At the 22nd annual Logistics Achiever Awards, hosted by the publication Logistics News, global logistics and forwarding company Savino del Bene won the Silver award for its unique E-Bond electronic warehousing solution commissioned by and implemented at Nissan South Africa.
The solution is tailored specifically for automotive industry applications, and is fully SARS compliant, while delivering true world class standards to the Southern Africa business community. It integrates with Nissan’s existing SAP R/3 ERP framework and delivers a significant reduction in the clearing times of imported products, at a lower cost to the company, which is also fully compliant with the South African Revenue Services’ (SARS) forward-thinking requirements.
The electronic warehousing solution allows computerised clearing and the generation of bills of entry without the imported goods having to be held in a dedicated, third-party bonded warehouse. Instead, the goods are transported directly to the client warehouse, allowing quicker access to the goods, while the necessary documentation, including bills of entries and SARS releases, are centrally obtained via an electronic bond store.
By allowing the free flow of imported vehicles, and parts and accessories, the system reduces the clearing process by up to three days. The reduced time periods afforded by the electronic bond store system will be very beneficial and will ensure compliance with the reduced timelines as proposed by the Draft Customs Control Bill, which proposes that imported goods must be cleared within three days of arrival.
Additionally, the fully-automated nature of this advanced solution reduces the chance of costly human error while the presence of identifiable audit points in the system supported by business rules and total visibility to both the client, as well as to SARS, creates a strong risk profile which benefits both SARS and traders.
This award-winning new system is in-line with the fast-tracked modernisation drive being undertaken by the progressive SARS at the moment, which includes the concept of compulsory electronic communication and release. This process has already been very successfully implemented in the Netherlands and UK, and is widely accepted as the new global standard model for this crucial business process.
The system allows the tax status to be linked to the imported product, rather than a location. Accurate audit trails per vehicle and P&A shipments are automatically generated, and detailed monthly reports are provided, with the management of the system customisable on a per-customer basis.
“The time has come to implement this solution as a standard in the automotive industry as a whole, while also extending it to other industries and warehouse types, so that all parties can reap the system’s proven benefits,” commented Savino del Bene SA’s financial director, Juanita Maree.
“This solution puts our South African operations at the forefront of electronic warehousing systems anywhere in the world, while ensuring that we remain compliant with future SARS requirements on this process moving forward, despite SARS itself moving admirably rapidly with its first-rate modernisation drive. We see the system not so much as providing a competitive advantage, although right now it certainly does, but more of a step into the future which will see such solutions becoming mandatory across the globe. But we’re very proud to be clearly leading the pack in this process transformation,” concludes Tony Minnie, General Manager of Aftersales operations at Nissan SA.
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