Software exchanges ocean documents

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1998

A new product called "Maris Cargo Document Exchange" aims to make sophisticated technology available at reasonable cost to all companies. Maris was developed by GE Information Services (GEIS) of Rockville, Md., and Montreal-based OceanWide Marine Network.

The software allows ocean carriers, freight forwarders, and trucking companies to exchange documents electronically without the expense and complexity of electronic data interchange (EDI) systems. With Maris, ocean carriers and their customers can electronically exchange such documents as bill of lading instructions, freight invoices, and container-status messages. That eliminates the rekeying or reformatting of documents, thus improving accuracy, reducing costs, and speeding information processing.

The software is based upon GEIS's "TradeWeb" technology. Users not only can exchange documents with each other, but they also can communicate with shippers that use GE's "EDI*Express" service. All that is needed, say the developers, is a personal computer and an Internet browser.