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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

Electronic Business project makes a theoretical knowledge in the area of business which is mainly done through the internet and telecommunication facilitiesbusiness project is included in the academic curriculum for the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Master of Business Administration by the University of Kerala. The main intention for the inclusion of this topic to make a solid knowledge in the world of e-business and e-commerce. It also helps to generate new horizons in business, especially in electronic business. This project study helps to reveals the opportunities in internet related business in front of the researcher. The E-business project study should focus in a specific area in the industry according to the interest of the researcher. Electronic Business, or e-Business, may be defined broadly as any business process that relies on an automated information system. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies. The term eBusiness was coined by Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study e-business
1. To study on the role-played by E-Shipping in human beings. 2. To know about the factors involved in E- Shipping. 3. To find out the recent trends and issues in E- Shipping. 4. To find out how e-shipping is practiced in fields

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

E-business project work conducted is mainly in descriptive in nature. Data is collected from all possible authentic sources. Collected data is mainly divided into two according to the method of data collection. They are primary and secondary data. PRIMARY DATA Primary data is collected from the experts in the information technology sector through discussions and confabulations with them.

SECONDARY DATA The majority of the data are collected through the secondary sources. Secondary data is collected from various websites. Also from the various books from the library and reports. From journals and manuals.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

For the E- commerce project, I have chosen e- shipping. It helps to know the importance of e- shipping in the business world. The study tends to give an idea about how the e- shipping process performs successfully in the dynamic technological environment. The study is to identify the future and opportunities of e- shipping.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Time for the entire project work is not sufficient.

Personal biases in the data collection. Availability of data is limited.

INTRODUCTION TO E-BUSINESS Electronic Business, or e-Business, may be defined broadly as any business process that relies on an automated information system. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies. The term e-Business was coined by Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM. Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers. In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. Ebusiness software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge management systems.

DEFINITION OF E-BUSINESS The transformation of an organizations processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy. VARIETIES OF E-BUSINESS Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business: 1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenishment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes, among others; 2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing efforts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers purchase orders and payments, and customer support, among others; and 3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, training, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and electronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient.

E-BUSINESS MODEL When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their goals. A business model is defended as the organization of product, service and information flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers. The concept of e-business model is the same but used in the online presence.

An e-business model must have: 1. A shared digital business infrastructure, including digital production and distribution technologies (broadband/wireless networks, content creation technologies and information management systems), which will allow business participants to create and utilize network economies of scale and scope. 2. A sophisticated model for operations, including integrated value chains-both supply chains and buy chains. 3. An e-business management model, consisting of business teams and/or partnerships; and 4. Policy, regulatory and social systems, business policies consistent with ecommerce laws, teleworking/virtual work, distance learning, incentive schemes, among others. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Electronic Commerce is exactly analogous to a marketplace on the Internet. It consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic Commerce also referred to as EC, e-commerce, eCommerce or ecommerce. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions. GROWTH OF E-BUSINESS Tremendous growth in managing a large volume of data storage and retrieval techniques, in the eighties, followed by the development of a transparent mechanism to interconnect; improved data transfer rates; and the emergence of global connectivity, based on TCP/IP standards, have provided the opportunity to manipulate and disseminate information spread across vast geographic areas. The development of a communication infrastructure in the late eighties and early nineties, in the form of the Internet, and related development in web technologies have propelled us towards a new economic era. This new economy, driven by the internet and web technology, is also called digital economy.

Electronic commerce provides a different way of doing business that comes with its own set of benefits. The market size increases greatly to encompass the whole globe. This provides business with more customers and customers more choice. More mass customization can also be achieved. It become easier through ecommerce for the customer to tell a business exactly what they require and individualize products or services. Also, electronic commerce allows the supply chain to be shortened; products can sometime be shipped directly from the manufacturer to the customer. Other areas where businesses may benefit occur because transactions are cheaper. This is the case where in a traditional business they would have to pay for labour to complete the transaction, but by making the transaction electronic there is minimal labour cost. electronic commerce. Even though there are benefits to both consumers and businesses there are still issues limiting electronic commerce effectiveness. These issues have to deal with the problems related to privacy. There is a general lack of trust in what is happening to customers information and the security of their data. business. Increasing consumer confidence in e-commerce is one of the biggest challenges facing this form of Companies have to prove they can be loyal and trustworthy to their customers. We can see the importance of these qualities by seeing that some of the most profitable e-commerce companies are those that also have traditional stores. These companies already have a strong customer base that is confident in them and helps make it easier for consumers to trust their online stores. DIFFERENT PROSPECTIVES OF E-BUSINESS From a communication prospective, Electronic business is the delivery of information, products/service, or payments via telephone lines, computer networks, or any other means. From a business process perspective, Electronic business is the application of technology towards the automation of business transactions and workflows. These are a few examples of some general benefits of

From a service perspective, Electronic business is a tool that addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving the quality of goods and increasing the speed of service delivery. From an online perspective, Electronic commerce provides the capability of buying and selling products and information on the Internet and other online services. Broadly speeking, electronic business emphasizes the generation and exploitation of new business oppurtunities.It generate business value or do more with less HISTORY OF E-BUSINESS There have been several key steps in the history of e- business. The first step came from the development of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI is a set of standards developed in the 1960s to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. At first there were several different EDI formats that business could use, so companies still might not be able to interact with each other. However, in 1984 the ASC X 12 standards became stable and reliable in transferring large amounts of transactions. Over the years, EDI has evolved into several different technologies. Electronic data interchange has been particularly successful for retail category management. During the 1970s, the introduction of electronic fund transfer between banks over secure private networks changed financial markets. Electronic fund transfer optimizes electronic payments with electronically provided remittance information. In the late 1980s and early 1990s electronic messaging technologies became an integral part of workflow or collaborative computing systems (also called group ware). In the mid-1980s, a completely different type of electronic business technology spread among consumers in the form of online services that provided a new form of social interaction (such as chat rooms and inter-relay chat [IRC]) and knowledge sharing .Social interaction created a sense of virtual community among the cyberspace inhabitants and helped give rise to the concept of a global village.

The next major step occurred in 1992 when the Mosaic web-browser was made available; it was the first point and click browser. The Mosaic browser was quickly adapted into a downloadable browser, Netscape, which allowed easier access to electronic business. The development of DSL was another key moment in the DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent Christmas of 1998 was another major step in the development to of e- business. connection to the Internet.

development of e-commerce. AOL had sales of 1.2 billion over the 10 week holiday season from online sales. The development of Red Hat Linux was also another major step in electronic commerce growth. Linux gave users another choice in a platform other then Windows that was reliable and open-source. Microsoft faced with this competition needed to invest more in many things including electronic business. Napster was an online application used to share music files for free. This application was yet another major step in e-commerce. Many consumers used the site and were dictating what they wanted from the industry. A major merger, in early 2000, between AOL and Time Warner was another major push for electronic business. The merger, worth $350 million, brought together a major online company with a traditional company. In February 2000 hackers attacked some major players of e-commerce, including Yahoo, ebay and Amazon. In light of these attacks the need for improved security came to the forefront in the development of electronic business.

TYPES OF E-COMMERCE Electronic business utilizes information and communication technologies to carry out market transactions among two or more parties-usually businesses and consumers. At times one of these parties may be the Government as well.Although, in general we may treat the Government as a business entity, in much of the situations it is a special kind of business that may operate with its own set of rules and regulations. Based upon the entities involved in a transaction, electronic commerce has been classified in these categories.

1.

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS(B2B) Business-to-Business electronic commerce facilitates inter-organisational interaction and transaction. This type of electronic commerce requires two more business entities interacting with each other directly, or through an intermediary. The B2B electronic commerce can be a supplier-centric, buyer-centric, or an Intermediarycentric. The following applications comes under this Supplier Management. Inventory Management. Distribution Management. Payment Management.

2. BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER (B2C) Business to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce offers consumers the capability to browse, select, and buy merchandise online, from a winder variety of sellers and at better prices. The two or more entities that interact with each other in this type of transaction involve one selling business and one consumer. 3. CONSUMER-TO-BUSINESS (C2B) Consumer-to-business (C2B) can be described as a form of electronic commerce where, the transaction, originated by the customer has a set of requirement specifications and specific price for a commodity, service, or item. It is the responsibility of the consumers to the best possible extent. Consumer-to-Business enables a consumer to determine the price of a product and service offered by a company. 4. CONSUMER-TO- CONSUMER (C2C) Consumer-to-Consumer is the electronic commerce activity that provides the opportunity for trading of products and/or services amongst consumers who are

10 connected through the internet. In this category electronic tools and internet infrastructure are employed to support transactions between individuals. 5. BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT In this activity one of these parties may be the government as well. The Government may operate with its own set of rules. In this case Government is treated as a separate entity. EMERGING TRENDS Original e-business applications were based on getting needed data to the consumer. In other words the major concern was integrating current catalogues and data into an online format from which consumers could shop. A simple and enjoyable experience is what customers are demanding and they do not want to be concerned with the technology behind it. Virtual agents One area of research into making interactions more natural is by using virtual agents. The goal of these agents is to actually converse with customers and be able to act proactively when dealing with customers. emotions to try to simulate a natural environment. Virtual agents make the business informative as possible. Often consumers want to search e-commerce sites to gain further information, but this can prove frustrating at times. The virtual agents role would be to eliminate this frustration. Virtual agents would be given as much information regarding customers, products and sales processes as possible. They would then become the focal point on an ecommerce site for providing information accurately and effectively. REQUIREMENTS OF AN E-BUSINESS WEB-SITE E-commerce sites would have five modules. An e-shop would be the first module and is what the customer would see. It would be similar to current e-commerce sites for example having a catalogue and shopping baskets. These agents would appear to ecommerce clients at 2D or 3D animations that would be capable of expressing facial

11 The product could be viewed in 3D using the second module; the virtual reality module. In this module customers could also configure their own products choosing what components they wish to make up their product. The third module is called the configurator and would be put in place to help the administration of components and products. Customers could also use the help module that would include features such as page mirroring and video conferencing. The final module would be used as a link between the front end and the back-office system; this module is called the order-processing module. FACTS FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Providing value to customers. Vendors can achieve this by offering a product or product-line that attracts potential customers at a competitive price, as in non-electronic commerce.

Providing service and performance. Offering a responsive, user-friendly purchasing experience, just like a flesh-and-blood retailer, may go some way to achieving these goals.

Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return. Sales promotions to this end can involve coupons, special offers, and discounts. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help.

Providing personal attention. Personalized web sites, purchase suggestions, and personalized special offers may go some of the way to substituting for the face-to-face human interaction found at a traditional point of sale.

Providing a sense of community. Chat rooms, discussion boards, soliciting customer input and loyalty programs (sometimes called affinity programs) can help in this respect.

Letting customers help themselves. Provision of a self-serve site, easy to use without assistance, can help in this respect. This implies that all product information is available, cross-sell information, advice for product alternatives, and supplies & accessory selectors.

Helping customers do their job of consuming. E-tailers and online shopping directories can provide such help through ample comparative information and good search facilities. Provision of component information and safety-andhealth comments may assist e-tailers to define the customers job.

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EXISTING FACTS IN E-BUSINESS It is predicted that the revenues, up until 2006, will grow 40% to 50% yearly. Expectations of higher prices as well as larger profits for e-commerce business are also present. Also, we will see a larger presence by experienced traditional companies, such as Wal-Mart, on the Internet. It is believed companies in general will take this mixed strategy of having stores online and offline in order to be successful. It can be seen that there will be a large growth in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce, which online businesses is selling to individuals. However, even though B2C electronic commerce may be the most recognizable there are different varieties. Today the largest electronic commerce is Business-to-Business (B2B). Businesses involved in B2B sell their goods to other businesses. In 2001, this form of e-commerce had around $700 billion in transactions. Other varieties growing today include Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) where consumers sell to each other, for example through auction sites. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is another form of e-commerce that allows users to share resources and files directly. One of the major industries, according to a Statistics Canada survey, taking part in electronic commerce is the culture and information sector. Around 20% of businesses in this sector have an online e-commerce component. Following up at 17% was private sector education institutes, support services and administrations industries. Other industries that have been predicted to grow include the banking industry. By 2004 this industry is expected to have sales in the 12.4 billion US. Also, another industry that is poised for growth due to the increased bandwidth is the home entertainment sector. Very recently the online pharmacy industry has been gaining attention. Prescription drugs are generally cheaper in Canada then they are in the United States. The main reason for this is the exchange rate as well as the price is regulated in Canada. In order to take advantage of these cheaper prices some US citizens are using Canadian online pharmacies. They attain price information and order forms from these websites. Since electronic orders are not allowed the US customers fax in the required information to the online pharmacies to get their prescriptions.

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BENEFITS OF E-BUSINESS Electronic business provides a different way of doing business that comes with its own set of benefits. The market size increases greatly to encompass the whole globe. This provides business with more customers and customers more choice. More mass customization can also be achieved. It become easier through e- business for the customer to tell a business exactly what they require and individualize products or services. Also, electronic business allows the supply chain to be shortened; products can sometime be shipped directly from the manufacturer to the customer. Other areas where businesses may benefit occur because transactions are cheaper. This is the case where in a traditional business they would have to pay for labour to complete the transaction, but by making the transaction electronic there is minimal labour cost. These are a few examples of some general benefits of electronic business. Even though there are benefits to both consumers and businesses there are still issues limiting electronic commerce effectiveness. These issues have to deal with the problems related to privacy. There is a general lack of trust in what is happening to customers information and the security of their data. business. Increasing consumer confidence in e-commerce is one of the biggest challenges facing this form of Companies have to prove they can be loyal and trustworthy to their customers. We can see the importance of these qualities by seeing that some of the most profitable e-commerce companies are those that also have traditional stores. These companies already have a strong customer base that is confident in them and helps make it easier for consumers to trust their online stores. ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES From an economic aspect there have been several advantages to electronic commerce. In particular consumers have more suppliers, sometimes including foreign suppliers. Searching the Internet can also be done to find the lowest price. In general the market becomes larger and makes for more competition. This increased competition can bring down prices for consumers and other businesses. Further, the increase in information and choice available can help increase the efficiency of supply and demand equilibrium.

14 Also, with increased competition companies they will try to become more efficient. This may be by new technologies or methods that reduce costs and increase productivity. In turn from this lower prices may occur or the emergence of new technology. ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGES Electronic commerce does have some negative effects on the economy. The availability of goods online should increase competition and in turn lower prices, but this does not always occur. A good reputation may allow a retailer to hold some control over their area of the market. Further, companies can also find with ease the prices of their competitors allowing them to react immediately to changes. In the worst-case scenario this monitoring may not involve any changes to price. A price that is not advantageous to the consumer may be kept because no company is willing to lower their price because it would not be profitable. That is, a company may be willing to lower their price because the increase in sales would offset the lower price. However, since other companies can quickly change their price the original company would not make any extra revenue from increased sales. Also the increased competition may cause product differentiation. This

involves making similar products that have the same general purpose, but are still unique. In this situation consumers will have a difficult time comparing different products. As a result of the minimal information competition will not be as high and prices may not be lower. PRIVACY ISSUES IN ELECTRONIC BUSINESS Strategy to successfully run an e-commerce business requires that as much consumer information as possible. The need for information often has great effects on an individuals privacy. There are many methods that businesses use to collect this information often times this collection is unknown to the users. One of these is offering a free service if the individual will fill in a questionnaire. Tools, such as cookies and web bugs, are being used to monitor consumers web behaviour. There are also companies whose sole purpose, Double-Click, is to collect Internet user information. These companies can use the data for themselves and also provide it to other companies.

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This collection of personal information has been found to be a concern to Internet users. A Pew Internet survey found 84% of US web-users had this concern. Another survey by IBM found 72% of people surveyed were troubled about Internet privacy. Still many consumers are not completely against providing information, they just would prefer to know when and what is being collected. The majority, 86%, of those poled in the Pew Internet survey said they would prefer websites use opt-in methods. This would make e-commerce businesses ask for permission before collecting their consumers information. Regardless of this preference by consumers few businesses implement the option. Security Introduction There are also self-regulating methods that have been attempted to increase consumer satisfaction. These include joining privacy seal programs such as Trustee, members of these organizations agree to abide by the programs privacy policy. Other methods simply involve putting up privacy policies on their sites. Even though there are these options out there only 8% of all US electronic commerce sites have a privacy seal. In order for e-commerce to grow further the issue of privacy concerns must be resolved. People will be wary to buy goods online if they cannot trust companies. If companies exploit the information they collect not only their reputation will be tarnished, but it has a detriment on the whole e-commerce world. By making the effort to ensure customers feel secure about their privacy e-commerce business will be more successful. Customers will be easier to retain and will most likely return to the online store. Also, as customers become more comfortable with an online store it will be easier to build consumer trust and loyalty. This trust and loyalty can make it easier for an electronic commerce business to collect consumer information willingly. As more companies become aware of the importance of the customers privacy electronic commerce in general will be more successful.

