Does Dearman have examples of TAS deploys in Europe and can it cope with European
specific business models (like Load ID in Germany for example)?

Although Dearman Systems had a presence in Europe in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, there are currently no active installations in Europe. However, there are ongoing discussions with potential customers and a systems integrator has approached
Dearman Systems about becoming a Product Marketer/Product Reseller to service the
European market. The Dearman Systems RTG and TAS.net terminal automation solutions are flexible and highly customizable and interface with virtually any third party instrumentation or system that supports an open, published communications protocol. Our preference for an interface to an accounting system, ERP, or other near-real-time order handling/order processing system is a web service via XML. Our technical team would work with their counterparts supporting LOAD ID to develop the interface necessary to handle the European specific business models as necessary.

How does Unity deal with VAT and duty?

Dearman Enterprise Management with UNITY is a complete multi-terminal
data unification platform that enables companies to share data between a central office and any number of terminals. Its core functionality aggregates product movement, product measurement, and order handling from all terminal activity.  Additional UNITY components are available including Contract Management, Pricing, and Customer Invoicing. Those components assign monetary value to terminal activity. Although basic customization and development would be required, the EU VAT and any other local tax situations would be handled in accordance with our client’s business rules within the Contract Management component.

How does Unity deal with customs and excise requirements?

Dearman Enterprise Management with UNITY is a complete multi-terminal
data unification platform that enables companies to share data between a central office and any number of terminals. Its core functionality aggregates product movement, product measurement, and order handling from all terminal activity. Additional UNITY components are available including Contract Management, Pricing, and Customer Invoicing. Those components assign monetary value to terminal activity. Although basic customization and development would be required, the EU VAT and any other local tax situations and excise requirements would be handled in accordance with our client’s business rules within the Contract Management component. Customs documentation and declarations are typically generated in conjunction with BOLs by the RTG and TAS.net terminal automation software.

How does UNITY help me recover terminal data if an on-site server goes down?

UNITY isn’t just a repository for transactional data. Using SQL Merge Replication, all changes that occur in the local RTG or TAS.net database, including terminal configuration changes, entity data changes, order changes, and completed transactions, etc.
are instantly available within the UNITY database. Should a terminal server be destroyed or otherwise rendered useless, a new terminal server can be configured and the database
populated from the configuration data within the UNITY server.

What are common obstacles for centrally unifying terminal data?

Some of the more common obstacles to centrally unifying terminal data include variations in terminal data based on the terminal types and/or the industry served by each terminal in the portfolio, interruptions to communications between a terminal and the “corporate host”, and terminals being automated by various vendors across the portfolio.
Dearman Systems utilizes data normalization procedures to aggregate data from various
terminal types in Dearman’s UNITY platform. Dearman terminal automation systems are
designed and configured to run independent of UNITY. In the event of communication
interruption, updates from UNITY to the terminal and from the terminal to UNITY are
automatically paused. Once communication is reestablished, the two databases resynchronize via SQL Merge Replication. Because Dearman Systems offers different implementations of its terminal automation system tailored to fit the size and scope of the terminal, standardizing on Dearman terminal automation systems across a portfolio, with Dearman’s UNITY platform in the corporate office, is far more economical than one might think.

Does Dearman perform installations remotely?

Yes. In the last 8-10 years, Dearman has performed virtually all implementations remotely. With access to high speed Internet and an on-site electrician/instrumentation technician, we can do everything remotely from configuration, training, and testing, to start up. Remote implementation is just one example of how Dearman Systems lowers costs and increases ROI for its customers.