Having said that, Eka goes much beyond this – by capturing end-to-end physical and financial transactions, it also ensures that all risks and exposures across the supply chain are captured, measured, analysed and presented. This makes Eka a one-of-a-kind product which addresses the end-to-end physical and financial aspects of the business.

"The beauty of the system is its focus on both the physical as well as the financial aspects of commodity trading," Garg told Tea & Coffee Asia recently. "This differentiates Eka from all other offerings in the marketplace which mostly focus on the financial aspect of commodity trading. The Position Management module, for instance, gives traders a real time overview of the position - is a contract open or closed? What does the net position look for all forward months? What all inventory is held? At what locations? At what cost? And, for how long? What is the price risk? What are the hedged/unhedged positions? It notes any changes in the position, notifying the relevant persons responsible in each department, dependant on management-assigned security levels," Garg explained.

"Similarly, the finance team may get the Finance Portfolio to manage invoices, payments, cash flows, etc.," he continued. "The logistics department may get to see what deliveries are coming in, what is closed and what is not and what are the documentary requirements for each delivery, reconcile freight and storage bills, etc. The Futures & Options module helps risk managers effectively manage price risk. Modules for physical mark to market, P&L, cost and invoicing, risk, insurance, sampling, currency, along with dashboards, very strong reporting and business intelligence layer, are designed to provide in depth and detailed analysis and answers on the business. Thus, in one integrated system, Eka meets all the requirements, and more importantly identifies all the risks and exposures across the entire physical supply chain," He summarized.

"The Sampling module is especially very relevant for coffee traders," Garg concluded, underlining Eka’s alignment to coffee trading. "It basically takes care of the sampling, or cupping, ins and outs, noting origins and quality standards and the cuppers’ reports. It tracks approval and rejection status, and this in turn, once approved, notifies the logistics department so they can coordinate transportation. Obviously, this system is a highly effective tracking tool providing traceability from farm to end-user."

"There are several small players who purchase a container and sell it to other traders and roasters. Then there are our customers, the larger market players, with sources and customers around the world who manage global books, complex positions and operations along with multiple inventory locations exposed to so many risks of various types" Manav pointed out. "So there are essentially two scales of operations. Larger companies require more process sophistication information, risk management and business intelligence. Eka concentrates mostly on the ‘large players’. For instance, qualified users at different company locations around the world can see risk and inventory positions, counterparty exposures, credit control and cash flow management as they happen and this gives them the crucial advantage of actually being in ‘control’ of the physical aspects of their trade, even as they monitor the risk position. The Eka solution is entirely web-based, so all offices can work out of a single server, and information can be accessed even if you are out of the office. This guarantees access to accurate data to permit intelligent and informed decision making, regardless of location."

This is probably why Eka is the preferred solution provider for some of the largest global commodity trading companies today. Eka’s team, which is spread across multiple geographical locations, has top global industry talent across engineering, delivery, sales, marketing, finance and HR, and customers on all six continents, including three Fortune 500 companies who use it as their daily mission critical application. It is obvious that for companies to succeed in this economic environment, software such as what Eka provides is a necessity and not a luxury any more.

Some or all of these needs may well be met using software covering all aspects of coffee origin, processing and business dynamics developed by another Bangalore-based company, Inventsoft Technologies.

"Many companies buy and sell green coffee," according to Prasad Raju, president and managing director of Inventsoft. "I used to be in the FOB business – I would go to the mill, I would say: ‘I need these grades and types of coffee’, and the mill supplies the coffee on an FOB basis. Coffee is sold by traders on international markets, and as margins shrink traders are setting up their own mills, their own procurement warehouses in producing countries and increasingly source their own raw coffee cherries, parchment and raw beans and process to green beans. Then they trade the green beans in international markets. At every stage there is a value added. So from the raw products procured from plantations to green bean, there is a profit margin sitting there. These companies are looking at these markets as well. They are seeking better control of the business. Companies even go to plantations and manage them to further control the process."

The trade is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and there is demand for software systems to help manage and track the business.

"Traders will source green beans, hedge and sell them to end users such as roasters," Raju told Tea & Coffee Asia. "Managing inventory of coffee is a critical thing. Inventory, processing and costing are the major challenges facing international coffee traders. Inventsoft is very strong in raw bean origin processing, quality, inventory, costing and futures. All data relating to the quality, type, grade and so on, which is fully configurable by the user, is recorded and retrievable by multiple authorised users in a secure, web-based network. This means a trader sitting in an origin country can be in real-time contact with an associate in another country who may be looking for specific grades and types of green coffees for a third party, and the requirements of the buyer can be matched to inventory in stock or used as parameters to search for coffee to meet the requirement."

Also the whole software can be integrated with finance and accounting backbones, such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and other popular ERP products.

"Medium- and large-sized origin processing and trading operations can benefit from using Invensoft-XBS becuase it manages all aspects of the coffee business process, allowing for fewer staff, greater administrative and financial oversight and control," according to Praveen Raju, c.e.o. and managing director of Inventsoft. "Invensoft-XBS is ideally suited for companies seeking to maintain an independent origin business with processing and mills (profit centers) globally, while retaining a centralized control and information sharing capability."

While perhaps not for everyone, these solutions provide an effective and proven mechanism for companies to increase their bottom lines while reducing the man-hours and expertise needed to manage their core competencies more efficiently – and more profitably.