Like many ‘Corporate' freight forwarders, Expeditors used a number of different Customs systems in the UK before deciding to standardise on one system. They used Impatex for seafreight Customs, ASM for airfreight Customs and ERTS and MIC for Duty Management, all on separate LAN-based systems and all with duplicated comms links to the various DTI communities. With the move to a centralised Terminal Server system, they first trialled Customs Manager for all their Customs functions at their Birmingham office, and as a consequence decided to adopt it throughout all their UK offices. In addition they have developed a number of links from their in-house operational software to cut down on ‘double-keying' and transcription errors to end up with a much more efficient and cost-effective Customs solution.

Wilson Logistics were a user of our DOS-based MCS software at each of their airfreight offices for years, but used LSI/Sigma's software for seafreight at their Southampton office. In addition, Wilson's ran their global forwarding and logistics operation on AS400 minicomputers using the 'Plus Data' software, now known as 'Transaxiom'. Like many of our 'Corporate' customers, MCS worked well for Wilsons at each office on LAN-based systems, but with the introduction of our Windows-based 'Customs Manager' software it became more attractive to run this centrally on a Terminal Server (TS) system for all offices. The main driver was the reduction in costs, not only on the comms lines to CCS-UK, but also in consolidating the software licences. Other benefits included being able to share data between branch offices which improved staff productivity, and also being able to interface to 'Transaxiom'. Firstly, Visual NES was implemented for all offices with 'Transaxiom' developing a link to our software using our Generic Interface (GI). Next, each airfreight office migrated from MCS to Visual Broker for DTI, and then for ERTS, followed by the implementation of Visual CFSP. Finally, Southampton migrated from LSI/Sigma's 'Datafreight' software to Visual Broker, which was relatively easy as they had got used to Visual NES, which is very similar. The whole project has not only saved the company money but improved staff efficiency and productivity. In 2005 TNT Freight Management, who took over Wilsons, sold their holdings to Geodis Wilson, who continue to use our Customs Manager software throughout the UK.

Hellmann International have used Impatex's software for years on Seafreight Imports, but were a long-time user of ASM for Airfreight, and had implemented 'Online' (now Red Prairie) for Duty Management. Each system ran on LAN-based networks at each office, each with their own comms link to CHIEF via the DTI Communities and EDCS. Whilst each system worked satisfactorily, Hellmanns were looking for ways in which they could integrate each application and also link to their internal 'Hellogic' system. The solution that they adopted was to run all their Customs application on a centralised Terminal Server system using 'Customs Manager' for both Seafreight and Airfreight DTI, ERTS and NES, as well as Duty Management. Many of our 'Corporate' customers use our 'Customs Manager' software on Terminal Server systems, but what is unique about Hellmanns is that the software and data reside on their head office systems in Osnabruck, Germany, where their main IT resource is based. The only software running in the UK is the comms linking to CCS-UK, CNS, MCP and EDCS. The main advantages of the new system is not only a huge cost saving on each comms line for each office, but also the increased productivity of staff now using an integrated system for all Customs application, which in itself was cheaper than all the previous systems added together.

Kuehne & Nagel (K&N) have been using Impatex's Customs software for over 25 years, since Direct Trader Input (DTI) was first introduced at Felixstowe in 1983. Since then, the company has introduced our software at all seafreight and airfreight offices for DTI and ERTS. However, whilst the systems worked well at each office, the cost of all the comms lines, particularly the X25 lines to CCS-UK, were huge. Also, there was a need to interface to their in-house forwarding software, and integrate their Duty Management functions. The answer was to migrate from our DOS-based MCS software at each office to a centralised Terminal Server (TS) system using our Windows-based Customs Manager software. Visual Exports was initially implemented on the TS with the introduction of the New Exports System in 2002, using our Generic Interface to transfer their data from their in-house system, which saves a lot of time and transcription errors. The next project, completed in 2003, was to migrate from their Grosvenor Duty Management System to Visual CFSP and Visual Warehousing, which was more suited to K&N as a bureau operator and also enabled them to process their Simplified Frontier Declarations (SFD's), which are used to update their SDI's. Lastly, Visual Broker was introduced in 2004 for airfreight DTI and ERTS linked directly to CCS-UK, followed by seafreight DTI via CNS and MCP, with the Generic Interface to be used to automatically update their in-house system with details from cleared entries processed by our software. From a fragmented, decentralised set of old systems, K&N have now achieved a modern, integrated, centralised Customs Management system, linked to their in-house forwarding system, and are saving a huge amount annually as a result. K&N are also the first of our 'Corporate' customers to use our new Integrated Customs for Europe (ICE) software, initially for EMCS.

