STP Information Services Limited said it has developed solutions that will enthrone ICT in the transportation sector in Nigeria with the launching of TRANSPRONG software.
Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek in his office, Nnaemeka Udenwagu, managing director and chief executive officer of the Company said that the solution is being pioneered by Cisco Transport, thereby eliminating the paper era in the sector and plug financial leakages, especially to the third parties.
He said: “We have two solutions: one for courier another for the transport sector. The solution for the transport is called TRANSPRONG. Cisco Transport is the pioneer company using the Transprong.
The application manages their operations nationwide-the branches, accounts, gas session, marketing, operations, stores, workshop, human resources, debit card management and booking/ticketing. It manages their online presence. The passengers can book online which interfaces with the portal from the backend.
“The simplified solution enables the passengers to log in from more than 30 branches across the country including Ghana. As the tickets are purchased manifests are prepared alongside; thereby eliminating the paper era in the transport sector where even companies lose a lot of resources to third parties.
The coherence the solution accords the company adopting it is that when the operations are done with their computation, the levels of supervisions and management chain makes it possible that resources leakages are plugged.
“It accords the company proper documentation and archiving of their records, promptly. For instance I want to look at what happened in Ghana today I will only visit the all branches icons and start searching for all the information you need down to the individual passenger. In fact, it is a revolution happening in the transport sector in Nigeria. It is high time companies shift from the conventional to the innovations, because ICT makes life easy”.
Elaborating on the benefits, Udenwagu said that, it removes human interference, whether it is deliberate, malicious, or mistakes.
“When you automate you are standardizing the processes. It eliminates the challenges inherent in the conventional means of doing things, not just in transport sector; it is a general phenomenon.
“When the system is automated even a novice becomes relevant in the sense that the simplicity of the solution requires just a little training for one to master its manipulations. Part of the problems in the industry has been the erroneous believe that hence the conventional ways has been the dictation of the processes, it cannot be changes. But change is something that is constant. When you automate, the software takes over. Even a fresh graduate can handle it, but if you do not have a system in place, someone who has been in the system for 30 years can never beat the power of the IT.
“Also, you are assured of recouping your investment on the system; it will definitely plug other avenues through which you have been losing revenue. For instance, the tickets are sold from the software; no body tells you story, no diversion of resources, because the records will always be there. Even if you are doing a promo it has to be an authorized discount”.
On the aspect of the manifest, he said that apart from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) making it compulsory that transport companies print them out before departure, the security challenges in the country has heightened the expediency of adopting such solution. “Now, it is not when you have finished collecting money that people will start filling the manifest. No! It has to be processed alongside the booking and ticket collection. And the security challenges in Nigeria demand we start keeping documents on deals with people, especially a transport firm that interface with people on daily basis”.
The MD pointed out that the solution will cue the industry into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) cashless economy. He said that Passengers can conveniently book at the comfort of their rooms with their smartphones.
“So manipulations, accusation and counter accusations must have been eliminated and the transport terminals would have turned to a place of decorum,” he added.
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