cieTrade Systems, Inc.
cieTrade is a global provider of commodity trading and recycling software. We offer business management and inventory solutions specifically for international trading houses, pulp and paper brokers, and commercial recycling plants. Our complete end-to-end solution helps unlock business potential and drives growth by maximizing productivity, improving inventory and cost controls, and providing greater insight for confident decision making. Our clients` success starts with a support team rooted in the recycling and forest products industries, providing in-depth knowledge of operations and finance, and best practices to help our clients maximize their investment.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Software vendor
- Industry Type:
- Material Recycling
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1999
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
Please, visit the following links for more info:
About Us
We provide specialized software to help trading and recycling companies maximize performance and drive business success.
What We Do
cieTrade is a global provider of commodity trading and recycling software. We offer business management and inventory solutions specifically for international trading houses, pulp and paper brokers, and for commercial recycling plants. From the start, we have been focused on understanding the needs and the evolving challenges faced by our clients and provide leading edge software solutions that would help them work smarter, operate more effectively, and overcome the demands and regulatory challenges in todays’ difficult markets.
Our Story:
cieTrade was launched in 1999 but our story really begins a few years earlier as an idea discussed over lunch between Richard Hamilton and David Haber.
As the controller for a rapidly growing paper & recycling company, Rich was under pressure to secure a line of credit and get control of the operation. But running the business on spreadsheets and with paper trade tickets made it tough to compile data and get timely reports without spending hours of work. He considered having an associate create a custom database program to address some of his needs. However creating a custom system proved to be more difficult and time consuming than he anticipated and still did not address many of his needs.
So, Rich did what a lot of companies do when they can’t find software for their business: he looked into having a consultant customize an existing accounting or ERP package. At first, this approach seemed promising. He would be working with experienced professionals using an established platform that would avoid the risks of building something in house.
After reviewing the proposed modifications, Rich quickly realized that the rigid nature of accounting software wasn’t going to provide the flexibility he needed to handle the dynamics of the trading business and would be difficult for his end-users to work with. Also, it wasn’t going to easily support critical functions like matching revenue against expense accruals by load, vital for calculating profits and commissions, without clunky workarounds. Then there was the risk of committing to expensive modifications that relied on consultants that knew little about his business and that would likely not be around to support the work later on, not to mention the expense of upgrading all the customizations in the future.
So, Rich reached out to David, a former colleague, that he knew understood the business and had proven experience developing trading software. Rich was confident that together with his knowledge of accounting and Dave’s technical background, they could develop an effective solution that would help streamline his operation while providing the controls needed to satisfy partners and auditors. And long story short, it did.
Which brings us back to “lunch”. With the success of the project and after thinking about the frustration with finding a solution in the first place, Rich and Dave talked about the idea of helping other companies facing the same dilemma and over lunch made plans to invest their efforts into creating a better way for commodity traders and recyclers to run their business – and that’s how cieTrade got its start.
Once the software was launched, it was quickly embraced by many of the leading paper traders, job lot dealers and scrap brokers. As the software continued to evolve, it also attracted a number of large commercial recycling companies that outgrew using scrap yard software.
Our goal has been and continues to be to help our clients build a more successful trading or recycling business by offering leading edge software & tools that can help reduce costs, improve customer service, and maximize control. And with the challenges in today’s commodity markets its never been more important to leverage technology to gain a competitive edge.
How It Works:
Our software uses an operations centric model that manages logistics activity, around “buy/sell” trading forms and scale tickets that are familiar to your end-users and easy to work with. Our forms work like virtual file folders, capturing shipping references, transaction values, even photos and scanned documents, anything related to a shipment, so that everything is well organized and easily accessible. We included support for industry specific workflows to avoid oversights and improve accountability, automated documentation to eliminate double-entry and costly mistakes, and advanced inventory controls for material traceability and landed cost valuations. cieTrade also saves hours of tedious work by automatically matching accruals with revenue to define gross profit on brokered loads, calculates commissions based on receipt of cash, and provides real-time accounting integration to insure accuracy and satisfy the demands of stakeholders and auditors.
