task performance group
Providing Customized logistics Solutions

The global logistics industry has metamorphosed predominantly and now plays a vital role in global economic activity of recent years. Communication along with cooperation is important in a logistics environment. In this backdrop, with his penchant to be ahead of the technology learning curve, Mushtaq Merchant, President at Task Performance Group, could comprehend the need for a product that helps customers to compete in the logistics space. “In early 1999, we transitioned from a consulting company to a product development company by combining innovative technologies with stringent Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to produce flexible B2B e-Commerce software integration solutions called MegaXML,” says Mushtaq Merchant, President, Task Performance Group (TPG).

MegaXML is offered as software as a service, allowing TPG to build customized integration logistic solutions for each client. For most products available in the market, the customer has to adapt to the product, whereas at TPG, “Since MegaXML is designed using XML we can analyze and adapt the customer’s supply chain business rules right at the start of the customization process,” says Merchant. Every EDI and EDI for Administration, Commerce and Transport, (EDIFACT) message and transactions that enter MegaXML, is completely translated into XML. Real- Time Integration with SAP “By using the right technologies, we have transformed the stringent EDI pipe and made it flexible to enable easy adaption of customers’ business rules for customized logistic solutions,” explains Merchant.

MegaXML brings in manifold benefits on the automation and logistics eliminating multiple touch points, and thereby minimizing the need for frequent human interventions. For instance, for a customer who wanted a real-time order processing system, TPG’s MegaXML B2B E-commerce real-time order processing with SAP proved to be an extremely efficient solution.

“When a buyer orders a product, the EDI process in our system sends out the buyer’s purchase details— part number, the price, and the number of parts to the SAP system and extracts the order execution part of it from SAP and returns that to the buyer. Within two seconds an order number assigned from SAP is delivered to the buyer,” adds Merchant. For this rapid response, TPG has powerful multiple servers readily available.

Toward this TPG has developed a digital dashboard for its operations that display information on how many servers are busy and if there is a queue building up. Even before the customer realizes, TPG receives an updated visual every two minutes, on the activities happening in all the servers and processors to respond in realtime. “The dashboard enables us to check on the real-time information to detect anomalies in order to react proactively by using the right technologies,” says Merchant. There is always a strong backbone behind every successful product and solution, in case of MegaXML, it is the Architecture and Telemetry.

By using the right technologies, we have transformed the stringent EDI pipe and made it flexible to enable easy adaption of customers’ business rules for customized logistic solutions

Merchant and his team believe in adopting technologies to provision quick answers to customers, based on the knowledge received from their systems to help customers with the processes they have. Going forward, TPG will be focusing on real time order processing system for the new products. In an era where prime Air—the future delivery system from Amazon is set to take wings through a drone, “The renewed challenge for us is to execute an order at a faster rate and take the product to the next level of innovation,” concludes Merchant.