Unlock Control and Savings with Customs Warehousing in CAS

The company evaluated three to four providers before choosing CAS as the customs software to automate their customs operations, on the advice of a trusted consultant. CAS stood out because it housed all flows in one system, with a cleaner user interface and stronger support for customs warehousing. Seeing the product also expanded the scope of what the team thought was possible.

“Seeing the product opened our eyes to extending the scope of the project and getting a shorter payback time. The ROI was improved by the added functionality that CAS offered”, said Richard Browne, Finance Director at Smart Garden Products

The team runs CAS without an API, moving files via SFTP. Each morning, they ingest the previous day’s UK shipments in one file, along with adjustments and transfers. Two reconciliations are performed in Excel, comparing WMS movements and balances with CAS. Tasks and error notifications from CAS – if any – come via email, and the system remains open on their computer throughout the day to process inbound shipments and re-exports from the UK, though most work is concentrated in the morning.

“CAS is pretty seamless most of the time. The system picks up on missing data early, often due to new or changing HMRC requirements, and gives us a pre-warning to add or change data before our declaration gets submitted to the authorities. That has saved us from delays multiple times already”, said Richard Towens, Compliance and Project Accountant at Smart Garden Products.

Richard Browne added, “The amount of accuracy involved in a duty management system really highlights how poor the quality of freight forwarders can be. CAS forces you to get it right.”

CAS has delivered both financial and operational gains. Using CAS, Smart Garden Products reduced its duty bill by about one third, while also improving cash flow through deferred duty payments in the customs warehouse. By bringing declarations in-house, Smart Garden Products cut broker costs and gained full visibility of flows, with most processes now running automatically. Errors are flagged before submission to customs authorities, reducing delays at the border.

“CAS reduced our duty bill by roughly 30 percent. That saving alone justified the investment.”

“The known benefit of a customs warehouse is cash flow timing. We don’t pay duty until goods are released. CAS helped us capture that”, said Richard Browne, Finance Director at Smart Garden Products.

In addition, the company built strong internal expertise to be able to manage their customs operations in-house. Having everything in one tool also gives the team much greater control, since declarations and customs warehousing are managed in a single system. This centralisation means they can track movements, monitor duties, and ensure compliance in one place, giving them the visibility that was missing when working with brokers.

“It gives us a lot greater control. Being able to do our own declarations instead of outsourcing them brings clear cost benefits, but another big advantage is the control we now have. CAS houses everything in one system, combining declarations and customs warehousing, so the flows run seamlessly. We rarely see issues, and when we do, it’s clear where to resolve them. The visibility and understanding we now have of our customs data is a huge improvement,” said Richard Towens, Compliance and Project Accountant at Smart Garden Products.

“We’re analysts, we want the data during the month as much as at month-end, because that’s important for our accounting processes. Now with CAS the data is available to us at any time,” said Richard Towens, Compliance and Project Accountant at Smart Garden Products.

Smart Garden Products would highly recommend CAS to other businesses, with one condition: understand the scale of the project. Success depends on tight master data and a willingness to learn. For them, CAS proved easy to run once data quality was in place. Combined with the expertise and support from C4T staff, the company has gained both savings and control. They have also seen clear investment in CAS over time, with continuous improvements that make the system more user friendly now than when they first selected it. Validations are built into CAS before declarations are submitted, which reduces errors and avoids costly delays. Training materials and technical documents are another strength, with clear graphics and well-structured content that make it easy for the team to learn and refer back when needed.

“Make sure you understand the scale of the undertaking. You’ve got to have tight control of your core data. If you nail your master data, CAS is pretty easy to use,” said Richard Towens, Compliance and Project Accountant at Smart Garden Products.

He added, “We are listened to and our feedback is appreciated. That gives us confidence that the product will keep improving.”