ユーザー事例

Improving chemical sample shipment visibility and tracking by digitalizing and consolidating data

BASF uses AX4 to create a more user-friendly and streamlined e-commerce platform

BASF uses AX4 to create a more user-friendly and streamlined e-commerce platform

BASF SE

BASF SE, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, maintains 239 production facilities in 91 countries. Today, the over 111,000 BASF employees help generate annual revenues of roughly 87 billion euros.

https://www.basf.com/us/en.html

本社:
Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
製品:
AX4

共有

Leveraging AX4, we no longer have to rely on the IT systems of our transport service providers to find out where a shipment is.
Jochen Mahler, Senior Manager Samples and Nontrade Goods Services, BASF SE

Using AX4 to consolidate data

BASF SE (BASF) aims to create chemistry for a sustainable future. One way to achieve this is by shipping existing and prospective customers samples of the various chemicals the company produces. Sending out samples is an important tool for introducing current customers to new products, getting new developments out into the market and finding new customers. However, one of the most frequent questions customers asked in the past was: “When I order something online, I know exactly when it will arrive. Why can’t you do that?”

With this feedback in mind, BASF sought out potential solutions, eventually teaming up with Siemens Digital Industries Software to leverage the AX4™ software, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services.

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Needing an improved e-commerce user experience

Before finding a solution, however, it was important to understand the company’s overall goal. BASF’s customers wanted the kind of convenient user experience (UX) that they got from online merchants: order with just a few clicks, then track the status and current location of their shipment online. “Customers want to know where a delivery is at any given moment and when to expect the package to show up at their front door,” says Jochen Mahler, the senior manager for samples and nontrade goods services at BASF.

“Like the big online retailers, we use express carriers to ship our samples with the shortest possible delivery time and near-real-time tracking,” says Mahler. “Naturally, our customers also expect free shipping.”

BASF maintains a ready supply of samples, so there is always enough inventory on hand to ship orders right away. Additionally, the company ships 400 to 600 packages a day from Ludwigshafen, which comes out to 100,000 shipments a year.

Seven years ago, the in-house process for sending out samples was: Workers print out freight documents, sort the accompanying documents and manually input orders with the carrier. Much of the work had to be done by hand, keeping the staff from performing more value-adding activities. “Meanwhile, customers kept calling up to ask where their samples were
and why we couldn’t offer the same kind of service as the big online retailers,” says Mahler.

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Creating a solution with Siemens Digital Logistics

To meet this need and find a solution, BASF began accommodating these requests in 2016 by establishing a partnership with Siemens Digital Logistics. The chemical giant worked with Siemens Digital Logistics to create an integrated software solution for booking carriers, generating waybills and tracking shipments.

Using AX4 to consolidate data

Today, when someone from the BASF sales or customer care team initiates an order, the system directly transmits it from the sales interface to SAP together with all the data on the batch and quantity they requested. This allows the company to partially automate the process of managing shipments, organizing documents and booking carriers in SAP. Additionally, this process follows a variety of regulations, since shipments of chemicals are subject to special safety precautions and regulations. The process of transmitting the proper accompanying documents and generating the waybill is then automatic.

BASF transmits the shipping data in electronic data interchange (EDI) format from SAP to AX4, so that the system automatically generates the freight documents in the carrier web service and sends back the appropriate data to AX4. The company can assign each shipment a reference number that they can use to transmit the necessary papers to the cloud-based carrier system, where they can digitally access them.

By integrating the sales interface, the sales associate can access the AX4 data to track the entire shipping process without using SAP and provide the customer with a link to the tracking data.

“When we receive orders by 3 p.m., we now can ship them out in just 90 minutes,” says Mahler. “That way, they typically arrive at their final destination in the U.S. the next day.”

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Developing a scan-to-print process

Working with Siemens, BASF was also able to develop a scan-to-print process to sync the warehouse intralogistics and attach the auto-generated waybill to the package. The first step is to scan the internal BASF label, which is used to identify the order during the on-site commissioning process.

The cloud solution uses the data from the label’s barcode to output the digital waybill to a label printer. Workers can then add the shipping label to the package, which is now ready for shipment.

This is where the tracking feature from the carrier solution comes in, shielding the sales associate and customer from the up to 160 available tracking milestones from the various partner systems.

“We defined a few milestones to display to the customer,” says Mahler. The first milestone marks the moment the company books the shipment in SAP. Another milestone marks, for example, when they successfully print the waybill, since this means that workers are loading the shipment. “Once a customer places an order, they are automatically given an order
reference number that they can use to track each phase of the shipment online,” says Mahler. “Using AX4, we can share the reference numbers with sales associates so that they can always see the status and location of their initiated orders.”

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Reducing paper documents by 86 percent

Before implementing AX4, the high volume of shipments meant a lot of paperwork. This was especially true for chemical exports, which account for 60 percent of shipments and require extensive documentation. By switching to electronic processes, the company reduced the
volume of paper they were using by 86 percent.

“Thanks to Siemens solutions, we only need paper printouts for 14 percent of orders,” says Mahler. “But that’s not the fault of the solution, just the regulations in some destination countries that still require printed documents.”

Increasing visibility and efficiency while saving costs and resources

By implementing a solution for digitally managing sample shipments, BASF brought greater visibility and efficiency to their order and transport processes. A single click gives customers and the BASF sample center access to the order’s shipping status and its shipping data.

“Leveraging AX4, we no longer have to rely on the IT systems of our transport service providers to find out where a shipment is,” says Mahler. The company can automatically integrate that data into the centralized solution.

Even when the administrative requirements of certain destination countries make it impossible to fully digitalize how the company manages shipments, the solution still integrates the air freight tracking platforms.

The cloud-based software greatly accelerates and streamlines the booking processes and data integration from shipping and carrier partners. Additionally, the paperless exchange of documents lowers lead times and improves performance in import processes. The scan-to-print solution allows the company to sync physical product movements with document flows,
greatly reducing paper consumption.

“With the integrated reporting feature in AX4, we get helpful reports and analytics so that we can automate even more processes down the road,” says Mahler.

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Simplifying sample shipments

“The solution has made it easier to supply our customers with samples,” says Mahler. “Today, all it takes is a few clicks for our sales or customer care team to send one or more samples to a customer with complete visibility throughout the supply chain.” Besides the Ludwigshafen site, the company is already rolling out the solution to other BASF sample centers.

Emboldened by this success, Mahler has already set his sights on new objectives, such as using predictive milestone analytics to further reduce the number of return shipments.

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With the integrated reporting feature in AX4, we get helpful reports and analytics so that we can automate even more processes down the road.
Jochen Mahler, Senior Manager Samples and Nontrade Goods Services, BASF SE