Maersk have been a user of our Customs software since the mid 80's when Felixstowe introduced FCP80, but Damco used ASM for airfreight Customs and LSI/Sigma for seafreight Customs. After the merge, Damco, who operated independently of Maersk, and who were the forwarding division of the group decided to standardise on our Customs software throughout their UK offices. Prior to the migration to our Customs software, Damco had separate LAN-based systems for each office, which were obviously much quicker than a centralised Terminal Server, but more expensive on software licences and comms links to CHIEF via the various DTI communities. Now that the Damco offices have got used to our Customs software they appreciate the extra facilities, although the speed is subject to the bandwidth of the Wide Area Network (WAN) and the performance of the centralised Terminal Server system.

Panalpina had used Impatex's software for years for Seafreight DTI via CNS and MCP, but had always used ASM for airfreight DTI, ERTS and CFSP. With the introduction of the New Export System (NES) in 2002, Panalpina were looking to run this application on a centralised Terminal Server (TS) system, and as they used ASM at more offices than Impatex, Panalpina chose to use ASM's new GeMS software for NES. However, after implementing their software and using it for a few months, Panlapina decided to switch to our Visual NES software which operated more reliably and faster on the Terminal Server. As a consequence, Panalpina also introduced Visual Broker on the TS system for their seafreight imports, which were previously outsourced to port agents. A decision was then made to use Visual Broker, Visual ERTS and Visual CFSP on the TS to replace ASM's software entirely. Finally, Panalpina implemented NCTS, thereby completing all the Customs regimes from one supplier on the same TS system for all offices, and saving money and improving productivity and efficiency as a consequence.

SDV have been a user of our Customs software for over 20 years, first as SCAC, and later as SDV. SCAC used our original COBOL software in the early 90's before upgrading to MCS in the late 90's. Although SDV used our MCS software for ocean imports, they also used it for airfreight imports at their Manchester office, whilst using ASM at their other airfreight offices, and Grosvenor's Ricardo software for their duty management. Whilst all the systems worked well individually, there was clearly scope for rationalisation, so SDV looked to standardise all their Customs applications on a centralised Terminal Server (TS) system at their head office in Liverpool. Firstly, SDV implemented Visual Exports for the New Export System (NES) on the TS for all offices. This was followed by migrating all the ocean freight offices to Visual Broker for imports, and then all the airfreight offices for imports and ERTS. Next, Ricardo was replaced with Visual CFSP and Visual Warehousing, which has been an area of expansion for SDV, who have taken on a number of major new clients without additional cost. Lastly, SDV implemented NCTS using the existing EDCS Interface used also for CFSP. From a collection of disparate local systems running different applications, SDV now have an integrated Customs Management system running all applications centrally for all offices, which has improved staff efficiency whilst reducing costs. A few years ago SDV merged with Bernards, who used our software for frontier Customs and Grosvenor for Duty Management, but have continued to use Customs Manager for all their Customs requirements within SDV/Bernards.

Forwardair first used our Customs software in the late 80's in Scotland when ACP90 was introduced. They then expanded to use our old DOS-based software throughout their UK offices, all on separate LAN-based systems. Likewise, Fritz started using our Customs software for ACP90 and when CHIEF and CCS-UK was introduced, used it along with ASM for comms, and then directly via our X25 link. When Forwardair and Fritz were taken over by UPS, instead of using their LSI/Sigma software which they used for their express parcel service at EMA, they continued to use our Customs software as we had a direct link to CCS-UK, which LSI/Sigma did not have at the time. Initially our old DOS-based Customs software was used at each office on LAN-based systems, but when our Windows-based Customs Manager software was introduced, UPS-SCS began using it on their centralised Terminal Server system in Heathrow, although they used Grosvenor's Ricardo system for Duty Management on a separate system in Coventry. Recently, in a drive for more efficiency and reduced costs, UPS-SCS migrated to Visual CFSP and Visual Warehousing for Duty Management, and have replaced the LSI/Sigma software at their express parcels division with their own, although utilising the Customs Tariff from Impatex.

UTI have been users of our Customs software for years for both air and sea freight, running our Movement Control Software (MCS) at each of their offices on Local Area Network (LAN) systems. Like many multi-branch 'Corporate' freight forwarders, UTI were looking to make financial savings along with improving efficiency and productivity. We suggested that both could be achieved by running our Windows-based Customs Manager software on a centralised Terminal Server system, which UTI installed at their Reading head office. The first application to be implemented on the new Terminal Server was Visual Exports to handle the New Export System (NES), which went 'live' in October 2002 for all UK ports and airports, and has been used by all their export staff at each office. The next application was Visual Broker for import DTI, which was implemented for each sea freight office during 2003. Also Visual CFSP, Visual Warehousing and Visual Intrastat was transferred from their Southampton LAN to the Terminal Server so that other offices could use them for Duty Management. Finally, during 2004, the airfreight offices were migrated from MCS to Visual Broker and Visual ERTS and the X25 lines discontinued for each office. As a user of DCS's 'CIEL' software (now taken over by 4Soft), which runs their global forwarding and logistics operation, UTI also use the Generic Interface (GI) in Visual Exports and Visual Broker to transfer data from and to CIEL.