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LIMITATIONS OF E-BUSINESS Even if a provider of E-commerce goods and services rigorously follows key factors of an exemplary e-commerce strategy, problems can still arise. Sources of such problems include: Failure to understand customers, why they buy and how they buy. Even a product with a sound value proposition can fail if producers and retailers do not understand customer habits, expectations, and motivations. Failure to consider the competitive situation. One may have the will to construct a viable book e-tailing business model, but lack the capability to compete with Amazon.com. Inability to predict environmental reaction. What will competitors do? Will they introduce competitive brands or competitive web sites? Will they supplement their service offerings? Will they try to sabotage a competitor's site? Will price wars break out? What will the government do? Research into competitors, industries and markets may mitigate some consequences here, just as in non-electronic commerce. Failure to coordinate. If existing reporting and control relationships do not suffice, one can move towards a flat, accountable, and flexible organizational structure, which may or may not aid coordination. Failure to obtain senior management commitment. This often results in a failure to gain sufficient corporate resources to accomplish a task. It may help to get top management involved right from the start. Failure to obtain employee commitment. If planners do not explain their strategy well to employees, or fail to give employees the whole picture, then training and setting up incentives for workers to embrace the strategy may assist. Presence of fraud. This is where your details (name, bank card number, age, national insurance number) are entered into what look to be a safe site but really it is not. These details can then be used to steal money from you and can be used to buy things on line that you are completely unaware of until it is too late. If this information is leaked into the wrong hands.

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Under-estimation of time requirements. Setting up an e-commerce venture can take considerable time and money, and failure to understand the timing and sequencing of tasks can lead to significant cost overruns. Basic project planning, critical path, critical chain, or PERT analysis may mitigate such failings. Profitability may have to wait for the achievement of market share.

Failure to follow a plan. Poor follow-through after the initial planning, and insufficient tracking of progress against a plan can result in problems. One may mitigate such problems with standard tools: benchmarking, milestones, variance tracking, and penalties and rewards for variances.

Failure to expect the unexpected. Too often new businesses do not take into account the amount of time, money or resources needed to complete a project and often find themselves without the necessary components to become successful.

FUTURE OF E-BUSINESS
The attempt to paint a clear picture of the future is always fertile. The predictable part of the future, however, will be the efforts of solving the major problems we face today and the possibility of that some of technical and business initiatives at the infant stage today will become main stream tomorrow. The Internet and the Web have overcome the technical difficulty of EDI, but it has not solved the problem of slow development of ecommerce standards. The development and acceptance of standards will significantly impact the future success of the electronic commerce. XML will play a pivotal role in that process. The continuing acceptance of broadband technology and maturity of technology for delivering broadband applications (video on demand, online gaming and etc.) to the end users will drastically impact the consumer market in near future. The ability to present multimedia applications to consumers will transform the Internet from an information tool to an entertainment tool. The Web, as the fourth medium, has the potential to integrate other three types of media (print, radio and video) in one way or another.

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E-SHIPPING: Water transport is the oldest mode of transportation in the international carriage of goods, shipping has a supreme position. Steamboats replaced the original sailing vessels in the early 1880s and by diesel power in the 1920s the main advantage of water transportation is the capacity to move large-shipments. Shipping is a international service industry, delivering its services across oceans to various users in diverse cultural settings, which the changing trend and the trade follows, these merges a strong need for the maritime nations over 90% of the worlds international trade by volume and 80% by value is transported by sea. Shipping freight costs account for 5-10% of the community value compared with other modes of transport available today. Sea transport is at least 4 times cheaper and more environments friendly today, more than 90% of the international cargo moves through seaports and 80% sea borne cargo moves through containers to major ports. National shipping is recognized in/the world over as the essential lifeline of nation to ensure the countries economic as well as political independence. A weakshipping industry could mean a major set back for a major foreign exchange earning sector of the economy. Studies have shown that the pursuance of a strong and viable national fleet helps to keep down the freight levels in shipment of import and export good and maintain export competitiveness. The presence of a strong shipping industry strikes at the root of international cartels and monopolies formation. All these show the importance of shipping as an industry. Water transport work out 60% cheaper than road or rail. So there is immense potential for coastal shipping. It is popular belief that India, as a country has been quite advanced in the area of international trade. It is also true the country has been progressing in its logistics support taking advantage of the vast natural recourses, availability of economic manpower and development of production facilities. With around 6 players, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) dominates the Indian shipping industry. Shipping is not just about vessels and tonnage. Shipping capabilities of nation are not solely measured in terms of the quantum of tonnage under control. In knowledge-based economy, parameters like human capital

19 information technology and expertise are becoming, increasing important giving rise to innumerable opportunities. seafarers top global ship owners. India has already becomes the sources of quality

THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY NETWORK Shipping a container from origin to destination can involve a large number of parties. These players can be categorized on several aspects. A distinction can be made between the actual shipping process and external parties. The-shipping process is further broken down into parties that deal with the physical aspects of shipping and logistics service providers that focus on managing and companies that do not directly take part in the shipping process but offer supporting and facilitating services. Two parties play a. pivotal role i.e. the carrier and the ultimate client, shipper (consigner) and the consignee respectively. The carriers, in this case the transportation of the containers. They usually own a large number of vessels to carryout this transport. The transportation of cargo can be arranged in various ways. A shipper can choose to handle all the process by himself, or he can out source them to third party or the carrier. Small customers often make use of intermediaries whereas large clients go directly to the carrier for their shipments. Moreover shippers and consignees tend to out source the chain management more frequently to shipping lines, forwarders or inland carriers when the inland transport becomes more complex, for e.g. : because of transshipment. From a carriers perspective managing the logistics from shipper to consignee is viewed in two ways. The term merchant haulage is used when the-shipper, freight forwarder or consignee arranges the inland carriage of goods (to and/or to-door). The term carriage haulage is used when the-shipping lines, which carry out the marine transport, have the container, or its agent, arranges.

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ROLE OF E-COMMERCE IN SHIPPING INDUSTRY E-COMMERCE is sweeping the world of commerce and today globalization of economies generates new, maritime transport flows. Especially the containers shipping industry has benefited from this development. Shipping a container from shipper/consignor to consignee sometimes involves over 60 documents. this sector. Shipping companies embraced Electronic Data Processing and Electronic Data Interchange has widely been implemented. An e-shipping system is particularly thus:Enhance the communication between service providers and its customers. a. b. c. To simplify the tasks of handling shipping order. To reduce the paper handling tasks To provide a convenient and effective way to manage the companys data. Hence, Communication and Information Technology is always playing an important role in

Importance of Shipping
I) mode of II) Water based transport has always been the dominant transporting economic activity, as seen even in earlyWith increasingly globalization the world over more

organized society. international trade is in the offering with an increasing emphasis on value addition, by exporting nations, especially the developing ones, manufactured goods are likely to replace raw materials for a sea transport. Further, counties like India where there are long unexploited coastlines and congested land transport, coastal sea transport is likely to substitute land transport, III) The merchant navy has always been viewed as a second This result in government line of defense for a nation, and can be crucial at times of emergency and for sensitive cargo movement. involvement and support to the-shipping sector.

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IV)

The-shipping industry has always relied on trained and

certified manpower for its activities especially at sea. However, the profile of manpower deployment and sourcing is changing globally both at sea and shore, and offers an opportunity for turning with an increasing emphasis on management. V) Large country, large coastline, close to trade routes, this is specific to a country like India, where the opportunities for growth in shipping can be fuelled by such natural advantages. VI) With the development of newer technologies in shipping that could result in safer and less expensive sea transport, theshipping sector is well placed to sustain its advantages by appropriate leveraging of such technologies.

