The government will invest S$50 million (US$29 million) over the next five years to develop a Web-based system to improve information exchange between companies in the logistics and transportation sectors. The announcement was made by Dr. Lee Boon Yang, Singapore's minister for information, communication and the arts, during his opening address for a business conference at the CommunicAsia trade show here.
"More efficient information flows among shippers, freight forwarders, carriers and financial institutions will facilitate the flow of goods within, through and out of Singapore," Lee stressed.
According to statistics revealed by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the process of importing and exporting products in and out of the island-state can involve up to 25 companies at any one time, and requires 30 to 40 supporting trade documents, as well as permits from various government agencies.
Currently, local firms tend to rely on traditional methods such as faxes and telephone calls, in conjunction with a myriad of proprietary in-house IT systems, to do the task.
This results in data duplication as around 70 percent of the information has to be re-entered as requests are relayed to different companies involved in the shipping process, said Serene Ho, IDA's assistant director of special projects.
"There is a lack of information and supply chain visibility," she stressed.
A central IT system which provides a Web-based interface for information entry, and acts as a data repository, was deemed as a feasible solution to the issue.
For example, companies involved at various stages of the shipping process will just need to log onto the system, retrieve the information they need, and pass it on to the next firm after their input, Ho explained.
The platform will also be integrated with existing systems used by the Singapore government, including those operated by local port and aviation authorities, to automate the application and creation of trade permits.
"Providing a single Web interface for all trade-related IT systems will help logistics players cut down on multiple data entry steps. This will avoid duplication of manual efforts, and reduction in human errors and ultimately, improve efficiency and time to market," said Lee.
Such a system could potentially save the industry S$700 million (US$407 million) over the next two decades, according to a study by Logistics Institute Asia-Pacific, a organization specializing in research and educational programs in the logistics sector.
"The net effect is increased competitiveness for the logistics industry," Lee stressed.
Beyond developing the IT infrastructure, part of the investment will also be used to provide incentives to spur industry adoption, said Tan Ching Yee, IDA's CEO.
The logistics system is expected to be operational by the end of 2006 and will be based on "open industry standards" for data exchange such as XML, she added.
Both local and foreign IT companies are encouraged to vie for this project and the tender process will start "very soon", Tan said.
Play video
Please allow me to introduce myself and my invention. My name is Sam WONG and the company I formed is Fr8 Infocomm Networks Pte Ltd. I come from the freight forwarding industry with vast experience after talking to numerous shippers and my operations over more than ten years. I know the difficulties and has developed a suite of web based solutions to cater to the needs as stated in your postings. I have filed a patents with the PCT and has since received a positive report. Now pending IPOS to grant a patent. We also filed in Malaysia and all the EU member conutries. My business plans and model has been sent to EDB deals portal. We have already reach a stage where we are ready to commercialise pending a final round of fund raising.
If the planners behind the plans to get the logistic sector up to speed and if you think that I can assist in your plans to integrate the shippers with the logistics industry, the various goverment controlling agencies...etc, kindly contact me.
Posted by Sam WONG Jee Meng on Monday, June 21 2004 04:54 PM