2007 Conference

The 2007 conference was a great success! We hope you will be able to join us in 2008. To get a sense for the topics typically covered at the conference, see the session summaries below.

Monday, September 10th

Synchronizing the Supply Chain (8:30-9:30am, Cezanne 1,2)

H. Donald Ratliff, Executive Director, Supply Chain and Logistics Institute, Regents and UPS Professor of Logistics, Georgia Institute of Technology

The growth of global commerce combined with increasing transportation cost and the desire for both high customer service and low inventory has made synchronization the critical need in most supply chains. In a perfectly synchronized supply chain, products would always be available to customers when and where they were required with no inventory in the supply chain except that which is moving and no delays by products waiting on supply chain assets or supply chain assets waiting on products. Unfortunately the physics of supply chains make such perfect synchronization impossible. Therefore the focus of supply chain synchronization is on establishing processes to assure that at every synchronization point in the supply chain; all requirements are provided for supply chain execution at an acceptable level of cost and service and with a very small probability of disruption. As supply chains become more complex this invariably becomes more difficult. Since all trends indicate that supply chains continue to become more complex, supply chain synchronization will increasingly be the primary focus of supply chain engineering.

In this session we will illustrate and discuss some common problems associated with synchronizing supply chains, some root causes of supply chain complexity and some current and future approaches to addressing these problems.

MercuryEdge/KPI's/Compliance (9:45-11:15am, Cezanne 1,2)

You're an established customer and now you want to leverage the data that you have collected in the system. The best way to do that is through MercuryEdge. In this session we will cover the basics of Edge - setup, merging and summarizing data. We will also cover more advanced features: maverick spend reporting, monthly performance reporting, macro development. Finally we will leverage the knowledge gained to develop a series of KPIs to measure carrier performance - such as data quality scoring and on time performance. The culmination will be an overall Carrier Scorecard showing performance measured against both carriers within a customer's enterprise and an established MercuryGate benchmark.

Mojo (Optimization) (11:30am-12:30pm, Cezanne 1,2)

Mojo is MercuryGate's route optimization tool that not only handles a shipper's needs but also is built to handle the multi-pick/multi-drop loads that a non-asset based 3PL must create. Mojo considers all alternatives such as point-to-point vs. pooling vs. continuous moves as well as considering LTL consolidation. Mojo allows you to use your rates and locations from the server or upload completely unique rate tables and/or shipments from Excel. Once you review the results, the loads may be built back on the server for the operations folks to execute. Mojo is an easy to use, fast, robust optimizer that can simplify your consolidation processes and reduce your overall costs to move freight.

Bid Board/Brokerage (2:00-3:00pm, Cezanne 1,2)

Last year we laid the framework of the new Bid Board functionality - this year we show the results. Siemens Power Generation group will present their results to date which entails close to 75% of their loads utilizing Private Bid Boards. In addition to Private Bid Boards Siemens has adopted "auto-payment" to their carriers. Using this workflow the freight bill is eliminated and all PODs and Invoice Disputes are accomplished through a portlet designed to support this process. The results so far have been impressive: almost 15% savings. We will cover the workflow, performance metrics, and lessons learned in this session so others can benefit from the process.

How our XML works (understand how our DTDs work) (2:00-3:00pm, Renoir 2)

XML is an extensible language that facilitates sharing of structured data between information systems. This track session will focus on MercuryGate's integration interface using XML documents. Importing and Exporting of Shipment, MBL/Load, Enterprise, Location, Carrier, Tender, Item and Status data will be presented. Both syntactic and semantic requirements for these message types will be detailed. Document "correctness" (i.e. Well-formed XML and Valid XML) will be discussed in the context of MercuryGate's DTD validation strategies.

Claims Management (3:00-4:00pm, Cezanne 1,2)

MyEZClaim serves the shipper and third party logistics community with services and claim applications for loss/damage claims and freight bill overcharge claims. MercuryGate has enabled MyEZClaim and many of you use today. Learn the depth and breathe of this offering provided by TranSolutions, Inc.

Architecture and System Monitoring, Backups/Archiving (3:00-4:00pm, Renoir 2)

Discover the secrets behind running and maintaining MercuryGate's TMS. Learn how you too can successfully contribute to a well-performing, 24x7 enterprise system. Finally see the magic revealed with monitoring, backup strategies and network architecture. Don't miss it!

