Samer & Co Shipping strengthens its digital capabilities with CargoWise

The world of logistics is changing rapidly, at the same time creating both new challenges and new opportunities that digital technologies can support and accelerate.

“Our decision to implement CargoWise fits perfectly into this picture”, says Davide Galimberti, Technical Process & Project Coordinator at Samer & Co. Shipping (Samer).

Since making the move to CargoWise, the international forwarder has considerably streamlined the daily operations of all its operators, taking a big step towards the critical process automation and integration needed in today’s logistics environment.

Maintaining a consistent pace of digital evolution

With more than a century of history, Samer today is a leading company in shipping and forwarding, with over 600 employees across global companies alongside its headquarters in Trieste, Italy.

Samer sought to replace their in-house Transport Management System (TMS) with a powerful solution that would provide a high level of interactivity and technological innovation to speed up the quotation and shipping process.

Aglaia Clark, Project Cargo Operations & CargoWise Accounting Supervisor explains, “There has always been the need to connect commercial, operational and administrative data, to have the possibility of improving performance and our margin through management control.

“Before CargoWise, the offers of our department were made on a word or email basis, above all due to the particularity of our work; active invoices were issued by accounting with another system by other operators, passive invoices were very often not available for consultation, and the data was not connected to each other or between colleagues.

“To monitor the cost and revenue situation, it was necessary to access various databases and systems, thus wasting a lot of time and space in terms of data storage.”

In 2020, the business made the decision to implement CargoWise to address these challenges.

Elisa Pegan, Controlling & Digital Innovation and CargoWise Project Manager explains, “as the international forwarding market becomes increasingly competitive and demanding, Samer has always aimed to offer the customer an ‘all – around service’, at the forefront in the digitization of logistics operations.”

“CargoWise has had a great impact and involves a radical and standardized change of the way of working.”

Enhancing operational efficiency through integrated processes

Since the rollout in 2021, CargoWise has introduced a host of benefits across the business, including real-time updates and visibility, deep integration between operative and accounting activities and automation.

According to Ms Clark, CargoWise has been a valuable ally in terms of work organization and visibility, right from the start.

“Since it's been in use, all data is immediately accessible, available and connected to each other, I spend less time searching and verifying and on futile searches.”

Mr Galimberti adds, “We are already seeing the first results of these projects which are helping to simplify logistics operations using a single platform, to strengthen relationships with our customers, partners and networks and, more generally, to increase our business by seizing new opportunities.

“In fact, this implementation is contributing to the reduction of work time on the single shipment, to greater clarity on the procedures to be followed and to an easier handover between colleagues.”

The benefits have further extended to Samer’s customers. Mr Galimberti explains that through CargoWise’s Web Tracker, “not only have customers been empowered to track their shipments and containers, but to also instantly download and upload specific documents, create their own customized reports and view all their accounting information. In this way the customer can follow the shipment during every step with total transparency and traceability.”

“With this fast-paced nature of the logistics industry, it is important to have a tool that gives quick and complete visibility into shipments at every stage. This is also why we will continue to invest in this visibility with tailored details and insights.”

Hands-on support to implement, configure and optimize CargoWise

When faced with implementing a new system, Ms Clark notes “when it comes to change, most people get worried and annoyed; there is constant comparison with the previous system and stress around the time spent learning a new approach”.

Mr Galimberti adds, “digitization is not a simple process: you cannot expect immediate results when implementing a new digital tool. You must be ready to change your internal processes and organizational patterns and adopt a digital-first mindset.

“The learning curve is exponential: in the beginning you may struggle to see concrete results, but once a solid foundation is built, consistent growth will follow.”

For Samer, working with CargoWise’s Service Partner, A2B Solution Group has helped accelerate their implementation goals.

“Their constant support, both in the implementation phase and for the subsequent steps, has allowed us to proceed speed towards go live and perfect the system according to our operational and business needs,” concludes Ms Pegan.