AndyKnas

About AndyKnas

Owner at NRG Software

How to turn today’s megatrends into tomorrow’s advantages: Register NOW for this UPS event on November 12

November 12
Thursday, 1:00 p.m. EST
Sign up now for the final webinar in our Be Unstoppable™ series: Five Megatrends Impacting Your Small Business.

Our experts, Erik Stephansson, UPS Director of Market Research and Global Customer Insights, Ayana Green, UPS Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Vignesh Anandan, UPS Senior Marketing Manager of Global Customer Insights, and Archana Vidyasekar, Research Director at Frost & Sullivan’s Visionary Innovation Group, will share results from our recent survey about the megatrends transforming small business today, along with actions your business can start taking to:

  • Gain more customers
  • Streamline your supply chain
  • Become more competitive
  • Reduce business risks

We’ll also talk about UPS solutions that can help your business thrive as you adjust to these accelerating trends.

 

Register Now

2020-11-10T10:59:45+00:00November 10th, 2020|General|

Turn an unprecedented peak into unprecedented success: Get Holiday Tips from FedEx

Between managing your customers’ expectations, safety and the rising demand for buying holiday gifts and essentials online, planning for this unprecedented peak season can make your head spin.

But it’s also a chance at unprecedented success. Industry experts and retailers share ten tips for getting a head start, from promotions and inventory to scheduling shipping for on-time delivery, all with the superior customer experience that builds year-round customer-loyalty.

Get Holiday Tips

2020-11-10T10:57:47+00:00November 10th, 2020|Tools & Tips|

Let us help you harness the power of APIs with Claris FileMaker Pro

While our primary development efforts at NRG revolve around shipping and carrier APIs, we often assist other Claris developers with projects related to other APIs. With our knowledge of XML and JSON creation and parsing, we can often provide assistance to jumpstart web service integrations and save you considerable time and effort. Contact our sales department for more information on our development services.

ShipStation APIs

We recently did a projet where a customer was implementing NRGship for Endicial Label Server to replace label generation thru ShipStation. The customer wanted to maintain their existing multi-channel order downloads in ShipStation for the time being, but wanted more finite control over label generation from FileMaker which we were able to quickly add to their solution. Their existing workflow consisted of manually downloading orders (TXT) from ShipStation and importing into their FileMaker ERP each day. The ShipStation order download only provided limited data. In order to update tracking information in ShipStation, we needed the order’s internal ID which was not provided in the download. By implementing ShipStation APIs to search for orders, we were able to get the internal ID, and afterwards utilize that ID to update the order and add the appropriate tracking information. We later added code to download orders directly from ShipStation to remove the manual process.

Acuity Scheduling

We responded to a post on FaceBook where a member of the FileMaker community was looking to access their appointment data from the web based Accuity Scheduling system from their FileMaker database. We created a simple database using Insert from URL that would query appointment data and then add or update records in the FileMaker table based on the query result. In addition, another function was created to download client data from Accuity so that it could be used as a Source of Truth for customer information.

Veryfi Invoice Data

We helped another developer who was looking to utlilize the Veryfi API to extract data from PDF invoices. We built scripts which would encode and upload a PDF document from a container field, and then parse out the invoice and line item data from the JSON into FileMaker records.

2020-10-04T11:28:42+00:00October 4th, 2020|Case Studies, General|

Webinar: Business Insights from Earvin “Magic” Johnson

Hear Magic Johnson’s insights on business, perseverance, and achievement.

What does it take to win both on and off the court? Nobody can answer that question better than former NBA Legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson. In this exclusive VIP event, Magic Johnson goes one-on-one with Gerard Gibbons, UPS President of Small Business and U.S. Marketing, to talk about facing obstacles, achieving goals, and what it takes for your business to survive and thrive during these difficult times.

Thursday, September 17
1:00 p.m. EDT

Click here to learn more

2020-09-15T09:37:24+00:00September 15th, 2020|General|

How to process USMCA shipments with NRGship

This article is current as of July 2020. It will be updated as we receive new information from our carrier partners.

 

As of July 1st, 2020, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Some shipments that cross the borders of these countries may require special import forms.

For USMCA details and forms, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection USMCA page. For NAFTA information, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection NAFTA page.

UPS

Currently the UPS Developer Kit APIs do not support the new USMCA forms for automated processing.  You will need to produce your own USMCA forms and apply them to the outside of packages. You can find more information on USMCA and a sample form for UPS shipments using this link.

FedEx

Currently the FedEx Shipment APIs do not support the new USMCA forms for automated processing.  You will need to produce your own USMCA forms and apply them to the outside of packages. You can find more information on USMCA and a sample form for FedEx shipments using this link. We are working on an update where you can attach a PDF version of the FedEx form to your shipment.