Our Customers
cieTrade has a diverse worldwide customer base that’s transacted billions in goods and shipped hundreds of thousands of TEUs (containers) on our software. Our clients include many of the leading international pulp and paper trading houses, recovered fiber and scrap exporters, and a growing number of recycling companies that have outgrown using scrap yard software. cieTrade’s flexible design has also attracted waste brokers and (national accounts) consolidators looking to avoid using spreadsheets or expensive custom systems.
Why cieTrade?
Our software transforms the effectiveness and performance of your paper or recycling business, while offering more value than any alternative.
We understand your business
You’re not going to have to explain to us what a moisture deduction is, how to calculate internal interest, or the difference between basis weight and substance. We already know. And that means you’ll have the benefit of leveraging our experience and industry knowledge to solve problems, improve business practices, and maximize the value of your software investment.
Way better than using spreadsheets
Eliminates the disorganization, unproductive workarounds, and tedious manual procedures from running your business on spreadsheets, not to mention the lack of security and dependence on individual employees. Our integrated operations and financial platform eliminates double-entry, lets you easily find and retrieve data, automates tasks and documents, controls access, and easily generates reports without spending hours or days.
Avoids risky home-grown programs
Building your own software can be a risky proposition especially with consultants that don’t know anything about your business, that can’t promise how much or how long it might take, and that may not be around later to support it later, all while using technology that will eventually need to be upgraded. cieTrade helps you avoid these problems with trading and recycling software created specifically for your business, backed by people who know the business, used by many industry leaders, using the latest technology, with features that are constantly updated.
Does what your accounting system can’t (or at least not very easily)
Accounting software is fine for 'accounting'. But it’s simply not flexible enough to handle the dynamics of the trading and recycling business where material can be bought and sold with different names or weights and where prices can change at any time. It also won't calculate gross profit on trades, generate commissions or track logistical events without clunky workarounds. cieTrade is specifically designed to support all your unique requirements while seamlessly working with your accounting package.
Helps you take control of your business
Our solutions go well beyond just tracking orders and transactions, providing control over business activity and ownership of business intelligence. cieTrade makes all of your vital business information easily accessible from one platform, managing all your work in-process to avoid oversights, tracking sales activity and history, capturing email messages, documents and photos, and providing the specialized reports and analytic tools you need to gain insight into trends and overall business performance for smarter decision making.
Best of Breed Accounting that works
cieTrade’s “best of breed” approach to accounting integration doesn’t force you to use a proprietary general ledger package, letting you choose the accounting software that’s right for your business. Our real-time accounting link also saves time and minimizes errors by automatically synchronizing master data and posting transactions without manual batch files that can easily lead to reconciliation headaches. It can even pull back information such as payment status to reduce inquiries. Learn More >>
Integration Matters
Eliminating manual data entry is essential to reducing costs and stay competitive. cieTrade helps by offering a variety of B2B integration and e-commerce options that can directly boost productivity and minimize errors including: EDI VAN and FTP services, integration with ocean carriers through INTTRA, marine terminals, and 3PLs, SED filings with U.S. customs and more.
No hassle, free, anytime upgrade
Upgrading to the latest version of our software is never a problem and you don’t have to worry about being locked into old versions that can’t easily be updated or that cost a fortune to transition. Our software upgrades use a fully automated process that doesn’t require IT professionals or support staff, giving your end-users instant access to the latest features as soon as they login.
We deliver TCO and ROI too
We understand the importance of providing value for your software investment and cieTrade delivers with cost saving productivity features, greater visibility, and key analytics that can help you get control of your business. You’ll even see a ROI in a matter of weeks. We also help control your IT costs, with a fixed monthly payment plan based on the number of users, and a separate training fee. That’s it. There are no big upfront fees, no additional charges for minor customizations, enhanced features, or support services. You can even cancel at any time.
Industry Credibility
Knowing which business software vendor to choose is never easy, especially with everyone claiming to be “number one” and all the competing testimonials. But one look at who some of our clients are and how long many of them have been with us and you can draw your own conclusions about our reputation and the confidence and trust our customers have placed with us and our solutions.
Scalable Technology you won’t outgrow
Whether your business is a startup or global enterprise, cieTrade’s unique trade centric model provides the flexibility you need to quickly adopt new business models and pursue opportunities. Its advanced system architecture lets you easily scale up to meet customer demands or handle greater transaction volume, keeping your business information in control and avoiding costly upgrades or modifications.