ADVANTAGES OF E-SHIPPING Login from any computer, anywhere, anytime. No software to install or update Information stored securely online Password protection

Save time by automating tasks

Prepare shipments online Complete International documentation online and print Send/Receive automatic emails with shipment updates

Make faster, informed decisions

Compare cost vs. delivery times per service Print or export shipping reports Track by waybill or customer reference number

Get more control & convenience

View, edit, or void pending shipments Eliminate manual Waybills and handwriting errors Store receiver addresses into Address Book

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Pre-Internet E-Shipping
Before the Internet changed the face of e-shipping, businesses could use traditional electronic data interchange (EDI) software to smooth the shipping process. EDI lets senders and receivers exchange shipping-related documents or send notification to trigger a drop-shipment delivery from remote or business-partner warehouses. Bar coding and radio frequency (RF) technology helps automate other aspects of the shipping process. Handheld scanners with wireless modems can be used to scan items picked from warehouse shelves or bins and electronically upload the item information to a PC to update open sales orders in the accounting system. The scanners can also be used to ensure that serial numbers are correctly entered on order lines by scanning the directly from the items to be shipped. To assist with electronic receiving at the customers receiving dock, bar-coded shipping and serial-number labels can be printed for shipped packages. But today, EDI and bar coding are only a part of the e-shipping landscape. Providers of shipping services have responded to increasing business connectivity to the Internet and the need for a more integrated shipping supply chain by offering new eshipping software solutions. E-SHIPPING FOR BUSINESS In the world of shipping, decision on a day-to-day basis have to be made in the context of an uncertain environment and complexities due to geographical speed of operations with fast response times and minimal cost implications. enabled through use of information technology. E-business for shipping, Rotterdam was the first conference to focus on the industrys E-business needs. Building on this success, IQPC is proud to present E business for shipping, London in December 2000. E-business has created arrange of new business opportunities for the-shipping industry, enabling companies to take advantage of increased efficiency and streamlined operations to combat excessive paperwork, E commerce is more than just a website, integration with back office systems is a key component to implementing a successful e commerce strategy. The applications that e business can have within theThis is best

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shipping industry are vast.

Many of these can improve current processes and

activities that are currently critical to shipping such as ship to shore communication. With the-shipping industry being traditionally paper intensive, e business seem to offer the ideal opportunity to reduce this Paper Mountain and streamlinoperations from customer contract to reducing time spent in dock and timely arrival of manifest. The E-shipping system has two main parts. The first is the part that allows clients to obtain shipping schedule and shipping order from the Internet. The second part is an application that allows staff to manage and access system. Sell side E-shipping is a good opportunity for ocean carriers. One could say that container space on liner ships is a very standardized but in case of special containers during peak demands, last minute booking might not be p

Buy Side E-Shipping Buy side servers provide the capabilities for purchase orders to be entered and fulfilled from the buyers perspective. In this case a One to Many relationships exists between the buyers and the sellers. A single customer can enter the specification of service it wishes to obtain and then sellers can react to the offer made by the customer or can bid against each other for the other. The order is generally rather specific, while there are a large number of parties who can handle the order. From customers perspective it will be beneficial to take a little more effort than going to the usual supplier and from a shippers perspective it will be an opportunity to obtain large orders. Shippers and freight forwarders adapt this strategy, since there are quite a few sellers in the market; the product can be rather specific in case of time, volume, weight, hazards etc. and has a high price.

Marketplace E-Shipping An electronic marketplace (EMP) is defined as an inter organizational information system that allows the participating buyers and sellers to exchange information about questions and in some cases treat their cargo as well.

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Additionally, these sites offer extra negotiations. The most widely used marketplace sites are www.etransport.com and www.celarix.com INTTRA launched a pilot program of track and trace and booking confirmation for a number of customers. shipping industry. Clients are allowed to view container events and booking confirmation under a security scheme specifically tailored to theAdditional planned services are access to scheduling, booking productive event notification. Need For E-Shipping Completion in the ocean shipping industry is fierce, making it no uncommon for companies to show negative results. Low or high fuel prices can make a difference between a profit and loss. So carries are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs and raise profits. The costs relating to intercontinental container shipping exist of 6 components administration costs, voyage costs, maintenance and repair, container costs, port costs and capital and insurance costs. In relation to e commerce the focus is on administration costs. These costs encompass wages for looking, documentations, planning, information technology, software etc. depending on the other costs, administration costs can take up some 8 to 20% of the total shipping costs. Managing documentation in the container shipping industry is a very difficult, time consuming and costly business. There are three major reasons for this. An often-heard statement in the port of Rotterdam is that every container filled with goods is accompanied by a container filled with paper. Over 60 different documents can be distinguished when it comes to shipping a container from shipper top consignee. Multiply this with the millions of transactions that a large carrier handles in a month and have got an enormous of information that is sent around on documents.

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Lack of Standardization
Each carrier has its own booking system and users different formats for bill of lading and other documents. Similarly, other parties in the supply chain use different system and different formats as well. This makes seamless coordination nearly impossible and results in a lot of retyping and checking.

Errors
The documents that are sent from one party to another can contain errors such as wrong numbers or missing information. Moreover, documents can get lost, they can arrive at a destination too late, their purpose can be unclear and several documents can contain the same elements containing conflicting information. In search of cost reduction, administration costs are one of the most interesting cost centers for ocean carriers to focus on. Traditionally, order-processing person had t key in the information that was needed in the system, or on the document. Information was sent by telephone and faxes and huge booking staff was necessary to process orders. With EDI, the internal computer networks and VANS approaching costs relating to booking and documentation have fallen. Aspects of E-Shipping Obviously the e business will change the way of doing business dramatically. Six aspects of e-shipping are listed below, which had given a full view of how Internet may impact shipping. a) b) c) d) e) f) Ubiquity Market entry Power shift to the customer Cost reduction Dynamic pricing Partnerships and channels

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Ubiquity
The Internet offers companies and customers opportunities for doing business any where at any time. Even the smallest businesses can establish a global presence.

Basically anybody can start up an Internet company. New entrants can be successful if they can discover and deliver unique to customers. With the elimination of the traditional middleman, new Internet intermediaries will emerge, this information from various relevant sources. Information in the different lines on several criteria like time, price, security condition etc. and possibly also host insurance companies. Since market entry is relatively easy and business processes becomes more transport, other companies can easily copy value-adding concepts.

Power shift to the customer

Based on the ubiquity of the Internet the cost and effort for customers to find other suppliers is nearly Zero-Instead of customers producers pushing, customers can now pull information they want and reach out all sources instantly. Therefore, business will have to invest in their customer relationship-By means of customization its website. A company can achieve One to One relationship by offering on line services and tailor made information on frequently, used lines and services areas.

Any of the available fields in e-Ship can be used as criteria to define an alert. By selecting an available field and a comparison (equal to, greater than, less than, etc.), the alert will be triggered when the criteria is reached. Once an alert is triggered, the notification can be viewed in web page or an email notification of the alert can be sent. E-Ship Visibility provides the tools to not only help reduce transportation costs, but also improve the services you provide your customers. The Visibility

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solution features a robust tracking module, customizable transit/milestone alerts, and carrier performance reports. E-Ship Visibility the benefits include: Improve customer service you and your customers can view shipments and alerts specific to the user, Reduce transportation costs monitor carrier performance to choose the most reliable carrier with the lowest cost. Lower inventory carrying costs full in-transit visibility of inventory allows for a reduction of inventory safety stock. The features include: Tracking Visibility of all shipments across suppliers, customers, and Carriers Event Management Proactively manage exceptions and receive notification via email, phone, fax, or the web. Receive notification of delayed shipments, delivery shortages, or any user-defined criteria: cost.
The advantages of e-Ships Visibility solution:-

Analysis Measure

performance by monitoring metrics such as carrier performance and freight

Fast; Typically less than 45 days to implement Affordable: Software, implementation, and training at fixed price Expandable: Implement, tendering, rating, settlement at a later date

Actors in E-Shipping This industry has a complex character due to the large number of actors involved in making things happen. The key players are highlighted below. 1. Customers Shippers: The person who ships his cargo through a shipping company Charters: A merchant who wants to ship target amount, particularly if in bulk would cheaper or hire a tramp ship. The merchant or organization that hires the ship is referred to as the chartered.

2.

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3.

