DHL expands its worldwide clearance system to Europe
Advancing the state-of-the-art in global trade management, DHL and Open Harbor, Inc., today announced the successful second pilot deployment of DHL’s Worldwide Clearance System (WCS) to DHL’s Ireland operations. Powered by Open Harbor’s real-time Web-based platform, DHL’s WCS is slated to support the world’s largest express carrier’s global operations, standardizing customs clearance processes across hundreds of its locations and millions of customers’ clearance transactions each year.
“WCS will provide DHL with total customs clearance systems integration and real-time visibility into the global trade process,” said Jeffrey Bass, DHL’s WCS program director. “In Malaysia, we’re already recognizing a significant boost in operational efficiency. Our deployments of WCS in Cork, Shannon and Dublin should provide the model for other locations within Europe.”
Open Harbor’s automated solution collects and continuously updates regulatory data. The system now holds over 8,000,000 trade rules. Once fully implemented, WCS will provide every DHL clearance location with the latest information on international trade regulations. Using dynamically updated rules-based content, the solution speeds trade while ensuring vigilant compliance across country borders.
“Open Harbor offers DHL the opportunity to build the world’s largest, most accurate customs clearance data base solution, providing an unparalleled network of government connections and real-world customs broker feedback for DHL’s tens of millions of transactions per year,” said Beth Peterson, vice president of product solutions for Open Harbor.
The WCS solution includes data validation, global product catalogue (including Harmonized System classification codes), electronic declaration filing, forms printing, and exception management. Unlike competitive systems that require constant, manual monitoring, Open Harbor’s exception-based management automatically highlights all clearance issues that require human intervention.