Managing Collaboration (4:15-5:30pm, Cezanne 1,2)

In winning a strategic account Xpress Network Solutions (A division for US Xpress) also won a very complicated and difficult data exchange. Data is exchanged between MercuryGate and XNS's customers through 10 different EDI and XML document types. Because the data is time sensitive collaboration is absolutely critical to insure there are no service failures. This complicated workflow and data exchange is managed through a series of Activities within MercuryGate. These Activities in turn drive the back end reporting and the actual data exchange itself. XNS will present the overall workflow, the results to date and also pertinent lessons learned.

MercuryGate Education & Product Documentation (5:30-6:00pm, Cezanne 1,2)

A tool is only as good as its users' knowledge of it. MercuryGate is constantly updating and improving its education offerings and its product documentation. "The MercuryGate Education & Product Documentation" presentation is a status report to our customers about what we have done and are doing in this very important area.

Tuesday, September 11th

The Next "Big Thing" in Logistics (8:30-9:30am, Cezanne 1,2)

Adrian Gonzalez, Director, Logistics Executive Council
ARC Advisory Group, AdrianG@arcweb.com

Surely you are not expecting me to tell you in this session summary document!

Reporting (how to get the most out of your data) (9:45-10:45am, Cezanne 1,2)

MercuryGate has arguably one of the most flexible reporting architectures in the industry. This tract will focus on operational, tactical, and analytical reporting. We will demonstrate how reports can be configured to maximize the information users see and focus them on the right aspect of the data. This session will also cover how to control what people which reports. Learn how to control your business with reports that validate your process flow and demonstrate deviations to that flow. We'll look at actual reporting strategies for RR Donnelly and Towne Network Solutions from an operational, tactical, and analytical reporting perspective. This topic will cover data integrity and quality and how to improve the quality of your data and thus the value of your information through controls enforced through reporting.

Intermodal/Container Management (11:00am-12:30pm, Cezanne 1,2)

Managing Intermodal shipments and keeping track of Containers can be a challenge. This session will focus on the process to build shipments and the MBL's necessary to fully track and manage Intermodal shipments. Containers can be added to the system for use on current or future shipments. We will take you through the life cycle of a multi leg Intermodal shipment with several drayage legs. Route planning options are reviewed with the ability to save up to three planning scenarios. Route schedules and rates will be discussed along with a new contract type to manage accessorials on Intermodal shipments.

Process Management through Portals (2:00-3:00pm, Cezanne 1,2)

The MercuryGate TMS has been used by many customers to manage their operational processes. This module addresses custom portals that have been developed to manage and control specific processes ensuring proper timing of data entry as well as improvement of data quality. These process portals have significantly reduced the number of steps required in the process and duplication of effort thus saving both time and money. We will also discuss how portals may be used to share data between different parties including suppliers simplifying the inbound flow of product/raw materials as well as enforcing carrier compliance for all suppliers.

Messaging and logging (2:00-3:00pm, Renoir 2)

This track session focuses on available message formats, transmission and reception protocols, security, and associated message logging within the MercuryGate environment. Inbound and Outbound messaging requirements for Shipments, MBL/Loads, Orders, Invoices, Enterprises, Locations and Rate Requests will be presented. The benefits and limitations of available formats will be discussed. Transmission timing and dispatching between systems will be outlined along with message reporting and error handling techniques.

Allocating Costs/Charges from Loads to Shipments (3:00-4:00pm, Cezanne 1,2)

Understanding the costs associated to each shipment helps you determine the total landed cost. However, allocation may also involve customer charges as well as carrier costs. MercuryGate allows you to allocate carrier cost, customer charges, carrier invoices, and customer invoices to shipments based on many different allocation methods. This seminar describes the different allocation capabilities of the MercuryGate TMS and shows how you can utilize these features to maximize cost/charge sharing across shipments and customers. Case studies will be utilized to show multi-modal and shared costing models. The different allocations methods will be discussed in detail as well as using MercuryEdge to perform analysis on the allocated cost and further enhance the allocation process showing per pound rates, etc.

Technical Panel (3:00-4:00pm, Renoir 2)

Here's your chance to ask technical questions to some of our some of our technical staff. Brian, Lorne and Kevin will field questions in an open forum concerning the technical aspects of integration, architecture, the development process, and so forth.

Future Direction, Promote Process, Carrier Bid Analysis (4:15-5:30pm, Cezanne 1,2)

We have made incredible strides in the product in the past few years and this coming year will be another year of phenomenal growth in the application. We have always been a customer focused company and we will continue to provide a combined approach of customer needs and product enhancements. This year we are focusing on utilizing schedules to determine landed costs for intermodal, ocean, and air shipments. Also we will be delivering new international functions with interfaces for Ocean carriers with GT Nexus and Intra as well as an interface to US Customs. We will conclude this session with a discussion where all will be invited to share thoughts on needed functions.