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International Logistics |
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Picture Perfect Cargo |
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Online Access to Cargo Photos Assures Customers |
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Master Freight America Corp. in Miami ships cargo to Brazil on a regular basis,
including aircraft parts and medical supplies. Their customers know they can
rely on Master Freight to get the documentation and shipment right, and keeping
customers happy is the focus. |
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In the aircraft business, everything is urgent. The cargo details need to be
accurate and done quickly. The Magaya system helps us get shipments done
faster." |
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Master Freight Branch Manager Carlos Bieberach |
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www.masterfreight.com |
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International Logistics |
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Magaya Supply Chain Solution, Magaya LiveTrack |
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Master Freight America Corp. in Miami specializes in transporting airplane parts
and other types of cargo such as medical supplies to di erent destinations,
especially to Brazil. They have 11,000 square feet of warehouse space and o er
packaging services and an in-house customs broker. |
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Master Freight America Corp. in Miami is a small but very organized o ce of 12
employees that ships a lot of volume for its size. To manage their warehousing
and shipment needs, they started using a software program but then turned to
Magaya when they outgrew the other program.
“I fought to get Magaya in our o ces and warehouse,” Branch manager Carlos
Bieberach said. “We had another program, but it wasn’t working very well for us.
So I convinced the owner, Oswaldo Mesquita, to use Magaya because he doesn’t
like headaches, and when we use Magaya, we don’t have any headaches.”
“Customers want their cargo details to be accurate,” Mr. Bieberach said. “In the
aircraft business, everything is urgent. The cargo details need to be accurate
and done quickly. The Magaya system helps us get shipments done faster.”
They learned about Magaya software from a nearby company that uses it. “The
branch manager showed it to me. We needed a system that could handle our
growth.” Not only did they need new software, Master Freight needed more o ce
and warehouse space . They moved to their current building from a smaller place
about three years ago.
“Shipments increased from about 60 shipments per month when I started in 2000.
When we reached 100 per month, we were excited. Now we handle 800 to 1,000 per
month.”
Master Freight was opened in Brazil in 1989 by Oswaldo Mesquita. In 1999 he
moved from Brazil to the US and started Master Freight America Corp. Their rst
warehouse was less than half the size of the one they use today. In 2003 Mr.
Mesquita purchased additional warehousing space to expand the business. He
selected Miami because it is a hub for Latin America, and he travels to Brazil
regularly. The Miami warehouse and o ce is located in Doral, less than three
miles from Miami International Airport and minutes from the Port of Miami.
The Miami branch of Master Freight ships general cargo, including aircraft
parts. They ship 24/7 in Aircraft On Ground (AOG) situations. Aircraft parts
account for approximately 70% of their business. Package sizes range from
envelopes or small boxes for bolts to large crates holding engine parts. Odd
shaped items include rolls of carpet. Other cargo they ship regularly is medical
supplies, including lab equipment, surgery equipment and vaccines or medicines
that need to be kept refrigerated.
They send most of their shipments to Guarulhos airport, Brazil’s busiest
airport, and Viracopos airport, which is about 60 miles from Sao Paulo. A ight
from Miami to either airport takes approximately eight hours. Both airports are
undergoing renovations to speed up processing of flights, as well as prepare for
the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Brazil.
Their Brazil o ce is ISO 9001:2000 certi ed and manages the customs clearance
requirements for the cargo and documents so that the shipments can get the
Import License number that is needed. Not having the correct documentation can
incur nes. The Magaya software contains trade documents and the option to
customize them. |
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Even though the weather is hot most of the year in Miami and everyone at Master
Freight in the warehouse and o ce is busy, they are cool, calm and collected,
working on their Magaya software at their desks or in the warehouse.
 Mr. Bieberach said Magaya software is easy to get started with. “The system is
really friendly,” he said. “All we needed was the initial training, and we used
the online tutorials which are easy to use. The system is so friendly, anybody
can use it.”
Mr. Bieberach’s o ce and desk is very well organized and clean. No piles of
papers or stacks of documents. Everything is neatly led or laid out in order.
There are invoices printed from the Magaya program, checks printed, and more.
One of the features they use to help manage the shipments is the Tasks feature.
They use the Tasks feature both in the warehouse and in the o ce. “We send tasks
to the handheld units so the warehouse sta knows what cargo to load. We also
use the tasks in the o ce in Brazil to ask them to check an Air Waybill to make
sure it is correct; they check the address, the rates, etc. Then they let us
know it is okay, and we print it and send it.”
In the warehouse, they inspect and photograph all the cargo such as airplane
parts as they come in. They record the serial number and attach the photos and
other documents to the Warehouse Receipts. “We needed to scan the photos and
other documents for the Warehouse Receipts, so we suggested this feature to the
Magaya team, and now it is part of the software.”
They use handheld scanners running the Magaya WMS application to scan the cargo
and record the locations of it on the racks. They also print the labels and
place them on the boxes.
They can repack or palletize cargo before loading and shipping by using the
Magaya WMS. The bar codes on the boxes and pallets help reduce errors because
even if the wrong box is picked up, the scanner will tell you it is the wrong
box. If two Warehouse Receipt numbers are similar, the scanner reads it
correctly while human error could cause a number to be read incorrectly and then
the wrong box could get shipped. “Using the scanners prevents a lot of errors,
making the shipping more secure and faster.”
The warehouse sta at Master Freight America Corp. in Miami also uses the
handhelds to move cargo from one part of the warehouse to another. The handhelds
scan the bar codes on the rack and the items to record the new locations for the
items. They also use the handhelds to ship cargo out.
“We determine the routes based on what the customer wants and if we need to ship
it via a passenger or cargo ight.” Then they use the air consolidation wizards
in the software to add the routing details, shipment charges, and other
necessary information.
After creating the shipment in the software, the shipment status is available
online via Magaya LiveTrack. “It’s easy for our agents and customers to use,”
Mr. Bieberach said. “They can see what they have, what is shipped – they can see
everything, including the photographs and documents. It’s great.”
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Future plans for Master Freight include adding Magaya software in more of the
o ces in Brazil. Brazil is the top trading partner with Miami in terms of value
of cargo shipped and is third in terms of weight, according to the Miami-Dade
Aviation Cargo Hub Report 2008-2009. “Currently some of our o ces in Brazil use
Magaya, but it would be easier to receive imports from Brazil if they have the
same software,” Mr. Bieberach said. “That will be great; then we will be
integrated. Meanwhile, when we receive an import from an o ce that is not using
Magaya, we have to type in all the shipment data.”
Master Freight America Corp. just purchased a new 48,000 square-foot warehouse
in Miami, and they will be moving there in the early part of 2010. They may also
increase their aircraft parts business, and maybe add inventory and a wholesale
division. But they do not want to grow too much; Mr. Bieberach explained. “The
small team is a bene t because everyone knows what is happening and is in touch
with the processes. Keeping things simple, clean, and organized is better.”
“I think Magaya is great. It does the job,” Mr. Bieberach said. “Customers are
impressed with the system when they log into the tracking and can view
photographs of their merchandise and view the documents in actual form.
Everybody here is super happy with it.” |
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