Brokers Broker is an intermediary between the shipper and the shipping company. He makes known about the details of the cargo available to the shipping company. To the shipper he provides details of shipping space opportunities and assists in Sooking shipping. 4. Information Technology Service The software companies, which extends their software solutions in e-shipping. 5. Agents In the field of shipping, many persons in bringing together the two main parties namely shipper and ship owner play the intermediary role. The intermediary role-played may be the role of cleaning and forwarding, customs house agent and stevedoring. 6. Clearing and Forwarding Agents It can also be defined as Help Forward. The freight forwarder is an individual or firm who renders cargo delivery services. In domestic freight forwarding, it is the delivery of goods usually from the exporters promises to the local customs in exporting, and vice versa in exporting. In international freight forwarding, it is the delivery of goods only. The forwarder usually receives the forwarders change from the exporter. In addition, it may receive a commission from the carrier or from the freight company. 7. Customs House Agent The custom broker or custom house agent is an individual or company got a license to clear export and import goods through customs. In general, the rote of brokers is the same worldwide. Besides clearing of good through customs, other export services a broker renders include booking of space for ocean freight, canvassing and providing the freight cost

29 and preparation of expect documents and sending them to the exporters prepare their own export documents. The broker also renders the serves as freight forwarder 8. Stevedoring Stevedores are appointed by the shipping company to receive and to load or to discharge/unload cargo from the ship. Huge gentry cranes handle the term stevedoring means loading and unloading of cargo on to from a ship with the help of cranes and derricks in the ship as well as on the wharf containers. Electronic Shipping Documentation Filling out shipping documentation manually is a pain. Luckily, most of the major shippers supply desktop software to automate the process. Software package such as DHL Connect. FedEx Ship and UPS Online Office make paper shipping forms obsolete by eliminating the need to write out the same ship-to-addresses time after time or look up shipment pricing data from paper tables. Users an enter shipment data, price shipments and print approved shipment waybill documentation from desktop PCs using standard Microsoft Windows software. Also, depending on the shipper, the package may allow you to: Download data from the shippers Web site to ensure pricing tables are kept fully updated Import ship-to addresses from other electronic address books or database files Print additional customs documentation and invoices for overseas shipments Schedule pickups, track shipments online or obtain copies of proof-of-delivery receipts Analyze shipping activity using a built-in-report writer and a shipping log database Send e-mail to shipment receivers alerting them that the shipment is on its way You might expect to pay hundreds of dollars for this software, but in fact its free assuming you have an account with the shipper providing the software. However, although all order-entry systems print shipment packing slips, and some print other forms such as United Parcel Service (UPD) C.O.D. tickets; few accounting

30 software vendors have integrated their sales-order-entry modules with electronic shipment documentation software. SAP is taking the initiative by teaming up with FedEx to deliver integrated e-shipping to their mutual customer Hewlett-Packard Co. SAP is enhancing its R/3 package so that its internal order fulfillment functionality can be integrated with FedExs external shipping systems to deliver real-time shipment setup and tracking from within R/3. Online Shipment Tracking Online shipment tracking is a classic Web self-service application, and today most shippers offer a Web-based shipment tracking service. Simply go to their Web site, select the tracking page, enter your tracking or waybill number, and the shipment status will be revealed. As a result, telephone inquiries to shipper call centers are reduced, and customer service is improved a genuine win-win situation. But many accounting systems do not even provide a shipment tracking number data field on the order-entry screen, which is one reason why its hard for many systems to take advantage of real-time shipment tracking from within the order-entry module. Another reason is that not every accounting system is currently integrated with desktop Web-browser software. So its surprising to find that one of the few products with this capability is Accpac International Inc.s Simply Accounting 6.0, a low-cost small-business accounting suite. Since Simply Accounting can integrate with desktop Web browsers, delivering online shipment tracking required just a few steps. First, set up records in Simply Accounting to store the URLs of the shipment-tracking Web sites for your preferred shipper(s). Then enter the shipment tracking number off the manual waybill form into the order header of the sales order created in your system. When the customer calls to inquire about shipment status, the order-entry clerk pulls up the sales order and clicks a button. Simply Accounting loads your Web browser, connects to the shipment-tracking page on the shippers Web site and passes the waybill number off the order header to display the shipment status information. Its so easy that its difficult to understand why so many order-entry modules do not include this functionality.

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E-Shipping and Web Storefronts If you are lucky, your business does not manually enter sales orders anymore and has already made the leap to running a Web-based storefront for taking customer orders. If this is the case, it is easy and advisable to make shipping a painless part of the online order-entry process. Shippers such as UPS can help. UPS offers a free Internet tools suite that comprises UPS Quick Cost Calculator (for use in the United States only) and UPS Tracking (for use worldwide). These applets can be integrated into a store front to provide online shipment pricing or the basis for self-service pages used to track shipments made via UPS services. Of course, you will need some help integrating these applets with your storefront, unless your Web e-commerce server vendor has already integrated these tools into its core storefront application. Electronic Document Transmission May be producing shipping documentation or tracking shipments online is not what your business needs from e-shipping. Perhaps you need a secure way to transmit documents electronically, rather than just as attachments to insecure e-mail messages. If so, then two UPS services, Online Dossier and Online Courier, may be appropriate. Instead of printing a document and manually shipping it using an air courier envelope, via fax or using messengers, the whole process can be managed electronically from a PC. Customers of these UPS services can upload a document electronically to a secure UPS Web server, where it can be downloaded electronically by the recipient. Document sending, tracking and receiving is managed through software that can run in a Web browser. Senders can specify a date and time when the document should be delivered, track a documents transmission audit trail and receive electronic notification that the document has been received by the recipient. Recipients can be warned via e-mail that the document is on its way and required to enter a password supplied separately by the sender to access the document. Documents can be protected with special tamper-proofing technology and insured against tampering or delivery to an unintended recipient. Within the United States, the cost for sending a UPS Dossier document with confirmation could be as low as $5 to $6, which is about the same as conventional air express document-shipment charges.

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Web-enabling the shipping function is yet another area where the Internet is impacting the traditional management of supply chains through order-entry modules in accounting applications. Luckily, the technology for e-shipping is usually free and relatively easy to integrate with existing applications. Given these developments, every order-entry module should offer real e-shipping functionality within the next year or so. Electronic Shipping Tools (EST) is a free, fast and flexible way to prepare your Statements of Mailing (SOM) and youre Manifests (when required). For your convenience, two user platforms have been developed: the On-line and the Desktop versions. Electronic Shipping Tools (EST) is an application designed to eliminate the need for manual paperwork, save valuable time for customers who are using our shipping and/or our mailing services. We invite customers to browse through this site to see how this application can make it easier for you to do business. Electronic Shipping Tools (EST) is also designed to support and manage all of your shipments/mailings in a fact, simple and accurate way.

IMPORTANCE OF E-SHIPPING Architecture E-ships Internet server architecture is designed for scalability, availability, and security. This service is a mission critical business process for the clients, and the infrastructure reflects the necessity of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week availability. Additionally, the architecture is built not only to service existing clients, but to scale for future clients. By incrementally growing the number of servers and partitioning the workload among them, we can continue to provide a scalable, high availability infrastructure. Scalability The web applications are divided into two parts:: front end (client-accessible) systems and back-end systems where long-term persistent data are stored and where business-processing systems are located. Load-balancing systems are used to distribute the work across systems at each tier. This architecture scales the number of

33 unique users supported by cloning or replicating front-end systems coupled with a stateless load-balancing system to spread the load across the available clones. Specific servers are dedicated to task-specific services, such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), rate calculation, and proactive monitoring. Cloning and partitioning, along with functionally specialized services, enable these systems to have an exceptional degree of scalability by growing each service independently.

Availability
Front-end systems are made highly available as well as scalable through using multiple, cloned servers. Load balancing is used to distribute load across the clones. A clone that is no longer offering a service can be automatically removed from the load-balance set while the remaining clones continue to offer the service. Back-end systems are made highly available by using fail over clustering for each partition. Fall over clustering assumes that an application can resume on another computer that has been given access to the failed systems disk subsystem. Partition fail over occurs when the primary node supporting requests to the partition fails and requests to the partition automatically switch to a secondary node. The secondary node has access to the same data storage, which is also replicated, as the failed node. An additional replica at a remote geographic site also increases the availability of e-Ship in the event of a disaster.

Security Managing risks by providing adequate protections for the confidentiality, privacy, integrity, and availability of information-is essential to the success. Thus it uses multiple security domains, where systems with different security needs are placed and each domain is protected by a firewall. The three principal domains, each separated by a firewall, are: a public network; a DMZ (demilitarized zone), where front ends and content servers are placed, and a secure network, where secure data is managed and stored.

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RULES AND REGULATIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. General rules Title of carriage-Ticket Rules to embark Liability and specific obligations of the passenger Liability and right of the carrier

General Rules 1. Important The purchase of the ticket implies the unconditioned Passengers acceptance of the following conditions. 2. Definitions The word Passenger means every person ferried under the ticket. The word Carrier means CORSICA FERRIED l All the employees and agents of the Carrier shall benefit of the rights granted to the Carrier. 3. Jurisdiction Every litigation between Passenger and Carrier depending from or connected to the conclusion or the execution of the carriage of Passenger, luggage and/or vehicles shall be in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Count of Genoa, being expressly excluded the jurisdiction of any other Italian or foreign Court ever if as a result of consolidation. 4. Applicable law Apart from the Rules provided by the present general conditions, the law of the flag of the vessel shall govern the contract of carriage of Passenger, luggage. 5. Unit Vehicle Together with caravan, trailer and everything therein contained is a single unit loaded without declaration.

