Flexible with customs

Ever new and complex specifications present them with a mountain of tasks of a very different nature. To comply with all customs regulations and reliably handle all processes, there is a wide range of systems on the market that are suitable for a company's import and export activities.

This includes, for example, the SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) customs platform.

It enables companies to communicate electronically with customs authorities. It ensures that legal requirements are met. All transactions are documented so that they can be evaluated for strategic reporting if required.

But not every company needs all the functions of this finely ramified system. Even before implementation, it is therefore important to carefully examine which options make sense for your own company in order to limit the costs for acquisition and maintenance.

Companies usually want processes that meet all customs and foreign trade regulations, but are not complex and require as little user intervention as possible.

The focus is on speed and cost reduction. For this reason, the auditing and consulting firm PwC has developed the SAP GTS OnDemand customs platform.

It allows individual SAP GTS modules to be used without having to install the entire system - a cost-effective high-end solution with SAP GTS functions provided as standard.

The use is flexibly adaptable: If required, additional processes from the portfolio can be added later during ongoing operation.

Another advantage of this special on-demand system is that the company has an entire team of consultants at its side - even after the implementation phase.

Jungle of customs regulations

Because even when the program is set up and running smoothly, it is necessary to continuously update basic settings, implement new specifications, add functions, and find your way through the jungle of elaborate processes and new regulations.

One example of this is the complex preferential law that gives goods from certain countries preferential treatment under customs law.

Companies therefore need experienced contacts for strategic and legal customs and foreign trade consulting as well as for IT.

PwC's team of experts therefore includes a wide variety of specialists such as certified financial experts (customs), lawyers, SAP specialists, programmers and economists.

For SAP GTS OnDemand, companies require no additional hardware, no SAP Basis know-how, no licenses for the SAP GTS system, no list provider and no converter for electronic data exchange with customs.

Instead, the ERP system of the respective company is simply connected to the SAP GTS OnDemand system via a VPN tunnel.

The name says it all: the program is based on SAP's GTS system and has extensions that allow it to be operated as an on-demand solution depending on usage.

Therefore, this offer includes the GTS system as provided by SAP SE as standard.

Implementation in the company is quick and unspectacular: All that is required is the installation of a plug-in.

This add-on program docks the company's ERP system onto the basic SAP GTS program via a predefined interface. Then it is possible to start setting up the required modules immediately.

Thanks to their many years of experience, PwC's experts know their clients' needs and can assess which processes are most likely to be required. This enabled them to develop a so-called template - a kind of pattern on which the most common processes are configured in advance.

It provides a convenient and time-saving basis for customer-specific settings.

Finally, the master data of the company's own ERP system is transferred to the GTS system and the test phase can begin.

For companies that have to process export declarations, for example, there will also be a trial run for electronic data exchange with the customs authorities.

Calculable costs

There is a fixed base price and a usage price that depends on the volume of the service used. For example, a fixed amount is agreed per export declaration carried out or a flat rate for a previously defined volume scale.

The price also includes regular release updates, updates of system service packs of the SAP GTS landscape, code tables and lists such as those of the Federal Gazette.

In order to calculate the costs that will be incurred by a company in a specific case, it is possible to take part in a workshop free of charge in advance.

There, an SAP GTS consultant works out the necessary processes in collaboration with the relevant department of the company and estimates the expected usage volumes. Any additional services that may be required are also discussed.

This means that customers know from the outset what investments and maintenance costs they can expect. This workshop provides a good basis for decision-making, especially for prospective customers who are unsure whether this solution is at all suitable for them.

Incidentally, companies that already have an SAP GTS license can also book the on-demand service. In such cases, PwC also provides support and consulting - with exactly the same services as with SAP GTS OnDemand.

This service, known as OnDemand+ (ODPlus), means that the customer provides its SAP GTS license while PwC operates and supports the hardware and application.

SAP GTS OnDemand tries to meet very different needs and objectives: Whether companies are looking for new approaches to make customs and foreign trade easier to handle, whether they want complete consulting, a package solution, or just sporadic support.

The foundation for this offering was laid when PwC acquired Kampus GmbH. Kampus developed a customs platform that offered a usage-based on-demand solution for the first time.

Major projects

With its broad knowledge, the consulting team is able to find innovative solutions even for special problems and to strategically work out ways to streamline processes or to gain competitive advantages.

PwC's global network of customs specialists in almost every country also makes it possible to handle major international projects.

The SAP GTS OnDemand offering structure thus ensures that the entire product lifecycle of the customs platform is supported - from the up-front analysis of the necessary processes to the practical implementation and ongoing support of the system landscape as well as the evaluation and optimization of corporate strategies for customs and foreign trade.

For customers whose needs go beyond the OnDemand and OnDemand+ solutions, customized solutions can be developed.

Here, too, the team of experts supports you with its many years of experience.