Customer case
How Royal Unibrew Simplified and Automated Their Export Workflow with Surprising Benefits
From a complex daily workflow with numerous applications and systems to...
Here is the recipe for automating a complex, fragmented, and manual export workflow. It offers unique insights into logistics operations, saves time and money, and—most importantly—creates happier employees.
Every year, 800,000 pallets of Faxe, Ceres, Pepsi, and many other beverages leave the warehouses of this brewing giant.
The skilled employees at Royal Unibrew in Faxe had mastered the logistical puzzle. For a long time, they had been aware of the processes that could be optimized and automated.
They were now ready to embark on this “journey” and reap the benefits.
Customer Case in One Minute
- Non-compliant processes
- Unmanageable workflows
- Lack of overlap between colleagues
- No data utilization across the process
- High complexity with multiple systems and workflows
- Numerous manual steps in emails, Google Sheets, etc., making it slow and cumbersome to track shipment status
- Consolidate data and reduce complexity
- Enable learning to drive progress
- Automation eliminates manual processes
- Use a single platform as a “hub” to centralize and reuse data
- Integrations between carriers, SAP, Danish Customs, and the export platform
- Higher compliance
- Greater clarity and easier overlap between colleagues
- Time saved in Europe-wide bookings: 3 hours per week
- Weekly time savings for document sharing with freight forwarders for UK shipments: 1.5 hours
- Greenland tax report automation: Approx. 10 minutes saved per declaration (600 annually) compared to a previously challenging manual process.
- Data analysis of shipping delays provides future potential, including better negotiations with carriers.
- Automated customs clearance processes
- Plenty of growth opportunities, especially with AI
An Automated Supply Chain Management Workflow
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“Our ambition was to consolidate all the fragmented applications and solutions into one system.”
For Royal Unibrew, optimizing the supply chain held significant potential as nearly half a billion liters leave their warehouses annually, reaching customers worldwide.
Logistics Director Kristian Millert Møller and International Logistics Manager Lene Ella Olsen clearly outlined their vision for a digital transformation project. By automating data transfer from SAP for the creation of health certificates, certificates of origin, CMR freight documents, customs declarations, transport bookings, and excise movement and control systems (EMCS), Royal Unibrew identified a significant opportunity to reduce platforms and centralize data.
A steering group was formed, including representatives from Royal Unibrew, Contenera (formerly ClearView Trade), freight forwarders, and an external project manager. With strong leadership buy-in, they launched the transformation.
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Significant savings
How the platform makes daily life easier for the logistics team
Today: Manual and Analog
- Many manual actions
- No data reuse across export documents
- Difficult to manage colleague overlap during illness or vacation
- Requires multiple applications to complete tasks
- Analog processes make it harder to attract younger employees
- Større fejlrate ved manuelle indtastninger
- Higher error rates from manual input
- Maintaining custom integrations requires resources
- High development costs for in-house integrations
Tomorrow: Digital, Automated, and Intelligent
- Reduced system fragmentation
- More opportunities for automation and logic-based processes
- Reuse of data across the organization
- Easier budgeting with an online solution
- Improved employee retention and recruitment
- Reduction in the number of applications
- Time savings and error reduction
- Real-time sharing of shipment data with customers and partners
- The platform is used by 3,500 companies – no 'teething problems
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SAP integration opportunities
On the wishlist for digitalizing Royal Unibrew’s supply chain management, the following goals were included:
Royal Unibrew’s objectives for digitalizing their supply chain management included:
- Reducing the Number of Applications: Consolidating from 7 applications to 5 through the introduction of a cloud platform.
- Centralizing Data: Creating a unified “pipeline” instead of data existing across various channels.
