Testimonial • 16.06.2022

DAKOSY GE trio in operation

at freight forwarder Dirk Vollmer

Digitalization is at the top of the priority list at Spedition Dirk Vollmer in Neu Wulmstorf. The mid-sized company with approximately 60 employees relies on a trio from DAKOSY to help them get there: since April 2021, the company has been using the freight forwarding software DAKOSY GE, the customs software ZODIAK GE, and the intermodal solution UNIKAT GE for slot bookings at the terminals in the Port of Hamburg.

About Spedition Dirk Vollmer GmbH

>> Founded in 2004, Spedition Dirk Vollmer in Neu Wulmstorf specializes in international air and sea freight, transports including customs handling, and warehousing services. It employs nearly 60 people and has a 20,000 m² logistics warehouse and a fleet of 25 of its own vehicles, as well as using fixed-route contractors. Other services include weekly consolidated cargo shipments to the Canary Islands, order picking, inward and outward processing, and returns logistics.

 

The day-to-day activities of Dirk Vollmer, owner of the freight forwarding company which bears his name, include the handling of international sea and air freight, including customs clearance for both consolidated cargo and containers, order picking in the 20,000 m² warehouse, and the execution of pre-carriage and onward transport with the company's own fleet of vehicles. With DAKOSY's software, the team is able to manage the steadily increasing workload. 

Vollmer can cite the successes of his digitalization strategy in tangible ways: "Thanks to the DAKOSY software, we only have to enter an order once and then can work with it so that the subsequent procedures, such as customs processing, are automated. Also, an import container can no longer be overlooked or forgotten, since we are automatically informed about the status when it is ready to be picked up at the terminal. This makes our work much easier and saves us a lot of time."

"Thanks to the DAKOSY software, we only have to enter an order once and then can work with it so that the subsequent procedures, such as customs processing, are automated. Also, an import container can no longer be overlooked or forgotten, since we are automatically informed about the status when it is ready to be picked up at the terminal. This makes our work much easier and saves us a lot of time."

Owner of the freight forwarding company Dirk Vollmer

Software from the same source

Dirk Vollmer offers forwarding and customs activities all from one source. So it was logical for him that the associated software should also be from a single source.

The transport management system (TMS) forms the basis.

First the orders are entered in DAKOSY GE. Once the shipment data has been logged, it is used to create all documents, including those for customs processing and invoicing. "From order processing to customs duty assessment, we can map everything clearly with the help of the software. The programs are largely self-explanatory," confirms Ramona Parisella, responsible for imports and exports at Dirk Vollmer.

Customs feedback within minutes

"For us, this eliminates time-consuming inquiries about the ATB number from the carrier and the discharge at the terminal during the import process. In addition, customs processing is triggered automatically by a status message from IMP to ZODIAK GE -  at the first possible moment, even outside normal office hours. For example, the customs releases for containers unloaded over the weekend are normally ready for us on Monday morning. This saves time," says Parisella.

Proactive planning thanks to slot booking

In addition to efficient management of customs processes, the DAKOSY software also plays an important role in scheduling. One example: the subsequent transport of the container can be optimally planned in advance with the help of automation. As soon as the release is issued, the dispatcher can book a time slot for the pick-up at the Hamburg terminals up to three working days in advance using the UNIKAT GE intermodal software.

Automated customs processing with IMP – Import Message Platform

Ramona Parisella, responsible for imports and exports at Dirk Vollmer, bypasses many of the manual entry steps by using IMP. Approximately ten days before the ship's arrival, she sends an order with the following information about the scheduled container to IMP: the container number, the bill of lading, and the mode of transport to be used for onward transport to the customer. In return, she receives from IMP the "Advance Summary Declaration" (ATB number) generated on the basis of the import manifest previously transmitted by the carrier to IMP. With this, Parisella can prepare the "preliminary import declaration" for German customs in the ZODIAK GE customs software with the note that the confirmation should be executed automatically. The rest happens without manual intervention: as soon as the ship has docked and IMP receives the discharge message from the terminal, the pre-prepared customs process is automatically triggered by ATLAS.

"The use of Auto-IMP processes is profitable even with as few as ten containers per month, since manual intervention in these processes is no longer necessary and our employees can concentrate on other activities," confirms Dirk Vollmer. The entrepreneur was also positively surprised that – in the time that he has been a DAKOSY customer - there have been virtually no queries from customs. He attributes this to the high quality and functionality of the software. For exports, he has also noticed that freight forwarders receive feedback from the customs IT procedure ATLAS within minutes.

Looking to the future, managing owner Vollmer first wants to make even better use of the existing functionalities of the new software. This includes the new Drag&Map Customs function. "The tool allows us to automatically upload shipment data with up to 40 goods items  from our existing Excel lists straight into the customs software. The potential time savings are enormous," Vollmer is pleased to report. "In the next step, we want to position ourselves even better digitally and further expand our IT systems. To do this, we rely on DAKOSY."

Other interesting articles