Internet Features
One thing all importers have in common is the need to quickly and accurately communicate with their overseas offices, suppliers and road-warrior staff. To address this need, GTS has developed developing Internet-based features for SoftShoe and TradeIT.
Remote Access for Suppliers, Agents and Production Control Staff
Remote Access that allows Suppliers, sourcing offices/agents as well as Production control and monitoring staff to log into the SoftShoe and TradeIT databases remotely, retrieve basic order information by factory, including planned and completed events in the Pre-production Plan and the Product Schedules as well as send on-line updates to SoftShoe on both the PreProduction plan and Production Status and view and add comments about an order or production run.
The Supplier Remote Access system is on-line. Anyone who has access to the Internet (whether it is the factory manager in Dongguang or the sales manager in his New York hotel room) can view up-to-the-minute order and production status. The remote application also has an option for Users to request a report. Once generated, it is sent back to either an e-mail address or via FAX to a number specified by the User at the time of the request.
The Supplier Remote Access system is a small application which can be e-mailed to a supplier or downloaded from the Internet. In order to minimize administrative support and make the application easy to maintain, upgrades to the program are automatically distributed when a User logs on. The only requirements are a Win95/8 or NT PC with a modem and a local ISP account.
SoftShoe Users can now Link Offices and Staff using the Internet
GTS's Replication feature allows database replication over the Internet. The latest data input at the head office (sample requests/orders, product specifications and purchase orders) can now be transmitted to the agents and overseas offices. Conversely, production status, shipping information and factory information can be input by an overseas office or agent, then replicated back to head office for immediate review.The replication function uses industry standard protocols, is self-correcting and is designed to be low maintenance. Only new records and changed fields are replicated, thus reducing data transfers and maximizing performance.
Replication can be performed by either side and can be done on an on-demand basis or as a background task. Anytime Replication is activated, it will find the server and update automatically, thus allowing intra-day updates. This feature is installed and live at several sites.
The Replication feature requires that the database server at one of the locations be accessible through an IP address on the Internet constantly. Other locations login to activate the replication function. Replication is compatible with Oracle, SQL server and other relational databases.
