Software and Tools for Dangerous Goods Management / Hazardous Material

Production, handling, storage and transporting of dangerous goods are subject to many regularly changing, national and international rules and regulations. Most of these rules and regulations have a direct impact on logistic processes, related documentation and reporting requirements.

As these rules and regulations can differ between countries, and in some cases even between states or communities, the challenges for the industry are numerous. On the one hand you would like a minimum impact on your processes, and on the other hand you want to be in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations. This means you must be able to prepare all the required reports and transport documents, have all article-related documentation – like a material data safety sheet (MSDS)– up to date and on hand, and make sure that you have your workplace instructions, product labelling and safety measures in place.

On top of that, you have to be aware of differences between the various regulations as, for instance, goods can be dangerous according to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), but not dangerous for transport under one of the regulations for the Transport of Dangerous goods. Likewise, you can have goods which are dangerous for one transport modality but not for another. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on the logistics and related transport documentation.

Adding dangerous goods logistics solutions to existing back office systems like warehouse management systems (WMS), customer relation management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions can create a lot of additional value to these systems, but can also cause a lot of problems – both financial and operational – if the options are not clear and integration is not managed well.

From experience, we have learned that there are basically three options to implement these solutions, and in this article description – as well as positive and negative aspects of each option – will be given.
 
The separate Solution
In this setup there is basically no connection between the back office system and the dangerous goods solution. The user processes the orders as usual in the back office system and the switches to the dangerous goods solution. This solution can be a software package offered by several suppliers either locally installed on computers, on the company’s intranet, or accessed via the internet. Also, the good old ‘copy and paste’ solution is still used on many occasions whereby a Word or Excel template is completed with information typed in from the regulations.

The order data is entered in the solution and documents are generated accordingly.
Depending on the solution, there are options for checking several issues like segregation requirements, mixed packing provisions, verification of required information, emergency response information etc.

Also depending on the solution, prepared documents are stored within the solution and/or exported in printed and digital format. Options may be available to export the document data for re-use in the back office system, or creation of statistical information to fulfil reporting requirements which may be required by some rules or regulations.

The benefit of a separate solution is the speed of implementation: for instance, a solution the can be accessed via the internet can be set up in a very short time without the need of IT staff to interfere as long as access to the internet is possible. The costs are also known in advance

The negative side of a separate solution is the double work in data entry, the different locations where data is stored, and the issue of connecting, for example, shipment data from the back office system to the dangerous goods solution and vice versa.

A separate solution could well work in situations where a small number of dangerous goods shipments a week are processed, or in situations where IT support is not at hand or too expensive to realise one of the other solutions. It could also serve as a basis to realize the connected solution in due time.
 
The connected solution
This setup connects a dangerous goods logistics solution to the back office systems.

The actual shipments are prepared as usual in the back office system, but the required documentation and/or dangerous goods-related information is processed in the separate remote dangerous goods logistics solution.

The interface connecting the two systems is running in the background and is triggered by user-initiated actions on the back office system. This can be anything from a new order to a simple change in the status of a shipment. The user does not have to take additional actions, other than collecting the processed documents from the printer, the email system or any specified file location.

A remote server solution should be capable of offering the following solutions:

• automatic generation of dangerous goods declarations for shipments in any mode of transport
• printing the declarations on any printer defined in the user’s network
• preparation of the declarations in PDF or XML format (e-freight ready)
• adding (version-controlled) documents like MSDS or handling instructions to declarations based on customer requirements.
• instant or batch order processing.

In general, a typical order processing system works with articles. These articles have a unique identifier, such as the article number. All other objects specified for a single article are linked to the article number on database level. For example the trade name, pricing, location, stock, and so on. When a customer orders a quantity of a specific article, the user will only have to enter the article number and the order quantity. Everything else is automatically added from the connected database.

The dangerous goods logistics system has a similar setup, but for dangerous goods only. The database is built around unique identifiers. Selecting a specific ID will make all related data available.
 
