Over the past few years the concept of dealing with all parties via e-mail has well and truly taken hold to the extent that users are inconvenienced by having to fax, for example, Purchase Orders received, Letters of Credit, Bills of Lading, Certificates of Origin etc.

The only way these can be sent by e-mail is to use a PC scanner, create files and attach them to an e-mail.

We were developing a routine which produces files, from which we can produce e-mail attachment files. A facility has been added to allow the storage, within a Formwise consignment, of the file names and location of document(s) scanned and stored in BMP format. (NB The BMP file format is not the smallest of file formats but this can be optimised by ensuring that the scan is a monochrome file, and to the smallest possible resolution). You will find that there is a directory off the main FORMWISE directory called BMPDATA and this is where you can store all these document scans to make them available to all users in a network situation.

It is then possible to use the Formwise system to "print" to a PDF format file, which can then be attached to an e-mail.

The storage of the file names of the BMP format document scans is stored on a tab titled Images, on the Browse/Amend consignments screen. These can be entered in the standard way of entering multiple items in a consignment. Printing them to e-mail attachment files is done in the standard way on the Most Common documents tab, where at the bottom you will find a set of documents titled Scans, via a document titled Images. The file name in the nominated directory, usually c:\temp, will be a combination of the consignment reference, plus the words scans and images and the number of the record within the consignment.

Ultimately this leads to a situation where a consignment's documents, including those created outside the Formwise system, can be distributed to all interested parties, eg Letter of Credit to forwarder, and bill of lading to consignee etc., and also be viewed entirely on the screen from within the system.

Please don't forget that these files in the BMPDATA directory now form part of your data, and you should ensure that you, if using a single-user system, or your network administrator if using a multi-user system, back up these files on a regular basis. If you need help on this please contact us on the support line.

Using a PDF creator as the printer does have one significant advantage in that in this type of file multiple of documents are created as pages within the one file, almost like a book, and with their compact size, delivery should be quick and acceptable, as most people have an Acrobat Reader installed

If you would like to take advantage of these opportunities, then please contact the Support Line.

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