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6.

Tariffs The carrier has the right to change the tariffs and the costs of all services rendered without prior advice.

7.

Damages to persons and vehicles Carriers liabilities for damages to passengers and vehicles are covered in accordance with the law of the vessels flag and by the applicable International Conventions.

8.

Validity The ticket is valid only for the person, the Vessel, the accommodation and the voyage mentioned in it. The ticket cannot be transferred and/or assigned. Unless expressly mentioned in it, the cost of the ticket is for each person and accommodation, food excluded, inclusive of VAT, if due. In case of change from a higher to a lower class.

9.

Custody The Passenger must take proper care of the ticket and show it to any Officer or agent of the carrier, whenever required, in case the ticket is lost, the Passenger must give prompt advice to Staff and pay for a new ticket. The ticket lost, if not utilized, will be reimbursed at its expire (one year from the date of issue). The Passenger without a ticket or who has not given prompt advice of the loss of the ticket.

10.

Cancellations of booking and renunciations Cancellations of booking and renunciations to voyage must be communicated in writing to the Offices of the Carrier, subject to the following penalties 10% of the cost of the ticket in case of notice received upto 30 days before the date of departure mentioned in the ticket 20% of the cost of the ticket in case of notice received upto 48 hours before the date of departure 50% of the cost of the ticket in case of notice received upto one hour before the date of departure, and for ticket open date 100% in case of notice received less than one hour before the departure or

36 in case of non presentation at embark. In case of cancellations of booking and/or renunciations to voyages for which it has been already changed the date of departure, it will be taken into consideration the original date of departure.

Rules to embark
11. Presentation The Passenger, with or without vehicle, must be present in the Offices at embarking port within the time period mentioned in advertising material (tickets, time tables, tariffs and other advertisements) of the current year; in the negative the Passenger loses his right to embark. 12. Vehicles Whichever is the order of presentation, the Carrier and/or the Master and/or the Staff have the right to decide unobjectionably the order of embarking of the vehicles. If in case of a change of the time table, substitution of vessel or force major, the Carrier were unable to embark a duly booked vehicle. Such a vehicle will have priority for next departure and the Passenger shall not be allowed to claim for any damage. If at the arrival the weather conditions or any other cause not depending on the Carrier make it Impossible to land the vehicle, such Vehicle will be landed as soon as possible in the next port or at the port of departure and the passenger shall not be allowed to claim for any damage, in case the size of a vehicle is different from the one declared on booking, the Carrier has the right either to refuse to embark the vehicle or to ask for a supplement of freight. Both during embark and disembark, the vehicles shall be driven to the ramp-door under the direct and exclusive liability of the driving Passenger, which shall follow all the existing safety rules for driving in port areas. Including quays, wharfs, docks and piers when inside the vessel the driving Passenger shall locate the vehicle following the Staffs instructions Non-driving Passenger shall embark only by feet using the proper entrances. The embarked vehicles shall be closed and secured by the driving Passenger and by getting the hand brakes put on.

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Luggage Every Passenger has the right to carry free of charge 75 Kg. of luggage for each indivisible unit of 10 Kg in excess, a supplement o0f freight shall have to be paid to the Staff at departure port or on board. For luggage are meant the personal belonging only and the set of samples of agents children who pay half right have 37.5 Kg of Luggage free of charge.

Liability and Obligations of Passenger

1. Liability of the passenger The passenger is liable for all damager caused by him or people or animals under his custody to the vessel, furniture, fittings, accessories, equipment, other passengers, carries, employees and agents third parties and all the sanctions, fines, penalties, charges or expenses to which for his fault, the carrier be condemned by any authority of any state. 2. Minors Less than twelve years parents and/or people In charge of them must constantly look after old children and they may not circulate about the ship alone. 3. Weapons It is forbidden to Passenger to take on board side arms or fire arms, ammunition, explosives, fuel or dangerous or inflammable goods without the written consent of the Carrier and the necessary authorizations, to be obtained from competent Authorities by the Passenger. In such case above items shall be given to the Staff and shall be withdrawn only at discharge of the components in firm. 4. Unlawful luggage The Passenger who introduces in his luggage or in any way on board unlawful substances or goods will be liable towards the Carrier and/or other parties for damage, penalties, fines and sanctions to which they may be condemned because of such an introduction.

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5.

GPL vehicles The Passenger on booking or on purchase of the ticket shall declare if his vehicle has a GPL engine. In case of omission the Passenger has no right to embark and must pay a penalty equal to the freight.

Liability and right of the carrier 6. Change or cancellation of departure Deviation: The time table for departure and arrival has a mere indicative value and the Carrier has the right to anticipate or postpone the departure of the vessel and in such case the Passenger shall not be allowed to claim for any damage, in case the departure is postponed for more than 24 hours the Passenger can ask the rescission of the contract and claim back the advanced freight only also in case of cancellation of departure the s passenger shall be allowed to claim back the advanced freight only. The Carrier, the Master has the right to call other ports, different from the original ones. Due to navigation needs. The Carrier shall bear no liability for loss or damage due to storms, shipwreck, collision, deviation, quarantine, fire, acts of war, piracy and any other accident or peril of the sea, postponement or cancellation of calls, change of route and time table and any other event concerning the navigation due force major and due to strikes of maritime and/or land staff. In case the Carrier cancel a departure, and/or cancel a call, change the port departure, anticipate to postpone the date of departure the Passenger who is not willing to perform the voyage has the right to claim back the advanced freight only and no case he shall be allowed to claim for damages or costs of any kind. The passenger shall not be entitled to any claim for damages or costs in case of anticipated or postponed arrival of the vessel. The company does not accept responsibility for cancellation of crossings owing to bad weather. 7. Arrangement on board In case of any mistake in the arrangement Passenger, who shall accept the best possible arrangement available, can claim no damage.

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8.

Liability for carriage of vehicles The Carrier has no liability for loss or damage occurred to vehicles during loading and discharging operations. The driving passenger is liable towards the Carrier and third parties for any damages caused by his vehicle both during loading and discharging operations and during the passage. The Carrier is not liable for loss or damage to objects inside the vehicle. Any valuable object, cameras, binoculars, etc. can be delivered to the Staff on board who shall issue proper receipt.

9.

Valuable objects The Carrier is not liable for theft, loss or damage suffered by valuable objects, money, documents, papers, placed into the luggage, into the cabin or into the vehicle, unless the same has been delivered to Staff.

10.

Lien and right to retention The Carrier has a lien and a right of retention on luggage and other Passengers belongings, including the vehicle, as a guarantee for any payment due by the Passenger to the Carrier for any cause of acts or facts relating to the carriage. Consequently, if the Passenger does not pay the due amounts, the Carrier shall have the right to sell the above mentioned goods, even without Court order, and use the amount earned to pay the principal, interests and accessories.

11.

Claims The Passenger shall immediately notify claims of any kind to the Staff. Claim

for damages to vehicles shall be immediately notified to Staff, which will draw a survey report on behalf of the Passenger. The Passenger shall sign the report, which is issued without prejudice or admission of liability by the Carrier. The Carrier shall not examine letter of claim without copy of the survey report.

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Tracking
Track your shipments within Web Ship by selecting the Track tab. Then enter your tracking number or customer reference number to view u for several years the Metals Service Center Institute, the American Institute of Steel Construction and the Technical Committee on Structural Shapes have been working to create a standard for the metals industry that would provide for more cost effective, efficient and automated methods to ship and receive rolled structural steel shapes. This vision provides for the computer-to-computer exchange (XML transmission) of information about structural steel products being shipped from producer to distributor to end user, and the accurate tagging of the physical products using standard bar code technology. The first component delineates the information that needs to be on the barcoded shipping label placed on an individual lift (piece or bundle) of structural steel. The second component is an Advance Shipment Notice (ASN), an electronic file (XML format) sent in advance of the material shipment. The third component is electronic (mill) test report data, supplied by the structural shape producer, which may be included and/or referenced within the electronic file. These three components are linked via a unique supplier reference number generated by the material supplier for a specific producing/distribution facility location. The objective of the standard is to create a more efficient, integrated supply chain, whereas each shipment lift (piece or bundle) will have a bar coded license plate that carries with it detailed information about what it is, when it is being sent, who sent it, how it is being shipped, that and has traceability to its origin (mill test report).

ELECTRONIC SHIPPING LISTS

Electronic shipping lists contain state documents which are available only in electronic format on the World Wide Web. The shipping lists supply item information, issuing agencies, and URLs for the electronic documents. Cataloging records with links for many of the documents can be found in World Cat for libraries wishing to add them to their own online catalogs. The State Library plays a key role in ensuring that all state documents are not only readily available to those who are interested today, but will be available for scholars and researchers in the future. Iowa Publications Online is a link to enhancing access to state documents.

