At the age of 19, Harun Uygun started working for a plant exporter in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands. He worked as an export manager for five years before moving to a freight forwarder, working there as a customs representative for several years. "There, I saw what could go wrong and how things could be done better, and that is exactly the reason I started Logimex together with my partner Altug Ciftci."
The main challenge: long waiting times. "Once a truck is loaded, it has to receive a 'go' from customs. That's a document, and usually, it takes 30, 40, or sometimes 60 minutes for the customs representative to arrange it. I know from experience that this can be very annoying. We have a guaranteed response time of 5 to 10 minutes, and of course, that is interesting for the customer."
Response time greatly reduced
This is possible thanks to a combination of smart digitization and being a bit tech-savvy, he explains. "The thing is that most customs representatives have been doing the same thing for decades. Imagine a slightly older man who prints everything, fills it in, scans it, and forwards it again; a bit stereotypical, but in my experience, that's really how it often goes. I have often wondered aloud why it couldn't be done faster, but then you hear that this is just the way it goes."
The advantage, Harun believes, is that the competition does not start programming tomorrow as well. "Thanks to our program, it is always a matter of minutes, which varies a bit with the size of the load, but it's never much longer." And it is needed, and there is no option to request it earlier or something like that, especially since, especially in ornamental plant cultivation, trucks are often reloaded last minute with an extra trolley of plants or ceramics.
Module
Logimex's activities consist of taking care of all possible documentation concerning the import, export, and transit of all kinds of goods. In practice, this mainly involves flowers and plants to the UK and Turkey. The men, who both have Turkish roots, also have several customers in Turkey. Years of experience and knowledge gained in the flower and plant sector allow them to better support companies in this sector. They also work closely with a Turkish carrier, which often combines transporting plants that way with driving locally produced textiles destined for the Western European market.
As far as the UK is concerned, support regarding the arrangement of phytosanitary documents is an important task. In that area, Logimex works closely with AgriCert, which has developed a module that allows a lot of information to be entered automatically." Again, much is still entered manually, but much of it can be automated. In over 90% of cases, we can arrange a certificate within 1 minute. The module can also be used independently, if necessary, we can then provide support."
Continue investing
It is this response time that has given Logimex a flying start. However, that is no reason to sit back. "I am 29, and my partner is 30. In short, we have the advantage of being young and being able to follow developments in digitalization relatively easily. We want to continue investing in that, to always ensure speed and minimize errors where possible."
For more information:
Harun Uygun 
Logimex
Tel.: 085 - 401 3805
[email protected]
https://www.logimex.nl/