Standard Message Service

This document outlines the EDI tunnelling service available on CargoConnect, the Internet cargo messaging facility.

The Tunnelling service allows forwarders and shippers to send and receive IATA standard EDI messages such as FWB, FSU or IFTMIN via Internet e-mail.

Benefits.

There are many benefits to airlines and their customers in trading electronically. These include:

• Improved speed of operation.
• Improved integrity of data through reduced manual re-keying of data.
• Greater timeliness of consignment status information.
• Minimised communication costs.
• Reductions in support costs for labour intensive activities (phone, telex, fax).

Cargo 2000 found that fewer than 15% of air waybills are received electronically. The reasons they point to are the costs of traditional EDI services, the complexity of integrating with forwarders systems and the lack of perceived value.

CargoConnect helps overcome these problems by offering a simple, efficient and inexpensive alternative to the traditional EDI service.

Why the Internet?

The Internet has become the de-facto standard for communicating between computer systems across the world. All these computers share a common set of applications for exchanging information so it is possible, from a single communications link, to make use of a wide variety of services (e-mail, World-Wide-Web, file transfer etc) on a large number of computers.

Because the Internet is a global communications medium, the CargoConnect services are available worldwide without international communication costs. This reduces the need to build and support connections to airlines in many different countries.

Service Details

CargoConnect supports Cargo-IMP messages up to and including Edition 15, and any UN-EDIFACT message (IFTMIN, IEMFSU etc) or CIM (Cargo-IMP in EDIFACT). Any cargo message conversion required (eg between message versions or formats) is carried out by CCS-UK.

If messages are submitted in Cargo-IMP format then they are best sent as a 'binary attachment' to the e-mail to preserve the special formatting characters.

The data can be sent in either ASCII or EBCIDIC character sets. (If EBCIDIC, then this has to be as a binary attachment to the e-mail, again this is to preserve the special characters that are used). ASCII data can be sent in the main body of the message or an an attachment. The responses that the forwarder receives will be the same format as the message submitted.

CargoConnect supports EDIFACT Character set A.

As the aim of the tunnelling service is just to encapsulate the prepared EDI message, the address should be set-up by the forwarder to be valid in the cargo community network environment. However CargoConnect Tunnelling does provide enveloping and address conversion facilities, to assist in cross-network messaging.

What you need to do to use the Tunnelling service?

Forwarders will need access to Internet mail, either directly through an Internet service provider, or via a corporate e-mail gateway. EDI translation software will be required to build the out going messages, and break down (parse) the incoming messages. Other configuration details will be setup to identify the message formats and addressing, as described above.

To discuss the Standard Message Service further contact CargoConnect or call +44 1252 626060.