Relay Port Agency Ltd
Relay Port Agency are a customs clearance agent based in Hull
Initially formed to service the port of Hull, Relay can now clear traffic through most ports in the UK. Their customers include major freight forwarders and corporate clients. Relay initially had a basic internal job system that interfaced with a commercial freight forwarding software solution.
The functionality was limited and there was a large amount of manual entry and processing. When the Brexit changes were planned which meant a large increase in customs clearance requirements, Relay realised they needed to update their systems to make the processing more efficient so that the anticipated increase in demand could be handled successfully.
Solution
Relay engaged Intradev to fully re-write their job management system called ‘Semaphore’. This involved developing an extensive web browser-based operational system to handle all aspects of job processing. It includes a large amount of automation of reading incoming e-mails and generating outgoing emails. Jobs may be sent to Relay from their customers either by Excel spreadsheet upload or via XML files sent directly to an API.
Benefits
The new systems have allowed Relay to automate their processes meaning more traffic has been able to behandled and more customers engaged with following the Brexit transition.
Working with Intradev over the last 18 months has really opened my eyes to what is achievable regarding automation of our systems. We have highlighted areas where errors are made by staff and looked how this can be helped and developed software to minimise problems. Clients can down send information for Customs clearance directly from their system into ours, speeding up processing time and highlighting potential problems for the client.
As a Company we have decided that this development will be just the start. We have already started to look at other areas of the businesswe can improve on. Exciting times ahead!
Darren Southwell, Owner
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