Descartes integrates customs declaration filing tool with SAP TMS

Canadian logistics software provider Descartes Systems Group Inc. said it has integrated its air and ocean transportation freight messaging and customs declaration filing platform with German software vendor SAP SE's transportation management system (TMS) product.

Waterloo, Ont.-based Descartes said the integration was the latest step in its agreement with SAP—known as a Software Development Cooperation Agreement (SDCA)—to develop software products together for the market. The integration, announced Monday, will help customers using the "SAP TM" application to streamline the international shipment of goods, better collaborate with their transportation partners, and comply with import and export filing requirements, Descartes said.

In addition, the partnership gives users of SAP TM access to Descartes' Global Logistics Network (GLN), a system allows manufacturers, retailers, distributors, freight forwarders, and other logistics services providers (LSPs) to collaborate with their air and ocean carriers, according to Descartes.

"Transportation management is a multi-party process, and our work with Descartes helps customers running SAP TM to more efficiently and effectively execute cargo bookings, send waybill information, track shipments, and file customs documents with carriers, logistics service providers, and regulatory agencies," Franz Hero, SAP's senior vice president for supply chain and logistics development, said in a statement. "We decided to collaborate with Descartes because of their expertise in multi-modal transportation messaging and customs filing."

The integration is the latest step in SAP's effort to expand its logistics footprint, following moves such as joining the "Blockchain in Transport Alliance" (BiTA—formerly known as the "Blockchain in Trucking Alliance"), making a multi-billion-dollar investment in developing Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities for the sector, and adding a global track and trace capability to its "Leonardo" IoT platform for supply chain applications.