About Client
The client is a full-service customs broker and freight forwarder with over 50 years of personal service. It is committed to providing remarkable service by combining the knowledge and experience of its professional staff with advanced information technology and systems. The client works seamlessly to coordinate the flow of goods and information through today’s complex trade environment. The company operates nationwide in the US covering all the key ports. In addition to this, the client has strategic agency alliances in all major cities and ports of the world to provide its customers with integrated, global coverage.
The Challenge
Being a major customs broker and freight forwarder, the clients’ ERP system runs on IBM i, looking at the criticality of data and services. The system works on IBM i as the client has to maintain ample of records of the containers across the year.The challenge faced by the client:
- The client’s operators have to maintain these records manually. They have to check the data of the containers from various delivery agents’ sites and enter the details in the provided IBM i system.
- This process is time-consuming and prone to error as there is a lot of human interference, resulting in huge costs to the business.
- The client wanted a centralized real-time container/freight tracking system for all the delivery agents, such that tracking the containers and maintaining the details is easy and automated.
The IBM i based companies are also looking forward to making the best use of API integration given productivity benefits. Integrating updated shipping data from transportation providers with core IBM i applications is one of the most popular API use cases today. The client wanted a similar API implementation for its application.
The Solution
01.
The client wanted to reduce the delays and make the tracking task automated. So, it chose the service provided by Terminal49- a platform for real-time shipment tracking API. It offers information on all the freights and containers available on a single platform rather than browsing multiple sites
02.
The APIs can give data on demand which is then automated to be stored in the database. This does not involve any human interference. Programmers.io team enabled the client in the successful integration of the real-time API of Terminal49.
03.
Our team suggested using the Webhook service provided by Terminal49 to enable the flow of real-time data into the system discarding the need for a continuous check on the updates. This functionality works like notifications on phone applications. Whenever there is a change or update in the container’s data the user is notified or the database is updated.
04.
Programmers.IO developed a program interface that contacts Terminal49 to provide all necessary information and a unique identification number for the BOL.
05.
Once the unique identification number is generated, Terminal49 keeps a watch for updates on that unique number and sends those updates to the client’s system whenever necessary
06.
Webhook programs developed by Programmers.IO on the IBM i side receive the updates. The data is segregated as per the information it contains, updating the databases accordingly.