Article classification
Key in a connected solution is the connection between the article number in the order system and the ID used for the dangerous goods data. This so-called article classification can be done in two ways. The first option is to maintain all information in the order processing system, meaning a complete set of dangerous goods information (including the key) needs to reside in the system. The dangerous goods key needs to be assigned to the article based on the characteristics of the article (see MSDS). Also, the chemical and/or technical name (if required), type of packaging and required quantity need to be defined.

The second option is that the article classification is handled entirely by the dangerous goods logistics solution, whereby the article numbers from the back office system are loaded in the solution and the article classification is completed using the solution itself.

Connecting and processing data
Once the order is ready and shipment papers need to be made, the back office system needs to generate a message to the dangerous goods logistics system. This message needs to be drawn up in the specific format for the chosen solution. If there is no message generator tool available in your back office system, this requires additional programming.

The message contains the shipper and consignee information, the method of transport required, as well as the article information and/or the dangerous goods key. Depending on the way article classification is handled, additional information might be needed.

In the message, the type of output and where it should be delivered is specified. For example, the declarations can be sent to a local or a remote printer. Messages can be processed instantly or stored for batch processing.
 
Generating results
The dangerous goods logistics system will generate the required information or documentation as specified in the message. If the articles are maintained in the solution, it will take all relevant information from there.

An interesting option is to utilise document management modules if they are available. Here, additional documentation like MSDSs, handling Information or workplace instructions, can be connected to your articles and printed along with the declarations when required. When version control is available, you can also make sure your customer will automatically receive the latest version of these documents.

Another option is the use of web services that might be available in the dangerous goods logistics system, which can be used to retrieve information or checks back into the back office system and as such create the option to do a storage segregation check at the moment of receiving goods in the warehouse, present packing and labeling information to the packers etc.

The major advantage of a connected solution is the addition of dangerous goods-specific information and documentation to the back office system without the need to keep all data in the system. Also, the user of the back office system will not notice a difference besides the changes that might be made in the back office system and of course the automatic creation of documentation and/or information pages.

Another plus is the time that is saved with the maintenance of the dangerous goods data as this is handled by the supplier of the system, and the automatic production of documentation based on the input from the back office system so no need for double work.

In general, the experience is that a connected solution can be realised in a short timeframe. The total time required depends on the wishes and the availability of IT support to the back office system.

Negative points can be the need of IT support and/or developers, as the connections need to be made with the back office system. Also the choice of where the actual article classification takes place has effect on the work to be done in the back office system.

Costs can also be unpredictable. However, the costs for the dangerous goods logistics solution are mostly transparent. The changes required in the back office system can cause some serious increase in costs if it is not clear what the needs and wishes are before the work starts.

The same is even more important when talking about the third option.

The integrated solution
This is more or less the ultimate solution whereby all data and processes, as described in the separate and connected solutions, are integrated into the back office system.

Some providers of back office systems offer modules or extensions that contain (parts of) the dangerous goods logistics solution, but in most cases the user will have to add data and /or functionality to realise the desired solution.

The most important issue in this setup is the availability and consistency of the dangerous goods-related data which is needed for the whole system to run on. This requires a thorough planning and inventory of the minimum needs, the operational requirements, and perhaps additional wishes that need to be incorporated in the final solution.

Based on that inventory, the dataset needs to be designed and structures need to be developed. In this phase the designer should be aware that the rules and regulations are dynamic and can change on any particular moment resulting in additional data or the need for a structure change in the databases.

Also in this phase a decision will need to be made as to who will be responsible for the data. Will it be own staff filling the structures or will it be a third party? In both cases, fixed routines will be required to make sure the data integrity stays intact.

The negative side of this setup is budgeting. As already indicated, regulations and rules change and do not take into consideration that you are in the middle of designing a solution. So during the development, changes can be implemented which cause delays and increases in costs. Also, changing wishes and requests for additional functionality during the design and development process could drag a project on and on. Hence planning and firm time frames are essential.

The big benefit is that the final solution can be as perfect as possible for your situation and can generate tremendous additional value.

Herman Teering
Managing Director
DGM Software Development Group A/S
www.dgm-sdg.com