In-housing customs in record time

Volys embarked on their journey with C4T in a remarkably efficient and speedy manner. Following the approval of the business case, their implementation project commenced and was completed in just five weeks. You read that correctly! It took only five weeks to progress from the initial kick-off meeting with the onboarding team to the first released customs declaration in CAS - a record time!

The internal expertise of Volys’ customs team significantly expedited the implementation. Collecting the required data usually takes quite some time, but Volys provided all the necessary information within one week.

“The onboarding process was interactive, with clear and transparent communication, as both Volys and C4T teams were very committed,” said Thierry Boi, Head of Logistics & Outsourced Processes at Volys.

“The Volys team was highly motivated, well-prepared, and knowledgeable about their internal customs processes, ensuring a smooth onboarding. The synergy between Luc, a senior logistics coordinator, and Marthe, who had prior experience with CAS, made this the dream team to work with, resulting in the fastest onboarding C4T has seen so far.” said Jens Breidenich, Implementation Manager at Customs4trade.

Volys uses CAS for exports out of Belgium to numerous locations. They use Excel uploads for their data ingests and are considering integrating CAS with their ERP system via API in the future. The ability to start with Excel uploads makes CAS a very accessible tool and gives Volys the option to automate further when they have the necessary resources.

“Although CAS is an easy-to-use, intuitive platform, we received one-on-one training on using CAS and the actions to take in case of errors, which was very helpful in getting started,” said Marthe Corne, Logistics Coordinator at Volys.

Several aspects are highlighted when Volys talks about the benefits of in-housing customs with CAS. First, using CAS as their customs management platform gives them control over their processes and all of their data, which was not the case when collaborating with their customs broker. “In case we get an error in CAS, it usually takes just a few seconds to correct it and get the declaration submitted again and released,” said Luc De Witte, Logistics Coordinator at Volys.

Additionally, Volys benefits from substantial cost savings compared to the fees charged by their customs broker for managing export declarations. “With CAS, we save an incredible amount of money versus the broker costs we had before. CAS delivers us a 65% cost saving, which makes a huge difference for us,” said Thierry Boi, Head of Logistics & Outsourced Processes at Volys.

Besides the 65% cost saving, there is a significant benefit in speed. Previously, it took Volys half an hour to an hour to get the customs declaration released and obtain the required documents through their customs broker. With CAS, it takes only a few minutes. This is a huge improvement in their supply chain, keeping their goods moving at all times.

“Before the onboarding process started, we had just one concern: whether C4T would be able to deliver what they promised. We have a lot of shipments, so the standards are very high, and the work is extremely demanding. We were wondering whether the nice sales pitch would provide us with the benefits that were presented and whether the workload would really decrease with CAS. Having implemented CAS, I now have the assurance that this was an unnecessary concern since we are clearly seeing the savings in workload, time, and costs,” said Thierry Boi, Head of Logistics & Outsourced Processes at Volys.

“If you want to manage customs in-house, I would strongly recommend doing it with CAS!” said Thierry Boi, Head of Logistics & Outsourced Processes at Volys.

As Volys embarks on its expansion journey, including building a new production site as of 2026 and entering new markets, they are committed to continuing this path of innovation and efficiency. Ensuring their customs operations remain agile, compliant, and seamlessly integrated across borders, Volys sees the current positive experience with CAS as a promising start to a wonderful collaboration.