TradeCompliance-as-a-Service (TCaaS): A Reference Architecture

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:24:31 +0000

Globalization and extension of the Supply Chain are the emerging market trends driving the competitive International business. There has been a strategic shift to seek product and process cost reductions by outsourcing capital and labor intensive activities to global partners down the value chain. As a result, companies are engaging in direct sourcing and offshore production/distribution of products through third-parties in low-cost countries.

With this trend, there is a need to:

• Effectively manage and monitor the cross-border movement of goods and reduce the indirect costs associated with them in the form of standard duties and applicability of preferential trade programs.
• Effectively manage product classification and management.
• Be compliant with the ever-growing complexity of each country’s trade rules and regulatory requirements for restricted-party screening, embargo checks and licenses.
• Manage brokers/third-parties for trade document preparation, freight payment and shipment resolution.
• Establish effective means of communication with the Government authorities to provide accurate import and export control information.

While trade compliance is a core business process for Customs, a significant amount of the burden of compliance is placed upon importers. The stakes are often high for a company found to be noncompliance, as Customs continues to measure company compliance through intensive cargo exams on a more frequent, ongoing basis. This process can significantly disrupt a company's "just-in-time" delivery program.

Cloud-based Global “Trade-Compliance-as-a-Service” Solution is a decision support system that can provide a centralized repository of the world-wide Global Trade Content and can handle ever-changing complex import/export compliance guidelines. The solution can integrate seamlessly with the enterprise ERP systems to provide real-time restricted party screening, embargo checks, import/export license management, product classifications, customs invoicing and integration with brokers and customs authorities for reporting the cross-border movement of goods.

The automated end-to-end cloud delivery model for trade compliance solution provides a streamlined approach to the import and export regulatory processes for all the orders placed across all the trading countries. Other benefits of the solution are:

• Reduced inventory and supply chain costs through effective export and import processes.

• Accelerated outbound deliveries through automated trade compliance.

• Accurate tariff and duty rate calculation through correct product classification and license decisions.

• Assured compliance to the government regulations and timely availability of accurate information and export/import documentation for audit purposes.

• Streamlined electronic communications with customs authorities.

• Effective controls for cross-border transactions in accordance with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) requirements.

Keywords:

Cloud Trade Compliance Service

Speaker First Name:

Ankur

Speaker Last Name:

Srivastava

Speaker Job Title:

Solution Architect

Speaker's Company Name/Affiliation:

TATA Consultancy Services

Speaker Bio:

Ankur Srivastava is the Technical Solution Architect in the HiTech Industry Solution Unit (ISU) of TATA Consultancy Services. His main areas of focus are Trade Compliance, Storage, Database and Virtualization. He has over 7 years of experience as a technologist in delivering solutions across the technology stack covering storage, servers, databases and applications. Ankur holds a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in Computer Science and Engineering and is also a NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer (NCIE). Outside workplace, Ankur likes music, cooking food and spending leisure time with family.

Speaker's Postal Address:

TATA Consultancy Services Awadh Park, Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow-226010 India

6th annual Cloud Slam 2014 Cloud Computing Conference, San Francisco CA, June 4, 2014. Cloud Computing Events 2014 - Cloud Trade Compliance Service

TradeCompliance-as-a-Service (TCaaS): A Reference Architecture