In order to meet the high standard of global competition time and again, the company also obtains production material to a considerable extent from countries outside the EU.
Save import duties with customs warehouses
In order to avoid having to pay the import duties on goods containing storage in full, the establishment of customs warehouses became more and more the focus of the logistics strategy.
However, this facility is usually very much involved. Drastic changes in operations and the expansion of the IT infrastructure with additional functions are necessary consequences.
Deutz AG decided to replace the NCTS procedure previously used for customs processes with Advantage Customs. For this purpose, the SAP merchandise management system was bound to Advantage Customs via interfaces.
Background: Third-country goods and customs warehouses
Third-country goods are products manufactured outside the EU and not yet released for free circulation within the territory of the EU Community. The management of a customs warehouse has advantages for companies importing goods subject to duty from third countries and exporting them to other third countries:
- Duty-free customs duties and taxes for the storage period of imported third country goods
- Exemption from trade policy measures (e.g. no presentation of import licences or certificates of origin)
Interfaces between SAP and Advantage Customs
Three customs warehouses in Cologne, Herschbach and Ulm had to be integrated into the SAP merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG.
As a basic requirement, it was stipulated that the manual effort for customs clearance staff must not increase compared to the current status, ideally even decreased.
In order to meet this requirement, Deutz AG decided to replace the NCTS procedure previously used for customs processes with Advantage Customs.
Benefits for Deutz AG
- Direct control of customs processes from the SAP system
- Optimum connection to the existing IT infrastructure
- Minimized time spent on capture through automated data exchange
- Consulting, software, support, development and hosting from a single source
- dbh as local contact person
For this purpose, the SAP/ERP merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG had to be connected to the dbh customs system Advantage Customs via interfaces. However, a large number of customs-relevant data were already included in the current inventory management system. Here it was necessary to ensure that all data was transferred to Advantage Customs without loss.
In the first step, dbh’s task was to define the customs-relevant processes with the customs department of DEUTZ AG. The technical implementation was developed in the project plan with the IT department. Together, a project was developed and implemented, after which it should be possible to optimally solve this task, taking into account the defined customs-relevant requirements.
Direct connection, fully automatic control and a comfortable application
During the project realization, a solution was created in which Advantage Customs was optimally connected to the merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG and linked to customs. The merchandise management system received an additional module from the IT department of DEUTZ AG, which automatically assigns the data of existing import processes to the required customs procedures.
Seven interfaces between the systems
A total of seven interfaces form a communication platform between the three systems of the merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG, dbh Customs Software Advantage Customs and ATLAS Customs System. This controls the incoming and outgoing information and enables fast and lossless communication and processing of data with each other. The employees of DEUTZ AG retain the SAP/ERP application as their usual user interface, all other work, as well as the connection to the ATLAS customs system, is carried out by Advantage Customs in the background.
THE PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
- Realization of a direct connection of the existing merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG to the dbh customs software Advantage Customs via web services. The recording effort of the employees should be significantly reduced by means of a data interface between the two systems.
- The establishment of specific inch interfaces in both systems, with which data can be both collected and sent, received and easily evaluated.
- The possibility of controlling and monitoring customs transactions directly in the inventory management system of DEUTZ AG in the SAP/ERP application should be achieved with the help of a specially developed special module.
- The fully automatic control and communication by Advantage Customs as an interface to the ATLAS system. Existing systems and surfaces should continue to be able to be used as usual.
30 more orders are processed in the same time today
All operations can now be processed directly by the clerk in the new module and released for data transfer. The processing status of each operation can be clearly tracked by the reviewer at any time.
Web service in the dbh data center
By providing a web service in the data center of dbh in Bremen and by integrating the seven different interfaces, the merchandise management system of DEUTZ AG was connected to Advantage Customs. All customs procedures and the connection to ATLAS can thus be optimally controlled and monitored. Advantage Customs works as the main system for the implementation of customs-relevant tasks.
Figures prove the success
The comparison with the previous year’s figures proves how effective the work is now by connecting the two systems: “As planned, the recording and processing effort has been significantly reduced by the automated interface between the customs system and SAP. At the same time, about 30 more orders can be processed than before,” confirms the head of the central customs department of DEUTZ AG.
ABOUT DEUTZ AG
1864 as N.A. Otto & Cie. Founded in Cologne, DEUTZ AG is today the oldest engine factory in the world and one of the world’s leading independent engine manufacturers.
The company’s core competencies lie in the development, design, production, distribution and service of diesel engines for professional applications. The full-line engine specialist has a wide range of liquid and air-cooled engines with a power range from 25 kW to 520 kW, which are used in construction machinery, power generation plants, agricultural machinery, commercial and rail vehicles as well as ships.
DEUTZ customers are served by 9 sales companies, 9 sales offices, 16 service centers and over 800 sales and service partners in more than 130 countries around the world.
For more information: www.deutz.com