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stepLogic in the right sequence so
the program would guide the user
through the process without missing
any steps. “It asks the user question
1, and then based on that answer, it
asks the next question,” he explains.
“It makes sure that all questions are
answered and that all questions that
need to be asked are asked.”
But it doesn’t require export
expertise to answer those questions.
The WMS alerts users—Genco
employees at the distribution cen-
ter—when an export shipment is
ready and thus requires an AES sub-
mission. To input the information
used by AES, users choose from options
on drop-down menus. “The screen pro-
vides lists of legitimate values, instead of
the former process of manually typing
data into text boxes,” Tegner explains.
That change has completely eliminated
spelling and other errors, such as incor-
rect spacing and place names that differ
from the format required by AES.
Exactly which questions are asked
depends on the nature of the shipment.
“You’re almost following a script,”
Dawson says. “If you have an air shipment
to Puerto Rico, then you need to be
prompted for certain information. That
query will follow a different path than it
would for an ocean shipment to China.”
When all questions have been satisfactorily answered, the data flows to ADSI’s
system, which electronically submits the
AES filing to customs. ADSI also uses the
data as well as some additional information it pulls from D-Log Plus to create
export documentation, such as shipping
labels and customs invoices, Dawson says.
NEW AND DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS
Since the new system was put in place,
AES filing errors have essentially been
eliminated. “We went from getting daily
calls to I can’t tell you the last time I had
a call about an AES issue,” Dawson says.
Xerox and Genco were also pleased with
the flexibility the software tool offers,
including the ability for superusers to
reconfigure screens and menus in a matter of minutes, without incurring programming costs.
The shipper and 3PL have worked on
developing new applications of the
stepLogic platform, including an app that
allows multiple countries of origin to be
entered and tracked for a single stock-keeping unit (SKU), Tegner says. Just last
month, the distribution center deployed a
stepLogic app in a completely different
area: managing the divert lanes for an
automated print-and-apply system.
Rubino believes this type of software
tool has many potential applications.
“From a user standpoint, it’s intriguing
because it’s very configurable and anyone can do it. It’s an interesting concept,
and we’re looking at where else we might
use it.” ;
