well as, complementary solutions provided by Descartes’ partners.

Tuesday evening, attendees will head for a special event at Sea World that includes reserved seating at “Believe”, a sensational new production that showcases SeaWorld’s majestic killer whales with awe-inspiring choreography, an elaborate 3-story set, original musical score and panoramic LED screens. Then after the park closes, guests will be treated to a bountiful dinner and luau featuring the ancient customs, rhythmic music and dance, authentic costumes and cuisine of the Pacific Islands.

Register Now!

For more information and registration details please go to www.descartes.com/events/user_group/
conference.html.

Ed Ryan, GM, Descartes' Global Logistics Network

Topics in this issue: Ace 4 Trucks ...more   Advanced Commercial Information (ACI) ...more   Descartes Unveils Support for NVOCC Buy/Sell Rate Management ...more   Ocean Shipments Going Our Way? ...more   GLN Import2000 Air AMS Solution for the Freight Forwarder ...more   CVS Pharmacy Commits to GLN ...more

Ace 4 Trucks

Moving freight across the border is not a simple process at the best of times and now, with the implementation of new border security electronic cargo reporting requirements, the job became even more difficult. On January 25th of this year, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) implemented its e-truck manifest reporting system under the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program. This requires the carrier to report cargo to CBP electronically within predefined time frames or the goods will not cross the border. With the threat of expensive penalties ($5,000 or more) for failing to do so awaiting the non-compliant carrier, this is an important issue. This new e-business process is significantly more onerous than the old inward manifest which was often filled out by the driver and hand written, so a bumpy transition period can be expected. The CBP wisely took a phased approach to this new requirement by implementing at border stations in western Canada/US to get the bugs ironed out (there have been a few).

Descartes was well prepared for getting an early start. Carriers such as ConWay, Schneider National, and hundreds of others saw the need to move forward and be first off the

block on this important initiative to ensure that freight moves securely across the border. For many carriers that use Descartes’ border compliance service, we not only move their ACE data to CBP but also provide a commercial document management system that helps the customs broker receive the necessary supporting documents to prepare the release request declaration to obtain the customs clearance once the carrier arrives at the border. This combination service (data and documents) provides the carrier with complete visibility for the shipment crossing the border. They know that customs has accepted the cargo declaration and that the customer broker has submitted the required importer information to customs. Now the driver can confidently go to the border knowing that all the preparatory work has been completed.

CBP has already announced ACE implementation dates for the US/Mexico border and we are expecting to hear the dates for the all important Windsor /Detroit corridor shortly. We will keep you posted.

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ACI, the Canadian version of the CBP ACE e-truck manifest initiative, was announced last month and gave the highway carrier community notice that Canada is also preparing to have the carrier report cargo data electronically.

Canadian officials have been working closely with their US counterparts to ensure that a reciprocal process would be in place with in a year or two. For the most part, expect similar requirements and reporting time frames as the carrier community does not want to develop two different systems for crossing the northern border. The Canadian Customs consulting process with the importing community is well underway and we will keep you up to date with progress of the ACI initiative.

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Descartes Unveils Support for NVOCC Buy/Sell Rate Management

Descartes Rate Builder (DRB) has full functionality to support the growing needs of the non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) community to manage their end-to-end rate lifecycle.  DRB manages NVOCC rates from initial quote to customer acceptance through to rating of the house bill of lading.  This allows NVOCCs to manage a business process which is often conducted in silos across their enterprise and helps them truly get an understanding of their profitability margins.  Whether you manage your rates based on buy rates plus margin, or predetermined sell rates, DRB can help add structure, process, accuracy and speed to your rate management process.

DRB has a number of unique and powerful features which are highly beneficial to the NVOCC:

• DRB Quote Manager – Create quotes on the fly by adding margins to buy rates or by quoting predetermined sell rates to the customers. The solution tracks the status of each quote enabling processes such as: timely follow-up with prospects, KPI reporting on quote effectiveness and Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) compliance
• DRB Workflow Manager – Manage the process of rate request and approval between your sales force and your management team in our Workflow Manager module. If there is a request for a new rate, or a rate reduction, sales can make that request via DRB and submit it to the decision maker electronically. By managing each stakeholder’s work items in a personal queue, the process is structured, and efficient leading to faster, more accurate quotes to your customer.

• DRB AutoRate – With the advent of the NVOCC Service Arrangement (NSA) the house bill rating environment changed drastically for the NVOCC.What was once a process of rating from a single tariff, can now be a process of rating from hundreds of NSAs all with unique charges and rates across your customer base. By using DRB AutoRate, customer are able to easily access rate information across their customer base, and calculate those rates to a bottom line to aid in rating the house bill. Integration with documentation systems is also enhanced by leveraging the power of our Global Logistics Network (GLN) messaging expertise.
• DRB Data Maintenance - Integration with MS Excel to leverage importing and exporting for large updates and maintenance to NSAs and tariff rates.
• DRB Book-It - Make bookings directly with the ocean carriers from your buy contracts. This reduces the chance for error on the master bill of lading received from the carrier. Simply identify the buy rate you would like to make a booking with, and “right-click” to Book-It.

