DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERIZED CARGO TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

This project was out of the necessity to address the inherent problems encountered by members of staff of super maritime shipping Agency and their customers.
The manual process involved in the management of cargo were critical examined and the flows noted. The software so designed offers to a great extent, the solutions to these problems. The project went further to the different techniques used in implementing the newly design software in order to facilitate a broader understanding of the design software by any user.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The management of Cargo in Nigeria has over the years attracted poor patronage as a result of errors inherent in the system. It is no longer a new thing that loss of customers’ goods is now the order of the day, the reasons are not far-fetched. Due to this manual procedure involved in Cargo management, clients have no other option than to be at the mercy of these error prone procedures. Members of staff of supper maritime one to the registered shipping agencies and a subsidiary of Nigerian ports plc cannot provide their goods that is the nature of the method used in calculating the tonnage to know the amount of money to pay as cargo fees. The method of information storage in the company is poor. This limits the number of official documents accessible by the customers because the system is not capable of managing old items of information which could be of use to be customer of anytime. There is little or no security control system where the customers’ goods, document and classified information of the customer could be safe guarded from unauthorized access.

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The loopholes existing in the management of cargo under the suspicious of Nigerian ports plc and super maritime and the subsequent solutions to these existing problems were the driving force in undertaken this project or study.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aims and objectives of this study is to design and implement a computerized cargo transportation management system that will among other thing, make provision for a detailed breakdown of the customers weight of the goods / Cargo, quick retrieval and display of information pertaining to the client. Provisions is also made to check fraud and other criminal acts carried out by both parties involved in the transaction and this lead to security and control. Also another aim of this study is to provide a system that will manage the customer’s document from the port of loading to the port of discharge with his on ground there will be no conflict between the port of loading and port of discharge.

1.4 SCOPE OF DELIMITATIONS
This study is restricted to the full operations of Nigerian ports plc and super maritime shipping company.

1.5 ASSUMPTIONS
It is assumed that the new system will do the following:
a. the new system will create room for the client to know all th necessary facts about the vessel, mat is, the name of the vessel, the Nationality of the vessel and the voyage number with in the he shortest possible time so that transactions will be an easy task for the two parties involved.
b. The know the actual port of discharge and port of loading so that the two ports will create no conflict or confusion for the client as regard the documents to be signed and counter signed by the client. For example, the bill of loading.
c. The new system will create an avenue where by the measurement and Gross weight of the cargo will be known and the commensurate fees to be paid.
d. The new system will also make all the on-line operations carried out in cargo management in supper maritime and Nigerian ports plc an easy task for official and staff of both establishment.

1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Cargo : Goods carried in a ship
Shipping: The acts of transportation goods by ship
Tonnage: A measure of the capacity of a ship (1 ton = 100 cubic feet.
Port: A place where ships load and unload cargo shelter from storms
Vessel: This is a ship for transport by water.
Bill of loading: This is a list giving details of a ships cargo
Consignee: This is a person or company to who in goods are send from the country of export and who receives them.
Manifest: A list of cargo on a ship
Wharf: A list of cargo on a ship
Berth: A place for a ship to be tied up in a harbor or anchored.
Port of loading: A place where ships load cargo and leaves for the destination point
Port of discharge: A place where ships unload cargo flow port especially a port or loading.
Harbor: an area of water protected from the open sea by land or walls, in which ships can shelter.
Agency: this is an organization authored to act for another.
Freight: term applied to goods being transported, it is also the term for the charge made for transporting the goods.
Buddy: A floating object fixed to the bottom of the sea, a rival etc to make a place that is dangerous for boats or to show where boats may go.

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