- Enhancing Compliance: Ensuring secure data handling in IT systems and storage on EU servers
- Simplifying Export Processes: Automating health certificates (HC), certificates of origin (COO), CMR freight documents, customs declarations (DMS), transport bookings, and excise movement and control systems (EMCS)
- Improving Collaboration: Streamlining workflows via SAP and Kuehne + Nagel integrations within the Contenera platform
Royal Unibrew’s Objectives Before the Project Began:
- Compliance – Export declarations EMCS & e-Export
Royal Unibrew transitioned to the Contenera platform ahead of the Danish Customs’ shift to the EU’s new DMS system, eliminating the need to develop and maintain their own DMS integration
- Compliance – Less Complex Daily Operations
Previously, tools for data sharing, bookings, and status updates with carriers were handled manually. Automation has enabled a more compliant and streamlined process - System Support – One Platform for Transport Management
Managing tasks across various applications (including custom-built systems) created growing complexity with more customers, markets, and factories. Consolidating solutions on the Contenera platform has significantly simplified operations - Digitalization & Automation of Export Processes
Royal Unibrew has achieved significant time savings, especially in:
– Transport bookings for forwarders/carriers.
– Uploading export documents for forwarders.
– Automating Greenland tax declarations, which were previously highly time-consuming Customer of Choice – Making Royal Unibrew an Attractive Business Partner + The Preferred Choice
Integrations with forwarders have optimized processes, delivered cost savings, and enabled real-time updates for road and sea transport—benefiting all parties involved.
The key to success: The integration between SAP, Contenera, forwarders, carriers, and Danish Customs has been pivotal
The integration between SAP, Contenera, forwarders, carriers, and Danish Customs has been pivotal.
By unifying channels into a single “pipeline,” Royal Unibrew removed the need to switch between multiple applications.
One major driver was offering customers self-service digital access, where they can view real-time order status. This centralization ensures all involved parties access and share the same information and documents.
The seamless data flow from SAP to the Contenera platform (and vice versa) enables direct connections to EMCS, DMS, and other systems. Carrier integrations ensure all stakeholders can access shipment data.
Ingredients for success:
- Innovation and curiosity
- A strong focus on automation
- Uncompromising attention to detail
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Automatiske toldudførsler
A Bright Future Awaits
Data Analysis Provides Key Insights
- Analyzing data gives Royal Unibrew valuable insights into the causes of potential delays (“shipping delay reasons”).
- Negotiations with carriers are now based on aggregated data.
- In-depth data insights strengthen Royal Unibrew’s position when negotiating transport contracts.
- A data-driven approach supplies Royal Unibrew with customer information (e.g., order details and delays) and Power BI dashboards for their sales teams in the USA.
- With the AI-powered Attachment Service, the platform reads and identifies references on Royal Unibrew’s export invoices, which are then automatically uploaded to shipments within the platform. These can be shared with forwarders or used internally and with customers.
Streamlining Shipments and Tracking
Today, all documents are created within the platform. Managing shipments and tracking has become simple. The next step involves expanding reporting capabilities so Royal Unibrew can track both their own and their suppliers’ performance.
This will provide the brewery with actionable insights into the causes of delays across all stages—packaging, production, and delivery
Insight into data provides surprising benefits
All data becomes accessible and can serve as the foundation for analyses across all shipments. This creates a highly transparent dialogue with carriers, especially when focusing on areas for improvement or during tenders.
The platform acts as a sort of control tower, delivering significant advantages for the entire supply chain management team at Royal Unibrew.
Through Power BI, we will collaborate with the brewery to set up individualized dashboards for customers, ensuring their data is automatically updated. This allows all stakeholders to track shipments in real time, saving enormous amounts of time and significantly reducing disruptions.
Although it was not part of the original goals or requirements, the platform’s many possibilities enable the analysis and utilization of vast amounts of data, making the case even more profitable for Royal Unibrew. Additionally, the integrations open up further automation potential, which we will explore in depth together.
This marks the beginning of a brave new world—and we’ve only just started to unscrew the lid on what’s possible…
Fewer errors
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Del artikel
About Royal Unibrew
Royal Unibrew is a leading regional multi-beverage company with strong local brand portfolios. Its primary markets include the Nordic countries, the Baltics, the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Canada. Its products are also sold in over 70 other countries worldwide.
Learn more about Royal Unibrew:
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Can we help you make your export processes easier?
You are welcome to have a no-obligation consultation with one of our specialists.
We’ll look – together with you – at how digitization can eliminate manual processes, reduce errors and create a great overview of all your shipments and better compliance.
A surprising number of processes can be automated today, making life easier for you and your customers.
