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Pincvision Delivers Scalable Export Declaration Ecommerce Solution
3
months to deliver
#1
first to market
25-40%
monthly growth
Pincvision is the #1 provider of trade compliance outsourcing in the Netherlands. As Brexit loomed, exporters were in a dilemma—no one knew what new rules and complexity would come from the divorce settlement. Luckily Pincvision came to their rescue with an export declaration e-commerce solution called “Export Declaration” (Uitvoeraangifte.com in Dutch.)
Delivered in less than three months, up to 35,000 Dutch companies can access the eCommerce solution to process customs declarations cost-effectively, with 24x7 convenience and no need to deal with customs brokers.
- Business Process Management
- Case Management
- Customer Experience
- Operational Efficiency
- Web Apps & Portals
- ISV
"OutSystems gave us the speed of development to easily implement changing requirements. And one-click deployment helped us to verify results with the users quickly. That's how we delivered this project within three months from kick-off to production."
Edwin Kampshoff
CIO, Pincvision
Challenge
Build a Brexit-proof Export Declaration Solution
For over 15 years, Pincvision has provided customers a unique combination of in-depth trade compliance expertise and class-leading automation. In the past, export regulatory compliance required companies to enlist the help of expert customs brokers to ensure they did not fall foul of country-specific red tape.
Pincvision's founder foresaw how the internet would change the challenge for exporters from gathering export-related knowledge to applying it. He saw that ERP systems used to encode and partially automate export processes were slow to change. This made it extremely difficult for businesses to keep up with changing regulations across multiple countries.
“With OutSystems, we were able to launch our Brexit-ready export declaration solution ahead of the competition. And we've got the agility to respond rapidly should legislation change again.”
And so was born Pincvision, a company that now describes itself as a "RegTech" provider. "Pinc" stands for People in Compliance, and "Vision" refers to the innovative use of technology to streamline international trade compliance.
As Brexit negotiations dragged on, exporters were desperate to know how export rules would change and what they would need to do differently to comply with yet undefined European/UK-specific custom obligations.
For Pincvision, which makes its living from mastering such complexity and simplifying the whole process for its customers, it presented another challenge. How to get a new e-commerce solution live in time to win the lion's share of the Dutch export market? It was hard to be Brexit-proof when the rules could still change.
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Why Pincvision chose OutSystems:
Speed-up development and improve agility
Deliver public-facing web apps and portals
Scalability, integration, and security
Solution
Pincvision Embraces Faster Visual Development
Pincvision was introduced to OutSystems by Transfer Solutions, an OutSystems sales, delivery, and training partner that operates across the Benelux region.
Several criteria made OutSystems the ideal fit for Pincvision's requirement:
- High-speed, visual development—there was a short window of opportunity to deliver this app before Brexit upended long-established export routines.
- Agility—although the vision was clear, requirements were likely to change during the project as Brexit divorce terms got settled.
- User Experience—Pincvision needed to deliver a brilliant user experience for first-time customers. Frictionless onboarding and a quick and easy way to generate customs declarations would be essential to make this the preferred channel for repeat customers.
- Powerful integration—Pincvision knew it needed to integrate seamlessly with the Dutch customs system ("AGS") and the preferred payment service provider Buckaroo. OutSystems gave Pincvision the power and flexibility to integrate these systems and any others they would need.
“OutSystems was quick for our developers to learn, especially thanks to the coaching we received from an experienced partner—Transfer Solutions. Both the integration and UX implementation were easy to implement.”
Following a brief proof of concept, Pincvision opted for OutSystems Cloud hosting. Edwin says, “OutSystems Cloud hosting meant the platform was immediately available. From my point of view, it provided a transparent cost of ownership and, importantly, would be continuously updated with the latest security patches.”
Edwin assembled a seven-person multidisciplinary project team with IT, Marketing, Customer Services, and Customs representatives.
Transfer Solutions arranged training and certification for three developers from Pincvision, and then the team of three plus a Lead Developer from Transfer Solutions started development in January 2019. By 29th March, the first release of Export Declaration was ready for launch.
"Using OutSystems supported an agile development process, making it easier to respond to changes in close cooperation with our business stakeholders," says Edwin.
Partner
Transfer Solutions BV
As a full-service provider, we offer IT services for the entire lifecycle of your business IT solutions: from concept to realization. We serve the full spectrum, from simple and rapidly developed...
Learn more about Transfer Solutions BVResults
Export Declaration a Declared Success
When development started on this project, the scheduled date for Brexit was 29th March 2019, so by launching Export Declaration by this date, Pincvision met an important deadline. Nearly two years later, Brexit finally happened on 31st January 2020, following two postponements, a UK prime minister change, and a general election. A year's transition period and a prospect of continuing changes to transitional arrangements ensued.
Although Export Declaration went into production 21 months ahead of Brexit, customers could use the portal to process export declarations for all countries outside of the European Union. This gave Pincvision a significant head start to the competition, so when Brexit eventually happened, Export Declaration was already the obvious choice for many new customers that needed help exporting to the UK.
Export Declaration allows users to create customs declarations in five quick steps. They provide information about the consignee, products, and shipment. After payment, they can track the progress of their order. And within minutes, they can download a customs declaration once Dutch Customs approve it.
Customers benefit from 24x7 availability, competitive rates—as the service cuts out the need to involve customs brokers—and customer support integrated within the portal.
“Since Brexit, we’ve seen declarations grow 25 to 40 percent every month compared to the previous month. There’s also a cross-pollination effect, as new customers typically need other services that we provide, like certifications of origin. So, it’s a positive growth story across the board.”
Customers love the speed and simplicity of Export Declaration:
“Export declaration fits well with our needs.”
“The portal is very clear and offers very competitive rates.”
“It's great that you can do export declarations very quickly at any time, at any location.”
“Export declaration monitors the progress of our export declarations, comes up with good advice, and follows up on improvement proposals quickly.”
“From entry to receiving back a checked declaration can be as quick as five minutes. Super!”
Following the release of Export Declaration, Pincvision has extended its reach with an ISV business model. “There are several small logistic service providers (LSPs) that we have partnered with,” says Edwin. “They process export declarations for their customers using the portal. Even though they add a margin on the processing fee, their customers still get a better deal than going through a customs declaration agent.”
The benefits for Pincvision include getting to market faster, a fast learning curve for developers, it's easier to deliver consistently brilliant user experience, and they can quickly adapt the solution whenever changes to export rules require.
Looking ahead, Pincvision is extending its use of OutSystems. Amongst other plans, the company will shortly refactor an existing .NET back-office application.
