April 2014 continue From the Editor In the Works

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April 2014
Magaya Insider is Sponsored By
From the Editor
Welcome to the latest newsletter.
www.magayainsurance.com
Magaya Insurance Services provides
concierge-style service for all your
insurance needs.
Version 9.4 of the software is now available. New features include support for fiscal printers
such as those used in Panama; enhancements to the WMS Mobile application to speed
up receiving in the warehouse, and more.
The how-to article this month covers a new feature from software version 9.3 that enables
you to create multiple Pick Tasks to send to the handheld scanners that group items so
warehouse workers can make picking items more efficient and faster.
The case study shows how Apex Logistics, in California fulfills e-commerce orders in their
warehouse using Magaya WMS and scanners.
Contents
How to:
Magaya Software
YouTube Channel
Featured this Month
•
•
Our Talk With
Jose Antonio Perea of
Global Gate Mexico
Creating Pickup
Orders
Click here to Subscribe to our channel and
keep up to date with our latest training videos
Need a quick, free webinar on basic Magaya features? The April webinar schedule is up
on the Magaya.com Training page. Select from a variety of topics to learn more about
accounting and shipping features in Magaya software.
Multiple Picks
In the Works
FedEx Shipping Connection with Magaya Express Link
New Customers:
March 2014
Case Study:
Apex Logistics
With the next release of Magaya software, Magaya users will be
able to send requests directly from their Magaya system to FedEx
to request a pickup of items. Make the request from a Magaya
Cargo Release, Pickup Order, or Shipment (domestic or international).
How it Will Work
The FedEx connection in the Magaya Express Link
plug-in will give you the option to use your FedEx
account and rates or sign up for a new account if you
don’t have one.
When you create a Pickup Order, Cargo Release or Shipment
in your Magaya system, the system generates a list of rates to
choose from. Other options will include printing the labels and
selecting notifications. You and your customers can track the
packages online 24/7. Express Link also enables you to handle
returns.
The FedEx connection in Magaya Express Link will be available
in Magaya software version 9.5, estimated for late April/early May
release.
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How To
Multiple Picks
If you fulfill many small orders for many customers, the new “Multiple Picks” feature lets
you create many tasks from a list of transactions instead of making individual Pick tasks
one by one.
This is useful so you don’t have to create many tasks that send one employee across
the warehouse to one location repeatedly to get one item at a time for different orders.
The Multiple Picks process will group the orders by location so the user can go to one
location and get all the items. This process will not break an order. For example, all the
items ordered in one Sales Order will be in one Task.
This process can be done from the list of Cargo Releases, Sales Orders or for multiple
shipments. A wizard guides you through the steps. This feature is available in Magaya
software 9.3 and higher combined with the use of Magaya WMS Mobile handheld scanners.
Steps:
Let’s show how it works by using some Sales Orders. These Sales Orders have Cargo
Releases created for them. You can begin in the SO list or the CR list. Let’s begin in the
SO list.
If you select SOs from the list, the wizard opens and takes you to a screen to select the
destination.
You can select multiple SOs from the list or start the process from the Actions button
“Create Picking Tasks.” A wizard opens, which also gives you an option: If you select
multiple SOs from the list, right-click on them and select “Create Picking Tasks” from the
pop-up menu.
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How To
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If you do NOT select SOs from the list, the wizard opens and takes you to a screen that
enables you to make the selection inside the wizard. Then click Next.
Next, specify the destination location.
Next, specify the capacity of a task. If you limit how much weight can be in one task,
then the system will create multiple tasks to distribute the weight across tasks.
In the next screen, select the SOs.
In the next screen, the system generates the tasks for you to review.
Click “Finish” to save the tasks and complete the wizard. The system creates the tasks
for you, sends them to the handheld scanners, and creates a Movement document in
the Cargo Movements list. Now users can complete the tasks with the handheld scanners.
Next month, we’ll see how to assign a cart or forklift as a “mobile location.” For more
details on Pick Tasks, please see the section “Release Cargo with WMS Mobile Devices”
in Chapter 18 of the Magaya Supply Chain Solution Operations Manual.
