From 90 to 45 minutes: speeding up cross-border customs clearance
At AUTODOC, we are always looking for ways to optimise our operations and deliver on our customer promises more quickly. Today, we are thrilled to share a massive success story from our Customs and Trade Compliance team, who recently revolutionised our export processes, speeding up cross-border customs clearance by an incredible 50%!Here is a look at how teamwork, innovation and taking control of our own data drove this major milestone.
The challenge: where customs complexity meets e-commerce high volumes
Our customers love our fast delivery, but customs regulations for exports to non-EU countries like Switzerland, Norway and UK demand meticulous precision. How do you reconcile the two when your product range comprises a staggering million items? This was precisely where our greatest challenge lay: we had to find a way to comply fully with the strict legal requirements without letting bureaucratic hurdles slow down our supply chains. We needed a process that would get these millions of items across borders, not only in full compliance with the law, but also completely seamlessly and at lightning speed.
Previously, we relied on external brokers to handle our export filings. However, as our volume grew, this setup couldn’t keep pace with our standards for speed and transparency. Consider the sheer scale of our daily operations:
- A single truck can contain anywhere from approximately 900 to 1,500 parcels
- This results in multiple export declarations per truck
- Every single export declaration can consist of up to 999 line items
To maintain our supply chain engine, we needed full traceability at the export document level and a system built for high-volume e-commerce.
The solution: bringing expertise in-house
Instead of letting broker limitations slow us down, we decided to take the wheel. We centralised our export operations in Poland and insourced our export filing using AEB Customs Management software.
This was a massive cross-functional transformation. Teams across Customs, Transportation, Supply Chain, Sourcing and Customer Communication came together to review and refine our entire internal flow.
As part of the rollout, the team even presented the new setup to the local Polish customs office. The response was overwhelmingly positive, paving the way for an even stronger relationship with local authorities.
The results: 50% faster and ready for the future
With the go-live for Norway and Switzerland, the hard work paid off immediately. By taking control of our export filing, we achieved incredible results:
- Export clearance times plummeted from roughly 90 minutes down to 45 minutes for both lanes
- We now have real-time visibility over export statuses and absolute traceability of export declarations
- We eliminated email communication with the customs brokers and our Transportation Operations team stepped up, took additional responsibility and learned a new capability. You all rock, and you can be very proud of yourselves.
What’s next?
This project has set a new benchmark for how we handle customs operations at AUTODOC. Moving forward, the team is already preparing for the rollout of the UK B2C flow, the UK warehouse migration flow and API integration.
A huge congratulations to everyone involved in driving this project forward. You’ve proven that when we collaborate across teams, we can break through any bottleneck!