Reference guide

Integrating with CargoWise One and a Guide

to the Technology Behind it
A High-Level Guide to Integrating with CargoWise.

Contents
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Why Integrate with CargoWise One ......................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Efficiency ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Speed and Agility ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
2.3 Accuracy .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
2.4 Visibility ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
2.5 Cost ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.6 Security ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.7 Customer Satisfaction ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.8 Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
3. Helpful Background Information ................................................................................................................ 6
3.1 XML, Flat Files, and EDI Files ............................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 Protocols .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
4. eService Product Summary ......................................................................................................................... 9
4.1 E2E ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 eHub (Client Specific) Interface ................................................................................................................................... 10
4.3 eAdaptor .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
4.4 Advanced Data Automation Wizard .......................................................................................................................... 13

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1. Introduction
To operate successfully in a global industry, you must have the capability to communicate with
business partners and operations worldwide. By linking together different software systems you
enable them to act as a coordinated whole, adding value via capabilities that are only possible
because of interactions between two subsystems.

CargoWise (CW) comes with many standard interfaces out of the box, such as Liner and Agency,
Ocean Carriers, Carrier Messaging, Messaging to/from selected ports, Airline Messaging and many
more. Where those standard interfaces don’t cater to your needs, this document has been
created to help you understand what options are available for you to electronically integrate CW
with your other internal software systems or with your Customers and Partners.

This document covers the suite of eService integration products, their value to you and your
partners, and some information to help you understand the technology behind them

2. Why Integrate with CargoWise One

There are a number of benefits if you integrate CW electronically with your Partner’s and
Customer’s software systems.

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2.1 Efficiency
By integrating CW with your Partner’s and Customer’s software system and automating the flow
of data, you will be able to reduce the number of employees. This will allow you to reallocate
them to concentrate on higher-value tasks that would otherwise be required to administrate
current processes such as keying or manual importing of data. You will no longer be reliant on
employees who are only available during working hours to ensure that business-critical data is
sent or received on time.

Tracking that data in real time (rather than hours or days later) allows for more accurate
reconciliation and faster management reporting.

By combining the incoming data in CW with Workflow, you can fully automate entire processes,
triggering other external software applications for a seamless end to end solution. By removing
such labor-intensive and manual tasks, you increase the agility that your company needs to
grow. This enables you to do more with less, giving employees the tools to be more productive
while reducing overheads. And don’t forget, if you are migrating from paper to electronic
transactions it is much friendlier to the environment!

2.2 Speed and Agility

By being able to exchange transactions with your Partners and Customers in seconds, you will
shorten the shipping or ordering process, respond faster to increases in demand, speed up your
business cycles, and decrease lead times. This will not only realize savings and lower overheads,
but vastly improve the experience of your Partners and Customers.

An integrated software solution provides real-time visibility into transaction status, which
enables faster decision making and improved responsiveness to changing customer and market
demands, and allows businesses to adopt a demand-driven business model rather than a
supply-driven one. Expansion to multiple locations and additional sales channels can be
accomplished faster because of unified processes and data. By providing a common business
language, you can facilitate customer and partner onboarding anywhere in the world, streamlining
your ability to enter new territories and markets.

2.3 Accuracy
Any manual transfer of information will introduce errors into the process. By integrating CW with
your Partner’s and Customer’s software systems, you can improve your data quality by
eliminating manual data entry errors, discrepancies, and misinterpretations. These can be caused
by illegible handwriting, lost faxes/mail, and keying and re-keying errors, saving your employees
valuable time from handling data disputes.

Data validation highlights an issue early in the process before it becomes a problem. Electronic
data from an external source is usually derived from a database, where data has been subject to

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prior validation. Combined with CW’s own data validation capability, you will improve error
detection, increase efficiency, and improve information integrity.

Communicating electronically via an integration is direct and easily verifiable. Data or documents
are transferred accurately regardless of size. If transmission of a large amount of data is not
successful, you can invoke re-transmission procedures rapidly.

Integrating directly with your Partners and Customers will reduce your overheads to detect or
reprocess erroneous data, reduce costs to expedite goods or services that are late or lost as a
result of data inaccuracies, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction.

2.4 Visibility
Without real-time visibility of critical data, a business will make critical decisions slowly, base
those decisions on inaccurate information, or even rely on gut instinct to make risky or hasty
decisions.

By exchanging data electronically, you will be better informed and can make more accurate,
timely decisions without wasting resources on data extraction and tying data from different
sources together.