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New Customers
Magaya Corporation welcomes the following 23 new members who joined the Magaya Network in March 2014:
(Roll your mouse over the names to see their location in the map)
1. AET Shipment, Houston, Texas
21. USA Cargo Services, Marietta, GA
2. Bridgestone International Shipping, Houston,
22. World Shipping America Inc., Englewood
Texas
3. Capital Pacifico, Panama City, Panama
4. CIF 2, Miami, FL
5. Dacotrans Internacional, Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
6. Distribuidores de Pescados y Mariscos de la
Sabana, Bogota, Colombia
7. EZ Logistics Ltd., Oceanside, NY
8. Florida International Enterprises (II), Miami, FL
9. GLS Logistic Solutions LLC, Miami, FL
10. J&P Group Inc., Anaheim, CA
11. KIT Foods Inc., Dover, Delaware
12. Orange Freight Forwarder, Barranquilla,
Colombia
13. Premier Air Cargo Logistics, Jamaica, NY
14. Priority Logistics S.A., Zona Libre, Colon,
Panama
15. Ranahan Solutions, LLC, Houston, Texas
16. Richman Global Agency LLC, Miami, FL
17. Servicios Global Logistics Panama S.A.,
Panama City, Panama
18. SLG SRL Solution WareHouse, Santa Cruz,
Bolivia
19. Trademill Group, Almaty, Kazakhstan
20. Transportes Internacionales Nazel SA, San
Jose, Costa Rica
Cliffs, NJ
23. XL Worldwide, Doral, FL
Be sure to join us on our LinkedIn Group:
The Magaya Network Community!
Click here to join now!
CASE STUDY:
Apex Logistics
Logistics Provider
Moving into E-Commerce
Apex Logistics receives imports from China daily and manages the storage
for an increasing number of customers who have online stores and use
Apex’s Los Angeles warehouse to keep the inventory. Using Magaya WMS has
increased accuracy and efficiency in the Apex warehouse.
,
Our staff worked very late one night during the recent Chinese New
Year to make sure the customer’s needs were met and everything was
ready to go the next morning. That’s the kind of customer service we
pride ourselves on.
,
Ms. Shu-Chun Tsai, Apex Logistics
Apex Logistics
At a Glance
Apex Logistics
http://www.apexglobe.com
Industry
Logistics Provider
Solution
Magaya WMS and WMS Mobile
Introduction
Apex Logistics is one of the freight forwarding companies that sees
the potential in servicing the growing e-commerce industry.
Apex Logistics is a freight forwarding company based in Los Angeles, CA, that is part
of a larger group that is headquartered in China. The group includes Wuxi CTS Xinqiao
International Forwarding Co. and Beijing Global Sky-Horse (GHS). Apex Logistics is a
licensed OTI and NVOCC and are members of IATA. Apex also has offices in Chicago,
Miami, New York and other US cities. Services include LTL, LCL, trucking, air and ocean,
warehousing and customs.
home to celebrate the festival. Without goods to ship, cargo airlines
don’t fly. “There are fewer flights during the holiday because there
aren’t many shipments, so airlines cancel flights. Then, as everyone
returns to work, there are a lot of shipments waiting so it’s hard to get a
To accommodate this new type of customer, the owners of Apex
flight after the holiday as the supply chain tries to catch up.” The ripple
purchased a warehouse, and their team evaluated warehouse
effect reaches all the way to warehousing in the U.S. “For example,
management systems (WMS). Ms. Shu-Chun Tsai who works
this year we stayed late, waiting to receive cargo. Over 20,000 kilos of
directly with the managing director, Elsie Qian, is responsible
cargo arrived at our warehouse about 11 pm. The customer needed it
for software and meeting the EDI needs of their customers.
repacked to go out at 9 am the following morning. Our staff worked
Ms. Tsai discussed the company, their operations, their choice of
very late that night to make sure the customer’s needs were met
Magaya for a WMS, and their future plans.
and everything was ready to go the next morning. That’s the kind of
Managing Imports into Los Angeles
customer service we pride ourselves on.”
Apex Logistics International headquarters was formerly located at LAX,
Improved Receiving Operations
but their new warehouse is in Compton, which is close to the airport
The day-to-day operations of the warehouse are the responsibility of
and Long Beach. They are a full service logistics provider with a strong
Jason Chen, the warehouse supervisor.
focus on high-tech, garments and perishables. For those clients who
require U.S. Customs services, Apex operates an in-house U.S. Customs
Brokerage Division.
Apex started using Magaya WMS in 2011. Prior to that, they received
cargo by manually entering item data. When inventory was counted to
compare it with the customer’s packing list, the numbers didn’t match.
