Press Releases
08/20/2002
CaptainSuite for Transportation Management Gains Customers Phase II Launched by Horizon Services Group
Dallas, TX, Aug. 20, 2002 – Horizon Services Group, the leading provider of logistics management software and consulting services for ocean shipping, has launched the second wave of CaptainSuite solutions for transportation management.
Phase II of CaptainSuite includes an additional six software packages designed to solve management and operations issues specific to logistics and transportation companies worldwide. The first CaptainSuite products, introduced in May, have received a warm market welcome, raising expectations for this second phase of solutions.
“CaptainSuite software gives us what we need to reduce business costs without the big upfront price tag and commitment to process change,” said Monty Smith, Chief Information Officer of Pacific Alaska Forwarders, based in Washington. “Horizon understood where we needed to go and gave us a way to get there within a week. We have been running the software ever since without a glitch.”
Pacific Alaska Forwarders, a leading third-party logistics provider to Alaska, has implemented HAZcaptain from Horizon Services. PAF has been doing business in the Alaska trades for 40 years.
The first CaptainSuite launch included HAZcaptain for monitoring hazardous materials shipments; FREIGHTcaptain for managing less-than-truckload shipments; SEDcaptain for filing Shipper Export Declarations electronically with Customs; DISPATCHcaptain for automatically assigning intermodal moves to third-parties; GATEcaptain for managing port yard access; and LOADcaptain for optimizing container and pallet loads.
A new version of SEDcaptain based on Microsoft .NET technology will be released in coming weeks. Using .NET, Horizon can develop solutions based on XML programming technology, making integration between systems inside and outside a company far more cost-effective and simple.
Phase II includes the following products. Each solution is web-based:
TEXTcaptain
Allows business users to manage content displayed on designated web sites. A great product for marketing departments who want to be able to implement content and changes, quick and efficiently without the bottleneck or cost of IT department and web development resources.
SALEScaptain
A tool for container carriers Sales and Marketing departments to manage sales. Includes Account Reporting and Tracking System modules, this tool is used to improve and proactively manage customer accounts in the ocean business.
RAILcaptain
Designed to facilitate the management and automatic sending of EDI messages to and from railroads. This also interacts with ROUTEcaptain to determine rail routes to take and if a rate is assigned. There is special processing for hazardous materials rail billing to comply with rail billing standards. The user also has the ability to track if the rail billing has been received by the carrier.
COSTcaptain
System that automates the reconciliation of rail moves and minimizes the amount of manual processes from an administrative role. The reconciliation of truck moves is charted and tracked effectively and at the leg and trip level, allowing for greater control over inland costs.
ROUTEcaptain
Routing system to assign routes based on business rules for rail and truck routes, ocean routes and barge routes. The routes are dynamically generated and optimized based on criteria sent to the system for each booking, which allows for business control and updates. There is a common interface between all systems retrieving routes which eliminates differences in routes returned to different systems. Core functionality includes - cutoff, departure, arrival and availability times, mileage, modal delay ability, dry docking logic, hours of operation/holiday schedule for each facility, and the ability for logistics departments to interface with the system, for example, to warn the users or lock a vessel per service.
AUTOcaptain
Provides detailed shipment tracking and management for automobile shipments. This system collects additional data regarding the individual autos to track customer information, detailed tracking for shipment status including: received, load, stage (targeting a vessel), in route, projected arrival at port, actual arrival at port, devan, deliver (to next carrier) to final delivery, and bar code scanning/tracking for data collection automation. This system also provides EDI interchange to satisfy auto manufacturer requirements. The system automates the EDI transmission of shipment information and statuses based on events that occur in processing vehicles, such as received, shipped, delivered, etc. The AUTOcaptain application also produces shipping documentation such as port directions/instructions for personally owned vehicles delivered to the port, delivery receipts, dealer notifications, and staging receipts to gate in the loaded auto stack.
About Horizon
Horizon Services Group was formed in 2001 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Lines, the largest ocean carrier in the U.S. noncontiguous domestic trade. Horizon is based in Dallas, Texas. Its mission is to assist logistics companies in applying creative information technology solutions for improving customer service while reducing the cost of doing business. Horizon recently entered into a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to design next-generation software for logistics management using Microsoft’s new .NET XML-based development technology.
