Heinz selects Kewill for International customs compliance

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Heinz selects Kewill for International customs compliance.

Kewill, provider of solutions that simplify global trade and logistics, has signed a contract with Heinz, one of the worlds leading marketers of branded foods to retail and foodservice channels, to deliver a fully integrated customs solution for its European operations.

The contract will see Kewill deploy its global customs solution, Kewill CustomsXchange, to Heinzs European operations, initially in the Netherlands, UK, Spain and Italy, enabling simpler and more cost effective processing of export declarations annually. The software will be fully integrated with Heinzs existing SAP enterprise system, allowing customs information to continue to be entered locally, with Kewill CustomsXchange acting as a messaging hub, connecting Heinz with multiple customs authorities worldwide via a network of dedicated local country customs applications.

The solution, for which implementation will commence in May 2010, will provide Heinz with the ability to file customs declarations electronically in compliance with relevant country legislation, automatically processing and archiving returned data such as registration numbers, duty/tax calculations and associated documents. Kewill will host and manage the solution, monitoring performance, managing exceptions and making necessary updates to ensure continuing compliance, following changes to local customs requirements.

Nigel Baker, Logistics Development Manager at Heinz commented, Compliance with international customs regulations represented an increasing burden for Heinz that we were actively looking to reduce. We were already working with Kewill and were confident in their expertise in this area.

Jacquie Boast, Kewills European Chief Operating Officer added, This project will see Kewill combine its core skills in electronic trading partner communications with our many years of customs expertise to significantly simplify the increasingly complex area of international customs compliance for Heinz, introducing notable cost and resource efficiencies.