Accurate real-time reporting will give you an integrated view of your operations and performance
and the data to optimize them and facilitate better planning and forecasting. You can also upsell
and cross-sell more efficiently to your existing customer base because of the improved visibility
you obtain.

Audit trails provide documentary evidence of the sequence of activities that have affected a
specific operation, procedure, or event. But visibility is not only limited to your own businesses,
the opportunity to track your Partner and Customer performance can be used to negotiate
better terms or to justify terminating a partnership.

2.5 Cost
The benefits for you to integrate with your Partners and Customers include substantial cost
savings that can result from the reduction of employee hours associated with administrating the
keying or manual importing of data or search for and resolving errors.

Inventory costs can be reduced through shortened order processing and delivery cycles.
Improved accuracy and real-time access to invoices enables you to better predict outbound
disbursements and cash flow, resulting in fewer duplicate payments, payment penalties, and
overpayments. It also allows you to take full advantage of timely payment discounts. Knowing
how much, where, and when you spend can be a valuable asset to you in price negotiations
across the supply chain.

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A migration from paper to electronic transactions is not only better for the environment,
promoting corporate social responsibility, but also reduces expenses associated with paper,
printing, reproduction, storage, filing, postage, and document retrieval. By eliminating human
handling in such areas as mailroom sorting and circulation, and clerical document preparation,
you can reduce overhead costs.

2.6 Security
Information sent electronically via integration is far less likely to be intercepted or falsified.
Visibility does not just provide information regarding existing corruption in the supply chain, but
also deters future incidents, providing the data a business needs to put their suspicions at rest or
pursue prosecution in a worst-case scenario.

2.7 Customer Satisfaction

When customers are unable to quickly access information, can’t get issues resolved in a timely
manner, or have to frequently deal with the repercussions associated with poor data quality they
are more likely to be dissatisfied and look elsewhere. An integrated software solution ensures
that customers have the right information and customer experience, and that your employees
have the instantaneous access to all the customer information they need to service and sell to
their customers and strengthen the link with their Partners.

2.8 Summary
The value electronic integration offers to CargoWise One users.

Efficiency • Eliminate errors

• Validate data
• Reduce or reallocate Employees
• Improve information integrity
• Operate outside of working hours
• Verifiable data exchange
• Accurate reconciliation
• Faster reporting Visibility
• Automation of processes
• Better informed
Speed & Agility • Timely decisions
• Better planning and forecasting
• Shorten processes
• Audit trails
• Respond faster
• Track partner and customer performance
• Speed up business cycles
• Decrease lead times Cost
• Real time visibility
• Substantial cost reductions
• Improved responsiveness
• Predict cash flow
• Faster expansion and onboarding
• Reduce payment error
Accuracy Security

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• Data interception unlikely Customer Satisfaction
• Deters fraud
• Fast access to accurate customer info

3. Helpful Background Information

In computing, data needs to be stored in a ‘container’ before being sent from one piece of
software to another. The three most common ‘containers’ you will come across when working
with CW are XML, Flat Files, or EDI Files. These ‘containers’ don’t actually do anything, they just sit
and hold the data that we put into them.

Therefore, we need some way to move these ‘containers’ from one piece of software to another,
but as each piece of software can be written in a different programming language, they often
cannot communicate directly with each other without some help. The methods of moving these
‘containers’ between two pieces of software are known (in very simple terms) as Protocols. A
computer network is a set of computers connected together via cabling or wirelessly through
radio waves (the Internet can be considered a computer network), a Protocol is a set of rules that
computers use to talk to one another across a network.

Types of Protocols you might come across when working with CW customers are FTP, SFTP,
HTTPS, SOAP, AS2, SMTP, and POP3. CW supports all of the file formats and protocols listed
above, plus many more. Please be aware that the information contained in this section has been
simplified to give you a basic understanding of these concepts.

3.1 XML, Flat Files, and EDI Files

XML
XML stands for Extensible Mark-up Language. An XML file’s basic structure is simple. There are
tags, and tags surround data (or sometimes other tags) like this:

<xml>
<header>This is the Header Data</header>
<body>This is the body.</body>
</xml>

Tags are used to define the data that they contain.

<xml>
<name>John Smith</name>
<address>72 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria, NSW, 2015, Australia</address>
</xml>

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You or your Customers or Partners may have your own version of XML which will require mapping
to CargoWise One’s XML. CW uses two types of XML, Universal XML for sending or receiving
Operational Data and Native XML for sending or receiving reference data.

