Testimonial • 21.05.2025

“DAKOSY chosen once again”

DACHSER renews long-term partnership with ZODIAK GE

As a global logistics service provider, DACHSER has a worldwide transport network with exacting quality standards designed to meet individual customer needs. The company has been using DAKOSY's ZODIAK customs software for electronic customs processing in Germany since the initial introduction of ATLAS, the IT system used by German customs authorities. The partnership between the Kempten-based logistics specialist and the IT service provider in Hamburg has held strong over 24 years.

About DACHSER

DACHSER is one of the global market leaders in system logistics. Since its founding in 1930, the successful family-owned company headquartered in Kempten (Allgäu) has proven how much can be achieved with clear values, committed employees and innovative thinking. In 2024, DACHSER employed more than 37,300 people worldwide in a network with a total of 433 locations, 70 of which are located in Germany, moving a total of 83.2 million shipments weighing 44.1 million tons. With its global transport and logistics network and sophisticated, integrated IT solutions, DACHSER strives for the world's most intelligent combination and integration of logistics network competencies. DACHSER offers transport logistics, warehousing and customized services within two business fields: Dachser Air & Sea Logistics and Dachser Road Logistics. The latter is divided into the two business lines, Dachser European Logistics and Dachser Food Logistics. Comprehensive contract logistics services and industry-specific solutions round out the portfolio.

Website: https://www.dachser.us/en/

This long-term cooperation has created a partnership based on a deep sense of trust and reliability, confirms Vinzenz Hingerl, Head of Customs at DACHSER, adding: “We have forged a really close relationship with DAKOSY over the years. We value the technical expertise of our partners and typically receive fast and knowledgeable assistance from them.”

Over the past few years, DAKOSY has launched a follow-up software solution called ZODIAK GE with the aim of offering approximately 2,000 customs users throughout Germany an up-to-date and modern software solution for all ATLAS customs procedures. This has been steadily replacing the ZODIAK Classic software that DACHSER had been using since 2001. In 2021, DACHSER decided to migrate from ZODIAK Classic to ZODIAK GE.

Everyone involved in the project at both DACHSER and DAKOSY was acutely aware that the migration process would be a challenge, considering that the software is used at 70 locations across Germany and has been adapted to the logistics provider's needs through a number of unique customizations and is integrated into the company's internal TMS systems via interfaces. Hingerl explains: “With our decision to move to ZODIAK GE, we have once again selected DAKOSY as our customs service provider – largely due to our many years of effective cooperation. But we were also impressed by the software itself. Its interfaces are very modern and make it easy for us to navigate. Customized for an international logistics company, ZODIAK GE is a solution that we can really identify with.”

“With our decision to move to ZODIAK GE, we have once again selected DAKOSY as our customs service provider – largely due to our many years of effective cooperation.”

Vinzenz Hingerl, Head of Customs at DACHSER

The migration process

The migration process took a good two years and was completed in summer 2024. Using the digital interfaces to DACHSER's in-house systems, the customs declarations in ZODIAK GE can be largely pre-populated with upstream data from orders and master data. In addition, the “Drag&Map Customs” upload feature was introduced for the simple and flexible integration of Excel and CSV files into customs declarations. “Drag&Map is a truly flexible service and enables quick and easy data integration,” emphasizes Hingerl. The feature is ideal for customers who regularly send similarly structured order data in Excel or CSV formats. DACHSER sets up a customer profile with pre-defined fields in Drag&Map, specifies which column from the Excel spreadsheet is to be assigned to which field in the profile, and saves a template. Employees can then create a customs declaration including all goods items with a single mouse click and then finalize the details in the software.

Monika Summa, Customs Delegate at the DACHSER headquarters in Kempten, also sees the introduction of ZODIAK GE as beneficial for the company: “The software gives us – the customs department team in Kempten – a really clear and user-friendly overview of the customs processes at all DACHSER locations. The new interfaces also provide a much cleaner overview than we were used to with ZODIAK Classic." The software also has an additional benefit for the branch offices in terms of an efficient way of supporting each other. “If, for example, one office has a large number of employees on sick leave, ZODIAK GE can be used to quickly and easily authorize another location to assist with order processing,” confirms Summa.

Training and SOS tickets enable a smooth migration process

The training offered by DAKOSY was extremely well received. Branch offices were gradually converted to the new software block by block so that DACHSER as a company remained operational at all times. DAKOSY planned the schedule of online training courses immediately after each conversion, allowing employees to register and log in flexibly. The first few months after the changeover to ZODIAK GE, it was agreed that support would be particularly fast and flexible. Using so-called SOS tickets, employees were able to access immediate support from DAKOSY trainers. The final step of the company-wide migration was completed in mid-2024 when the bonded warehouse was converted. Working with ZODIAK GE is now standard Germany-wide and is particularly appealing to the company's younger employees thanks to up-to-date interfaces and the more modern look and feel.

Meeting future challenges with ZODIAK GE

With regard to the challenges for the future and his own ideas, Hingerl addresses two areas that are already being planned or implemented at DAKOSY. On one hand, he would like to see the software developed with a view to the future, including the use of artificial intelligence tools. Secondly, he would like ZODIAK GE to be even more intuitive to use, so that new employees or those inexperienced in ZODIAK GE can also use the software without the need for extensive training. DAKOSY is keen to meet both requirements. A new feature for workflow control, in which the next steps are previewed in the customs declaration, is currently being developed at DAKOSY and a first version is being readied in time for the transport logistics trade fair in Munich at the beginning of June (check out our Magazine article about workflow control).

“The software gives us – the customs department team in Kempten – a really clear and user-friendly overview of the customs processes at all DACHSER locations."

Monika Summa, Customs Delegate at DACHSER