As a part of a larger group based in China, Apex benefits from the
“If three people counted the same inventory, we got three different
volume shipping the group does and the carrier rates this gives them.
numbers,” Mr. Chen said.
This is a competitive advantage especially during the peak season
leading up to the Christmas holidays and during the heavy snows and
weather delays in the Midwest U.S. states in the winter of 2013/2014.
Since they started using the Magaya WMS Mobile bar code scanner, Mr.
Chen said. “We have better inventory control. We wanted to eliminate
human mistakes in the warehouse that caused discrepancies in the
Another challenge for Apex arises during the Chinese New Year, Ms.
shipment information. After implementing the scanners, there has
Tsai explained. Manufacturing plants across China typically shut down
been significant improvement in the receiving process. Now I have a
for about two weeks as people travel from the industrial towns back
report I can present to the customer, and we are 100% certain that our
report is correct.”
The receiving process is faster and more accurate because the SKU’s
are entered in advance of the cargo arriving, Mr. Chen said. “When
the cargo arrives, the warehouse workers just scan the package bar
codes to receive the items, and the system updates the item status as
‘Received.’ Then I compare what we scanned to the customer’s list to
verify it’s correct. We also scan bar codes when we receive items from
FedEx and UPS and save the tracking number.”
Apex Logistics
Expanding into E-Commerce
I use it to keep track of everything in the warehouse. I know where
An example of the new direction into e-commerce that Apex is taking
I can pull out data in XML. Not all my customers want to go to LiveTrack
is the pick and pack they do for one of their customers, a chef who
or see a PDF; they want a spreadsheet. Magaya enables me to do that
creates canned buttermilk and sells it online. The cans are stored in the
for my customers.”
Apex warehouse.
everything is and how many pieces we have left. I also like the fact that
Another advantage of technology to meet customer needs is the
“Every day she sends us a list of customer orders, and we fulfill the
available API offered by Magaya for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
orders,” Ms. Tsai said. The cans arrive in large boxes of 12 cans each, but
“Many of our customers want EDI, and I know Magaya has that, so I’m
the online customers usually buy only one or two at a time. So Apex
very confident of our ability to offer that to our customers,” Ms. Tsai
purchased smaller boxes to package the items for shipping. Mr. Chen
said.
explained the process: “We pick the cans and repack them into the
small boxes. We weigh them and apply the label. We use the Cargo
Release function in the software to ship out the orders. The system
keeps the inventory updated which the customer can see. Next we
print the Cargo Release and put it in the package for the customer.
Finally we send the packages via FedEx or UPS to the customers, most
Business Expansion
Besides offices in Los Angeles, CA (which is using the Magaya system),
other offices also using Magaya include Chicago, IL and Miami, FL. They
also have offices in New York, NY; San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA.
of whom are in the U.S.”
“We are looking forward to the FedEx integration into Magaya
software because we don’t want too many different software
programs. We want to keep it simple and easy for our customers,” Ms.
Tsai said.
Magaya is enhancing its plug-in called Express Link by adding a
connection with FedEx. The plug-in is currently connected to UPS
for domestic pickups. With the plug-in, customers are able to use the
rates they have contracted with FedEx or UPS to arrange pickups, print
labels and manage returns.
“We see the potential in the e-commerce industry,” Ms. Tsai said about
growing Apex. “We are expanding by adding a variety of services.
If you only offer freight forwarding services such as air freight, there
During the first quarter of 2014, Apex expanded its office network
in key US markets in Dallas, TX, and Apex began full service logistics
operations in Mexico.
are only so many customers to serve. Since we added in-house
The Magaya Los Angeles office serves Apex Logistics by providing
services such as the warehousing, we have gotten more e-commerce
training and local logistics advisors. Ms. Tsai and Mr. Chen both
customers. We also see the potential for adding a courier service to
emphasized the value of a local office to them. “This office is in our
handle small packages.”
time zone, so that helps us when the Miami office is closed,” Mr. Chen
Giving Customers the Information
They Want
said.
“I appreciate the support from Magaya,” she continued. “They really
worked with us when we were first using the software, and that made
“We send the Warehouse Receipt to the customers for every shipment
me decide that this is a company I want to work with. In addition to the
received and a Cargo Release for each release,” Mr. Chen said. “My goal
software features, I want the customer service. I also see how we can
for the system is to have it 100% accurate when compared to what’s
grow together.”
inside the warehouse. The Magaya system is very useful to me because
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