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ABOUT FedEx -AN, E-SHIPPING COMPANY

For over 30 years, FedEx has pioneered innovations to help streamline and simplify the shipping process. Today were bringing that industry-leading sense of innovation to the World Wide Web, with the first internet-based service designed especially for international shipping needs. hassles. Now, in a matter of mouse clicks you can: Schedule pick-ups Prepare and print air waybills Complete customs paper work Determine which shipments are customs-declarable Track shipments FedExs new Web Shipping system allows you to take care of all youre shipping on-line, saving you time and eliminating

Take control of your shipping activities with FedEx Eshipping

FedExs unique range of eShipping Tools allows you to efficiently prepare shipping documentation and trace shipments from your desktop. eShipping Tools give you the power to take control of your shipping activities while maintaining your peace of mind because you know FedEx will deliver.

We have the right FedEx eShipping Tools for you

Whether youre individual working from home or a large corporation operating across borders, FedEx has the eShipping Tool best suited to your needs. FedEx Ship Manager at fedec.com FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com gives you this ability to ship and track from any computer with Internet access, without the need of any additional software. All that is required is a simple click on FedExs award-winning website to request a courier to pickup a shipment*. This solution also enables you to send emails to prealert upto three other parties of the shipment. An automatic notification will also be

42 sent to upto four parties including yourself and the recipients once the package is delivered. Other services available through FedEx Ship Manager at feed.com include courtesy rate quotes, on-line tracking and a database with information on recipients. Documentation can be printed at the touch of a single key. Do you want more information on FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com? FedEx_Ship Manager Software For Corporations that engage in more frequent shipping activities and with multiple senders, FedEx has designed FedEx Ship Manager Software to satisfy your more sophisticated shipping needs. Also, if you prefer to work offline, FedEx Ship Manager Software will be your ideal solution. FedEx Ship Manager Software is a stand-alone, user-installable, Windows-based software package designed to allow you to quickly ship, track and report your daily shipping activities. It is advanced in features, has a user-friendly interface, and brings a complete shipping solution to your own PC. Besides, it is highly efficient in a shipping environment that requires common data base sharing and a central administration function. Filling our shipping documentation manually is a chore, but thanks to new eshipping software and online services, it may soon be a thing of the past. Even better, much of this software if free. The bad news is that most accounting suite vendors have yet to provide the necessary integration in their order-entry modules. One aspect of Internet supply-chain management that many accounting software vendors seem to overlook is the production of shipping documentation and online shipment tracking, commonly known as e-shipping. E-shipping integrates the order-entry modules found in distribution software suites with shipping documentation software and self service shipment-tracking Web site. E-shipping also presents new ways to securely send electronic documents across the Internet with a full audit trail.

Functioning
Shipment Bookings
Shippers will be able to enter all shipment data online and a booking confirmation will be sent in return. This will eliminate the possibility of type-copying errors and reduce the necessity for document amendments, therefore t significantly decreasing the amount of paper used.

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Cargo tracking of Air and Ocean Freight

This facility allows consignors and consignees to instantly check the status of their shipment(s). Additionally our clients can generate-shipment reports on a daily, weekly or monthly basis sent automatically to their email! For those with a more complex supply chain who need to track by the line item or purchase order, learn details about our advanced.

Special tariffs tickets

Partial cancellation of the journey after the first leg do not entitle to reimbursements Tickets at special tariffs Jackpot Express cannot i be reimbursed, even they are not used.

Rebooking
A fee of 9 shall be charged for modification of the original ticket. If a , passenger alters his reservation (date, route, vehicle type), he cannot claim reimbursement of a possible price difference-In the case of open date return, the passenger shall be charged the price difference that may result when he makes Ns final reservation. If a ticket is lost or stolen, the journey must be paid for lain; should the unused ticket be found and returned within one year after the date of issue, it shall be reimbursed. An open date tickets only valid for the year of issue. The-shipping company reserves the right to alter departure times and fares without previous notice.

Cancellation fees
Our offices must be informed of any cancellation. The following cancellation fees shall be charged. 50% for open date tickets, 10% upto one month before departure, 20% upto 48 hours before departure, 50% upto the fame stipulated for pre-embarkabon. There is no reimbursement for cancellations that are made after this stipule time (1 hour before departure). When a ticket that has been rebooked is then cancelled, it is the original date that applies.

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Vehicle reservation
The vehicle type, manufacturer and registration number must be specified when reservations are being made. The total length of the vehicle must be declared to make the reservation. Over-sized vehicles: All vehicles that are over 2.20 in high and/or 2m wide must be stated as such during reservation, otherwise the-shipping company reserves the right to deny embarkation or collect the amount charged for the two-way journey.

Supply Chain Management

Cargo care in partnership with all port Ltd. (UK), offer the most advanced solution for controlling complex supply chains, Integration with clients businesses with the primary objective to create visibility in the chain to create the environment for effective management planning controlled lead times and streamlined logistics operations, which will reduce inventory costs and eliminate unnecessary costs such as demurrage and rent. More importantly, the client can get its products to the point of sale without compromising availability, quality or cost. All ports edit RACK system provides visibility in the supply chain, by managing, recording and measuring every process and participant in the chain. Edit RACK can be installed anywhere in the supply chain and, where required, can be integrated with the existing systems that may be in place. After implementation, edit RACK provides a horizontal view of the supply chain, ensuring that all relevant parties are aware of whats happening and more importantly, whats not!

Road & Rail Haulage

We use the most efficient and competitively priced methods to transport your goods over land-Cargo care save you money and time.

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Choice of freight Carriers

This provides shipment by conference or non-conference freight shipping lines, depending on your preferences.

Container Types
Whether your freight requires dry van, high cube; temperature controlled, open top, flat-rack containers; we cater for your every shipping demand. E-shipping provides the various Electronic Data Interchange: (EDI) services such as Booking. Shipping instruction. B/L Advice. Arrival Notification and Cargo Tracking to desired customers-EDI helps interfacing information between two parties securely, resulting reduction of Information re-handling probability, paper tasks and typing errors. Currently this adapts both ANSI X 12 and UN/EDIFACT as EDI standard format, implementing first to North American service and next to European and Asian service. Private formats can also be made available under mutual agreement.

E-Shipping Tools
E-business for shipping has been researches with and produced for theshipping industry and its customers to ensure the issues addressed reflect the need to develop E-shipping has developed tools which have gained advantage to both consigners and consignees.

E-Mail
Electronic Mail is the means by which one can electronically get messages across to one another as against the conventional made of paper based messaging. Messages can be prepared and sent reliably over communication networks from the desktop computer of the sender to be received at the desktop computer of the recipient. In addition to savings in time caused by not having to handle paper, the advantage of being able to send and receive mail as and when convenient is retained. Not only has E-Mail emerged as a reliable a convenient method of inter-personal messaging, it has also been employed in changing work L processes with in the organizations.

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On-Line Container Booking

By logging on into the-shipping company website the information about the space available for containers, type of containers available, ship name, cost of container, size of the container is available which helps the customer to I book the container on-line.

On-Line data error correction

If a customer fills the form wrongly, then he has to send another form freshly to the-ship owner and before that he has to send information to the-ship owner about the error in the form, which results in the delay of the-shipment-It is Overcomes by Eshipping, The customer can make changes in the already filled forms On-line and it is immediately received to the-ship owner. E-Bill exchange is the ideal place to share strategies, ideas and knowledge about electronic bill, invoice and statement prosettlement.

E-Payment
The Anthrax scare past September 11 uncertainties, coupled with increasing pressure to scrutinize operating costs, have prompted both consumers and business to look closely at electronic payments via the Internet, otherwise known as E-billing or Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP). Consumers are slowly coming around to the idea of E-Billing despite early concerns about security. As a result, the concept of electronic billing finally have come of age and moved beyond the early adopter stage. E-Payment systems have been developed to handle ways of paying for good electronically on the Internet. Electronic payment systems for the internet include systems for credit card payments, digital cash, electronic wallets, person-toperson payment systems, smart cards, electronic checks and electronic billing systems. Cost conscious enterprises are getting into the EBPP game. Bill payers want if lower cost for paying and clearing invoices and billers want to improve (heir cash flow and cost savings for paper processing such as mailing or re-entering invoice information into their payment systems. Billers combine electronic bills with other services that can be conveniently. Accessed through the bill like customer services account analysis and purchasing. Financial service companies use electronic bills to

47 improve customer services by enabling customers to click on specific transactions for further review. They also build in service enquiries so customers can send secure mails messages to the customer service representative rather than making telephone calls. The biller benefits form these new billing and payment capabilities by reducing costs when interfacing with customers as well as improving overall customer service.