Examples of XML files

Flat Files
A flat file is a file that contains a set of records. The records are normally separated from each
other by a space, a comma, or a new line. A flat file will not contain any formatting, i.e. no
information regarding the type of font, font color, font size, etc.

A CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file is another form of flat file in which data typically exists in
the form of rows and columns, with no relationships or links between records and fields except
the table structure. The value from each table cell is separated by a comma and each row
represented with a new line.

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 Examples of .CSV files

EDI Files
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business
documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. Because EDI documents
must be processed by computers rather than humans, a standard format must be used so that
the computer will be able to read and understand the documents.

There are many EDI document standards, the most common used by CW users are the ANSI X12
and UN/EDIFACT standards. Each standard contains a number of different types of document,
the most common documents exchanged via EDI are purchase orders, invoices, and advance
ship notices. But there are many, many others such as bill of lading, customs documents,
inventory documents, shipping status documents, and payment documents. Each document
type has its own unique identifying code, for example an ANSI X12 110 is an Air Freight Details and
Invoice document whereas an ANSI X12 312 is an Ocean Arrival Notice document.

When an EDI document is created, such as a purchase order, it is important to adhere to the
strict formatting rules of the standard you are using. These rules define exactly where and how
each piece of information in the document will be found. That way, when the receiving software
reads an incoming EDI purchase order, it will immediately understand where to find the buyer’s
company name, the purchase order number, the items being ordered, the price for each item,
etc.

More information relating to EDI can be found at https://www.edibasics.com/ and the

different EDI standards can be found at https://www.edibasics.com/edi-
resources/document- standards/

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3.2 Protocols
Two common ways used by CW users for passing data from one software platform to another
are by FTP and Web Service.

Web Service
A Web Service is a piece of software on one electronic device used to communicate with
another electronic device via the World Wide Web. You use your computer (the client) to request
that another computer (the server) performs a task for you and then sends you a response back
over the Internet, the work this server does for you is called a service.

To ensure your computer (the client) and the other computer (the server) can communicate via
the web service in a way they both understand, a document called a WSDL (Web Service
Description Language) is published by the provider of the web service. This WSDL describes the
web services functionality; how it can be accessed by your computer, what parameters it
expects to receive and the structure of the data it returns.

FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol used to automate the transfer of computer files on a
network. You use an FTP client on your computer to log into someone else’s FTP server, navigate
the FTP server’s folder structure, and exchange files.

Connecting to an FTP server is very similar to connecting to just about any other server on the
Internet. When you log in to your Hotmail account or a secure shopping cart system (such as the
one at Amazon.com), you have to provide a server address, a user name, and a password before
you can exchange information with the server. FTP can utilize a username and password scheme
for granting access in the same way.

CW users who wish to use this method for transferring information can only do so via eHub and
must provide their own FTP server, WiseTech Global does not provide this facility.

4. eService Product Summary

WiseTech Global currently provides four different methods of integration through its suite of
eService products.

Product Sheets for all eService products can be found by selecting CargoWise Technical
Guides in the My Account portal, then selecting 4. Integration Options then Overview.

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4.1 E2E
To enable communication between businesses across the global supply chain, E2E offers out-of-
the-box electronic data integration between two users of CW and is a fast, simple and low-cost
solution.

The sending agent will need to setup E2E to trigger the transmission of data into the receiving
agent’s CW environment. In order to configure E2D messaging, the Customer is required to have
a good understanding of Workflow and the operational modules within CW. They can be referred
to WiseLearning units for additional information or engage a WiseService Partner to assist them
with the setup of E2E.

While there are no mapping or development costs for using E2E, it is important that the customer
understands the recipient of the message, and not the sender, is responsible for the associated
messaging costs because the recipient gets the business value from not having to rekey the
data.

You don’t need to contact WiseTech Global in order to set up E2E between yourself and
another CW user. The E2E How To document and videos explaining how to set up E2E
messaging can be found using the search facility of our My Account web portal. To access
the My Account web portal, log into CargoWise One and select Help >
myaccount.cargowise.com from the bottom of the main CargoWise One page.

4.2 eHub (Client Specific) Interface

Advanced electronic integration is vital for a strong supply chain, but many smaller businesses
lack the in-house expertise to make the most of the technology. Our eHub Client Specific team is
able to provide a simple, flexible solution by building a bespoke integration to connect CW users
with their trading partners and customers.

eHub messaging interfaces are available in most industry-supported message formats and
transport protocols. The CW user will need to specify their interfacing requirements and provide
file specifications and sample files. WiseTech Global will manage the project from analysis to
delivery, handling the setup of connections, mapping the electronic data provided by the
customer in their own format to our Universal or Native XML, and providing ongoing support.