Whether you need help managing your rates based on buy rates plus margin, or predetermined sell rates; rating your house bills of lading; or quoting to your customers, DRB can help add structure, process, accuracy and speed to your rate management process. Please contact your local sales representative or info@descartes.com for further information today!

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Descartes’ Global Logistics Network (GLN) has been providing ocean mode messaging to our ocean carrier, NVOCC and direct shipper customers for many years but the volume of activity and interest in this area has been increasing dramatically. This increased interest has resulted in several areas of new activity:

• Message Footprint Expansion - Part of this increased activity is due to our customer base beginning to expand their electronic messaging to include other modes of transportation or just automating more of the process. Mid-American Overseas is a good example of a customer expanding their services as they have been working with Descartes’ activation team to start to transmit its booking messages to its ocean carrier partners across the GLN.
• New Product Development - A new version of our PC-based forwarder application PCPro, which up until now has been an exclusive air cargo application, has recently been put in test at some of our European PC Pro customers. The new version is equipped with ocean functions to issue and print Shipper’s Letter of Instruction (SLI). When issuing and printing the SLI an electronic copy can be transmitted to the ocean carrier involved in the transport. For ocean carriers not able to handle electronic SLI messages PCPro

has a functionality to create a PDF version of the SLIand send it to the carrier attached to an e-mail. This will help our customers to get off the fax machine. The PCPro Ocean function is also equipped with a function to receive status updates from the carriers and link it to the SLI originally issued for the shipments. Current planned development includes making PCPro functions available over the internet.

• Solution Integration – We are actively integrating our legacy applications and newly developed applications to provide seamless functionality.
• Descartes Customs Compliance solutions have also added the ability to link the shipping instructions created in the customers own back office system or thru a Descartes application such as Descartes Rate Builder into our compliance applications in order to minimize data reentry and speed the reporting process.

It is an exciting time at Descartes for the development and expansion of services that we are providing to our customers around ocean shipments.

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GLN Import2000 Air AMS Solution for the Freight Forwarder

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires the electronic submission of all inbound air waybills to the CBP Air AMS system. Today the vast majority of these air waybills (master and house) are submitted by the air carrier. However, the freight forwarder is the prime source of the house air waybills. Providing the house air waybills to the air carrier for subsequent submission to Air AMS is a process that sometimes leaves the freight forwarder isolated and disconnected from the US Customs process. The GLN Import2000 Air AMS Service allows the freight forwarder to submit their own house airway bills from anywhere in the world and places them in full control with visibility of their air cargo as it flows through the US Customs process. In addition, it also allows the freight forwarder to integrate their US Container Freight Stations (CFS) into the same process. Thus the

freight forwarder is provided with a single and consistent US Customs submission process with full visibility as their cargo is transferred to their US receiving stations by the air carrier.

The primary benefits to the freight forwarder are:

• Consistent global visibility to the customs status of their cargo
• Control over the timeliness, accuracy and quality of data sent to AMS with full ability to amend air waybill details if need
• Control of over the air carrier’s ability to see their shipper/consignee information
• Lower compliance costs, both direct and indirect
• The ability to integrate their US CFS locations into an single Customs clearance process

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The next time you’re in a CVS Pharmacy picking up a prescription, take a look around at the shelves of products. You’ll see products from companies like Polaroid, Johnson & Johnson, and L’Oreal. If you look closely, you’ll also notice products from Hasbro and Billy Bob’s Teeth, Inc. (an actual CVS trading partner!). In all, about 3,000 companies supply the 6,200 CVS stores in 43 states. They account for over $40 billion in revenue for CVS.

Last month, CVS decided to use the GLN to manage the transactional dialog with all of their suppliers and carriers. Once fully implemented, approximately 1,500,000 CVS transactions per month will flow through the GLN. These will be purchase orders for Halloween candy, shipment status messages from carriers, Invoices for hair care products, and a wide variety of other valuable business documents that CVS requires to keep their stores stocked with the products we like to buy.

Among the factors considered by CVS in choosing the GLN was Descartes’ ability to perform transaction messaging in smaller volumes over the past few years. They took the bold step of consolidating all their transaction traffic onto a single infrastructure because of their confidence in the GLN. They also appreciate the economic benefits and the added functionality that the GLN provides.

The migration of 3,000 trading partners onto the GLN is a task that Descartes’ GLN Activations Team is well suited for. Each trading partner profile has to be researched and updated with company information and EDI identifiers before being loaded to the system.

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Copyright ©2007. The Descartes Systems Group Inc. All rights reserved.