When a brand new all-terrain crane ATF 70G-4 with a main boom of 52.10m leaves the production halls of TADANO FAUN GmbH, high-quality technology was installed at the highest level. All “Made in Germany” and ready to lift a maximum load capacity of 70 tons. It is, of course, the responsibility of the customer at which location in the world and which loads the crane will ultimately carry. On the one hand. On the other hand, the export control obligation for a delivery to the third country lies again with TADANO FAUN GmbH – a matter of course for the company. Because individual components of the cranes belong to the so-called dual-use goods due to their function, size and performance. These are goods that can be used in the civil sector, but also for military purposes.
Accurate verification during export is mandatory
In the course of the export control, which is required by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Export Control, TADANO FAUN is also obliged to carefully examine end-use and final recipients. “Especially in the context of the spare parts business, it is important to evaluate the large number of components safely and sustainably,” explains Helmut Schmalzl, Manager Order Processing at TADANO FAUN GmbH. In addition, the company itself is concerned that all products are used exclusively for civilian purposes. Thus, typical questions are regularly encountered: should we be delivered to a country that has been embargoed? Is there an authorisation requirement for these components? Are there any indications of potentially critical end-use or end-users?
Many questions, the answers of which often require lengthy research and analysis. Unless the company has software that automates these processes and supports verification. This is exactly what dbh Logistics IT AG offers with the Export Control module in Advantage Compliance, Compliance and Risk Management Software. It simplifies audits against export lists, embargo and dual-use regulations. For this purpose, special article determinations were made by the department in advance with the help of Advantage Compliance. If special regulations are to be complied with or permits are obtained in individual cases, the Export Control module of dbh Logistics IT AG recognizes this independently. In addition, if there are embargoes or special declarations for export have to be made, a notice will be automatically issued. The Export Control module is updated daily with qualified content from the Bundesanzeiger Verlag.
For TADANO FAUN, dbh has developed an SAP plug-in for communication between SAP and the Export Control in Advantage Compliance module. The implementation took place in three phases.
Implementation of export control in three phases
Phase 1, Item Transfer: Initially, relevant item data from the SAP material master was transmitted to Advantage Compliance and the items were evaluated by the respective specialist departments according to the requirements of the export control. Thanks to the one-time definition and documentation, other departments can now also use the results, such as sales for order requests.
Phase 2, document verification: In the SAP system of TADANO FAUN GmbH, the document checks (e.g. deliveries) were implemented and initial tests were carried out.
Phase 3, connection of the customs software: TADANO FAUN already uses the dbh software Advantage Customs for customs clearance. Subsequently, in phase three, the customs software for the export declaration was linked to the export control. This means that the items created in Advantage Customs in the export declarations are checked against the items specified in Advantage Compliance before being submitted to the German customs system ATLAS.
Sustainably documented results of export control
“The spare parts business is complex and the large number of components must be assessed safely and sustainably as to whether goods subject to authorisation are affected or not. The dbh tool allows the data volumes to be managed in a structured manner and we are always up-to-date with changes in regulations. As a result, we work much more efficiently and cost-effectively,” says Helmut Schmalzl. “The tasks are more clearly distributed. Our employees are relieved because they no longer have to do complex individual searches to evaluate an item. There are also no more in-house multiple requests for the same item.”
And another advantage: the results are additionally documented for other purposes, such as external audits. This is practical. At the same time, not every employee should have unrestricted access to Advantage Compliance, after all, sensitive data that must be accessed and handled with the utmost care. Advantage Compliance allows an exact assignment of permissions, so that only a limited group of people can operate the expert software. The employees who need the export control results therefore carry out their requests not from Advantage Compliance, but from SAP. This allows them to access the information needed at any time before components of the All-Terrain crane leave the TADANO FAUN GmbH factory premises. High-quality technology, equipped with all documents and permits required by export control.
About TADANO FAUN GmbH
In 1845, Justus Christian Braun founded a foundry in Nuremberg, where bells were mainly cast. At the beginning of the 20th century, garbage collection and road sweepers were built, and in 1918 the plants in Ansbach and Nuremberg merged to become “Vehicle Works Ansbach and Nürnberg AG”. The name FAUN is created from the initial letters. In 1990, TADANO Ltd. from Japan, founded in 1948, took over the company and the high Japanese quality standards were combined with German engineering and TADANO FAUN GmbH was founded.
Today, the company builds All-Terrain cranes and truck construction cranes. With more than 3,200 employees worldwide, eight production sites and more than 100 branches and international sales and service stations, the TADANO Group is one of the major manufacturers in the field of mobile crane and lifting technology.