And because all eHub messages are hosted in our global data centres, CW users have the
security of knowing their connections are safe, stable, and reliable.

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 eHub supports:

• an extensive range of standard data exchange formats including UN/EDIFACT, ANSI X12,
XML, CSV, Flat-file, etc.
• various communication protocols such as AS1, AS2, AS3, FTP (self hosted only), Secure
FTP (self hosted only), POP3, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP, Web Services, EDI, VANs, etc.
• customized file formats and communication protocols.

In order to discuss your requirement for WiseTech Global to build you a client specific eHub
interface, please raise an incident in CW describing your requirement or contact your
Relationship Manager.

4.3 eAdaptor
If the CW user has access to a team of software developers with strong technical and CW
expertise, they could use the WiseTech Global eAdaptor Sample Interfaces to develop and
maintain their own self-managed integration between CW and other internal or external systems
or trading partners.

The customer will map their existing data format to our Universal or Native XML, then use the
tools provided in the eAdaptor Sample Interfaces and associated documentation to build a
connection between their middleware and CW.

eAdaptor is primarily designed to build a connection between CW and the customer’s

middleware. Middleware is software that enables communication and management of data and
lies between the customer’s primary software system and any other applications. Examples of
popular middleware are Microsoft BizTalk Server, IBM WebSphere and TIBCO Message Broker.
Once a customer has established a connection between CW and their middleware, the customer
can integrate other internal software systems or their partner’s software with their middleware
rather than having to integrate each one directly with CW.

The eAdaptor Sample Interfaces contain sample programs written in C# .Net, and Java and
contain a Visual Studio Solution file (.sln) and two folders containing the eAdaptor Sample Client
for sending XML into CW, and the eAdaptor Sample Service for receiving XML sent from CW.
eAdaptor’s WCF Web Service technology means the Customer can use their preferred protocol
to communicate with full control over messaging middleware.

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 These sample interfaces and technical guides can be found by selecting the CargoWise
Technical Guides in the My Account portal, then selecting 4. Integration Options then
eAdaptor.

If the CW user doesn’t have access to software developers an alternative would be for them to
engage one of our WiseService Partners who could be engaged to build the interfaces for them
using eAdaptor.

For CW users hosted in the cloud, you will need to raise an incident in CW or request via your
Relationship Manager for the eService Web services to be configured in your CW
environment.

Integrating Directly with Partner’s Software Rather Than

Middleware
eAdaptor was primarily designed to build a connection between CW and the customer’s
middleware, the middleware software will in turn enable the customer to maintain multiple,
unrestricted interfaces with other internal software systems or their partner’s software.

Middleware is software that enables communication and management of data and lies
between the customer’s primary software system and any other applications. Examples of
popular middleware are Microsoft BizTalk Server, IBM WebSphere and TIBCO Message Broker.

eAdaptor can be used to directly integrate CW with another software system (without
middleware) as long as the customer is prepared to accept the following:

• If a customer were to allow their partners to directly integrate with their CW environment via
web services without middleware, they would be unable to restrict what areas of their CW the
partner could access.
• If the user were to cease to do business with that partner and wished to close their web
service connection, they would need to re-issue all of their other partners using eAdaptor with
new passwords/usernames, which in turn would require them to employ a developer to make
the necessary changes.
• If the user’s partner were to interface directly with CW environment, the partner would not be
able to use eAdaptor with anyone else.

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Accounting Integration Component
WiseTech Global also provides three specific web services for Accounting transactions:

• Accounting Transaction Export Web Service R3

• Credit Limit Check Web Service
• Invoice Payment Status Web Service

Sample clients and technical guides for these three accounting web services can be found
by selecting the CargoWise Technical Guides in the My Account portal, then selecting 4.
Integration Options then eAdaptor and finally listed under Accounting Integration
Component.

4.4 Advanced Data Automation Wizard

The Advanced Data Automation Wizard includes Mapping, Scripting, Automation, Management,
and Monitoring Tools for the import and export of CSV/TXT/Excel files. It incorporates a powerful
Mapping Engine with Java Scriptlets, Interface Designer, and Error Checker and allows for the
automation of the import/export of files to and from a directly or via email with Delivery Alerts
and Data Error reports function.

In order to begin using the Advanced Data Automation Wizard, please raise an incident in CW
requesting for it to be enabled in your CW environment or contact your Relationship
Manager.

Support: Press the F1 key from anywhere within CargoWise to raise an eRequest.

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