Testimonial • 13.12.2022
Borderless simplicity for TRANSCO
Customs processing between Germany and Switzerland
Export data from Switzerland becomes import data for Germany and vice versa. At TRANSCO, digitalization has taken a giant stride forward. With the customs software ZODIAK GE from DAKOSY, the employees of TRANSCO can manage all customs procedures in both Switzerland and Germany.
About TRANSCO Süd Internationale Transporte GmbH
>> TRANSCO is a transport and logistics service provider rich in tradition, with branches in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Slovakia.
A key component of its transport services is the reliable and professional handling of customs formalities. TRANSCO is an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO-F status) as well as an Authorized Consignor and Consignee. As a customs declarant, TRANSCO is represented at all major border crossings and offers dependable, competent and individualized service based on many years of experience and extensive knowledge.
For TRANSCO's offices at the borders in Basel, Thayngen, Singen and Constance, customs clearance for goods transport between Germany and Switzerland is the main business. Every day, more than 30 customs declarants work here to prepare the necessary export, import and transit documents for cross-border transactions. "With the large volumes involved, we need reliable, high-performance customs software that is also aligned with our digitalization strategy. That's why we went with DAKOSY's software in May 2022," explains Julian Gräble, Head of customs clearance at TRANSCO, and continues, "ZODIAK GE perfectly maps customs processes in Switzerland and Germany and works with a uniform screen layout for all customs procedures. The program is very stable, clearly structured and designed with future growth in mind."
"ZODIAK GE perfectly maps customs processes in Switzerland and Germany and works with a uniform screen layout for all customs procedures. The program is very stable, clearly structured and designed with future growth in mind."
Close collaboration during the project
As soon as ZODIAK GE was commissioned, the project work began immediately. A very tight schedule was planned out, according to which the four offices were to be converted in the framework of a soft migration between September and November 2022. DAKOSY also included their business development team, which particularly assists with more complex customer projects. "The DAKOSY colleagues implemented the project very professionally. Thanks to the well-structured project work, their customs expertise and regular coordination, we were able to achieve all the milestones we had set," commends Gräble.
Training and Go-Live for ZODIAK GE
AAt the beginning of August 2022, Gräble and three colleagues from the offices in Singen, Thayngen and Constance came to DAKOSY's Hamburg office for a two-day super user training course. "Despite the long trip, this was exactly the right choice, because in Hamburg, far away from our day-to-day business, we had enough time to focus on the learning process," recalls Gräble and evaluates: "The training was super. The instructor trained us using the productive system and went into detail about every customs procedure. Together we created our identities as users, with TRANSCO as an economic operator and also as the initial guarantor. Everything was very hands-on and we could keep on with our work directly after the seminar and while passing on our newly-learned skills to our colleagues."
Shortly thereafter, the process of migration from the legacy software to ZODIAK GE started. One office after the next was converted. Overall, Gräble was very satisfied with the smooth transition, which was completed by the end of November as planned.
Further digitalization of customs processes planned for 2023
Further developments are already planned and being prepared for next year. On one hand, the electronic presentation notification / summary declaration for imports from Switzerland to Germany will be introduced by the ATLAS customs authority as of January 1, 2023. In ZODIAK GE, this function is already defined as standard, as it has been required at seaports and airports for some time. As a pilot user for IHK Hochrhein-Bodensee, Gräble has already successfully tested the innovation for border transports coming from Switzerland with the main customs office in Singen, and can therefore look forward to an easy changeover.
On the other hand, TRANSCO wants to launch new freight forwarding software next year and integrate it with ZODIAK GE so that customs clearance can be automated as much as possible. Using the BOX interface from DAKOSY, the data required for customs clearance will be transferred from the forwarding system to ZODIAK GE, where the customs declarations will then be completed and transmitted to the customs authorities. The feedback from customs can also be transferred via ZODIAK GE to the Transco system through an automated process. "So far we have had only good experiences with DAKOSY, so we're pleased to be taking this next digitalization step with DAKOSY as well," Gräble concludes enthusiastically.