 

2020-07-30T10:54:44+00:00July 30th, 2020|FileMaker Shipping, Mac Shipping, Tools & Tips|

Learn to streamline your supply chain with iDrive

iDrive’s team of experts has phenomenal depth and knowledge in small parcel consulting and optimization. They help our clients see through the murky waters of their carrier agreements to find hidden savings as well enhancing visibility of their respective supply chains. The case study below shows how iDrive helped one of their client’s reduce parcel costs by 17.4%.

Overview
Client is a major Office Supply and Furniture Distributor with shipments to customers throughout the United States. The client’s transportation encompasses parcel shipments, many of which are bulky and unwieldy due to the nature of the contents. Business is driven through customer satisfaction, where important factors include cost and reliability. They had experienced challenges in establishing procurement credibility with both carriers in the past, which combined with the shipment characteristics present made for a non-competitive transportation procurement environment.

Challenge
1. Establish credibility with both carriers to create a competitive bid environment.
2. Reduce overall parcel shipping costs.
3. Lay the groundwork for future competitive transportation procurement.

Solutions
iDrive Logistics performed a detailed analysis of the historical parcel distribution data, including carrier agreements. The Client was a long-time customer of UPS, and had struggled to bring FedEx to the table in the past. This had created a procurement environment devoid of competition among carriers, resulting in wide leverage for UPS and poor pricing performance for the them. iDrive provided quantitative analysis and contract procurement coaching, with the goals of providing a credible business case to draw FedEx to the table, credibly conveying to UPS that risk of business loss existed, and ultimately reducing parcel costs and enhancing service provided by the chosen carrier.

Results
As a result of iDrive’s advisory services, the Client exceeded the original objectives. Both carriers produced quality proposals which led to a contract representing a 17.4% annual reduction in parcel spend, and laid the groundwork for future competitive bids. Credibility with both carriers was enhanced, costs were reduced substantially, and the Client is well-positioned for future transportation procurement and additions of addenda throughout the current contract term.

To save money and streamline your supply chain, reach out to iDrive’s representative below:

Joe Nevans
VP – Business Development
Mobile: 503.960.6844
Office: 720.573.8995
jnevans@idrivelogistics.com
www.idrivelogistics.com

2020-07-20T14:29:02+00:00July 20th, 2020|General|

Claris Engage 2020

Claris Engage 2020 is around the corner. It’s different than what they envisioned, their first ever virtual conference experience, as they honor 25 years of community and collaboration. Over two days they will discuss topics such as Driving Customers towards Modern Design Excellence, Developers Making a Difference and Looking Ahead to Emerging Technology.

Please register today if you haven’t already since space may be limited for some sessions. Then join us on August 4 and 5 as we connect with the Claris Community, meet the Claris leadership team, and learn about the future of digital transformation. Browse the two-day schedule and featured speaker bios now, and register to reserve your seat for any sessions you’d like to attend.

Don’t forget the conference is virtual and free to attend, so please sign up for #ClarisEngage2020 soon: https://community.claris.com/en/s/engage

We will miss chatting with our customers at this event but are making available our Trade Show Kit upon request.

NRG will also be holding our weekly FileMaker Integration Demo at 11:30a PST on Wednesday August 5th.

2020-07-20T14:27:40+00:00July 20th, 2020|FileMaker Shipping, General|

UPS Webinar: Preparing for Holiday Returns

“Get your business ready for the uncertainties of peak returns season”

July 23, Thursday at 1:00 p.m. EDT

During the 2019 holiday season, 66% of consumers returned a holiday gift. Normally, that peak in returns gives retailers plenty to deal with. But 2020 has not been a normal year. With consumer shopping habits shifting to e-commerce and experts predicting ongoing spikes of the Coronavirus this fall, this holiday season could provide even more challenges than usual.

To help your business get ready for the upcoming peak returns season, join David Sisco, UPS Director, Global E-Commerce Strategy, and Ken Lim, Optoro, SVP of Client Development, for our insightful webinar: Preparing for Holiday Returns During the Coronavirus.

We’ll discuss the questions that are on every retailer’s mind right now, including:
• What changes should you expect during the upcoming holiday returns season?
• How would another peak in coronavirus affect the peak returns season?
• How do you make the returns process easier online and safer in-store?
• What measures can you take now to be ready to process and resell more returns?
• What are other retailers doing to prepare for this year’s uncertainties?

REGISTER NOW

2020-07-20T14:25:59+00:00July 20th, 2020|General|
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