E-Invoicing
Utilizing Electronic Invoice Presentation and payment (EIPP) to rapidly automate processes cut costs and boost productivity. Research by pay stream advisors indicates that an increasing number of organizations are using EIPP to achieve impressive operational and strategic benefits. Buyers can receive, route, dispute, approve and pay invoices more quickly and efficiently, while sellers can streamlined how they deliver invoices, manage disputes, apply payments and processes exceptions-Both can leverage real-time access to the information via the Internet into more accurate fore costs and tighter business relationships. The advent of payer side EIPP services for accounts payable, along with the more traditional supply side EIPP sensing, presents substantial opportunities for treasury management professional to improve the financial performance of their firms. Because adoption of EIPP integrates into existing processes, data flows and cash forecasting is vital in order to ensure that EIPP services are optimized-Electronic invoicing Landscape enables companies to deepen their working relationships while improving their costs to serve. Those highly interactive workshops provide participants with an overview of the current electronic invoicing landscape and insight into the key value driers. Bottom line technologies have created a read world electronic over $100 million invoices per month. Attendees have a strategic roadmap for evaluating implementation opportunities and solution offerings.

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CARGO TRACING

E-Mobile
Mobile Internet Service, which traces the export and import cargo location by the WAP-enabled mobile phone. Using mobile phone link customers connect to the Internet by mobile phone, by selecting Track & Trace menu in the mobile Internet service and input B/L no: or Container no: that gets the itineraries such as cargo location, departure point and final destination are confirmed.

E-Tracing
E-Tracing provides up-to-the minute-shipment status-from origin to the delivery to on-line customers. How a shipping transports and tracks orders has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. An E-shipping must prepare the orders for shipment, arrange for pick up by or delivering to the-shipping company, create the necessary paper work and labeling and assign tracking numbers to the packages. Often, automated software and hardware such as fed ex power ship, generates a tracking numbers, prints a shipping label or waybill and schedules a pickup-Most delivery services can be contracted to pickup packages or will. Pickup at the-shipping location on a regular schedule. Also, most shipping companies have representatives who work with E-Business to figure out the most effective solution for preparing shipping orders.

E-Administration
a) b) c) The financial informations such as sales, cost profit/loss will be presented instantly. Cyber education provides equal opportunity to employees with ease and comfort. E-Recruiting system reduces time and cost to hire new employees.

The Benefits Enhanced customer service Real-time-shipment information

49 Increased availability of information anywhere, anytime Lower customer service costs Technological advantage over competitors Ability to meet partners EDI requirements

Application Development By realizing that every company has unique requirements and that one solution does not work for every company. If the Internet-based solution does not fulfill the companys needs, we can develop a solution that does. Utilizing the extensive set of logistics modules and the knowledge of transportation processes available the application Development Services team can provide you with a fast, low-risk solution and ongoing support.

Quick Return on Investment The logistics expertise and existing base of code will allow us to develop a solution quickly at a lower cost-Modular solution - develops can develop modular components that will integrate with our current modules, allowing your company to access our rating, tracking, tendering, EDI and other capabilities.

Professional support It will continue to support your company and the project requirements you may have in the future. Settlement E-Shipping provides access to freight bills received from carriers. E-Ship also has the capability to receive freight bills as 210 Freight Invoice EDI transactions, email, or even as extensible markup language (XML). Line item charges can be per mile, cost per hundred weight, accessorial or miscellaneous. Professional looking freight bills can be printed directly from the browser window and used as invoices. Users can use the interface to print duplicates of missing bills, verify freight charges before a bill is paid or print an original freight bill for filing.

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ISSUES AND TREND Laws governing electronic shipping are still being written. and force of e-mail contracts the role of electronically copied documents. Moreover, the Internet Is global, and is used by individuals and organizations in hundred of different countries. If a contract made between a customers in Thailand via a website stored on a computer in Singapore and the-shipping company in Hungary, whose law would apply? The legal and regulatory Environment for electronic commerce has not been fully established. Security Issues Security refers to the policies, procedures and technical measures used to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, theft or physical damage to information systems, in the environment where these transactions take place on the basis of paper documents. A paper purchase order cannot be modified without leaving evidence. The amount on a cheque too can be modified without leaving a trace. The documents can be replayed and made to appear as bonafide transaction, in providing security in the electronic commerce environment, there should therefore be successful integration of manual and technical controls appropriate to the risks that a business believes it is exposed to. With the introduction of electronic commerce, the new system should at least the same reliability as the paper system, which it replaces. While this, in a simplistic manner, reflects the security threats that electronic systems are vulnerable to, the same concerns are reflected in the area of national security where the entities at risk include critical infrastructure components that depend heavily on IT. The United States, which plays a leading role in the information revolution, has also realized that their dependency on (T has opened up new threats to the economy, public safety and national security, on May 22, 1998 the president signed the Presidential Decision Directive 63 (FDD 63) on critical infrastructure protection. Legislations,

courts and international agreements are just starting to settle such issues as the legality

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The issues that confront in relation to securing electronic transactions are: 1. Confidentiality 2. Integrity 3. Availability 4. Authenticity 5. Audit ability INTERNATIONAL E-SHIPPING ISSUES International shipping creates a whole set of problems for an e-business. Many businesses are different shipping methods for international and domestic shipping, because different shipping companies are better suited to each task. The additional paper work required for international shipping differs, depending on the country the package is being shipped to and standard commercial invoice and customs form for certain items, while different items or shipments to other countries any require certificates or international letter of credit. There may also be import or export restrictions on certain items going into certain countries. For example, encryption software-shipped from the U.S. is subject to special export controls and many European countries do not allow the importation of meat products. Export licenses may be required to ship some items or to ship to certain countries. Taxes and duties may be due in the destination country. Though these vary widely, the adoption of the Harmonized Tariff System classification has somewhat simplified the confusion surrounding taxes and duties on items shipped internationally. standardized numbering system for traded goods Trends in E-shipping Few years ago currency was dilemma in the hands of people. But in recent years currency was transformed into e-cash which are called as credit cards. Debit cards and so on and this enable the interaction of currency fast and dynamic manner. The-shipping company is growing is growing day by day. At the present four software companies serve the global shipping market. According the Ship Broker Register there were over 14,500 shipping agents and 1,040 shipping lines in approximately 600 harbors around the works. Here, competent software solutions It provides for a

52 play a vital role in the industry, simplifying working process and enabling the integration of large volumes of data. Soft ship founded in 1989 in Hamburg by Mr.Frick and Mr. Heiko Nocke, develops software for the shipping sector has recently introduced CMC (container Manager Module control) with CMC, agencies can manage their container stocks and moments. E business has created new opportunities and business models for theshipping industry. Likewise Internet and web, which is involved in shipping not only boosted the-shipping business globally but also led the man machine interaction to a great extend.

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FINDINGS E-shipping helps the customers to be more familiar with the banking transactions. E-shipping enables the user to know more about the products & services provided by the bank. It will project the personal data of the customers as many financial institutions use secured socket layer technology to encrypt all the transactions of the customers. Save time. Makes faster decisions. Though E- shipping is found to be secure, fast and reliable. This online channel enables the customers to access their account information and initiate information transactions on a 24*7 boundary basis.

Customer can visit FedEx Ship Manager at fedec.com for downloading the
registration form and for locating the nearest Internet Shipping enabled firm. All this at no cost - It's free!

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SUGGESTIONS A unique software program may be installed so that E- Shipping industries world will have a fast and secure way of handling E- Shipping scenario of the Shipping industry. Security implementation must be done to avoid hacking from hackers. Wants to give same priority to all customers. Maintain shipping account counters properly by way of providing service in each month. Introduce more Shipping counters in rural areas.

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CONCLUSION Internet Shipping (E- Shipping) is the latest in this series of technological wonders in the recent past involving use of internet delivery of Shipping products & services. Internet Shipping is the changing the Shipping industry & is having the major effects on Shipping relationships. Shipping is now no longer confined to the branches were one has to approach the branch in person, to transact the activities in Shipment. In true internet Shipping, any inquiry or transaction is processed online without any time.

Providing E- Shipping is increasing becoming a need to have service. The net Shipping, thus, now is more of a norm rather than an exception in many developed countries due to the fact that is the cheapest way of providing Shipping services.