The past few months have been hectic for software provider Stream Software, and that pace isn’t slowing down anytime soon, says Léon van Litsenburg. 'But if all goes well, we should be able to start fine-tuning around the summer, once the storm of the heavy lifting has passed.'

Publication date: 30/12/2024

He is talking, for example, about the implementation of UCC (Union Customs Code) in the systems, one of the most radical changes in the customs world in recent years. 'Last year we already experienced a transition from the declaration system AGS to DMS. That brought the necessary hiccups and ups and downs. The transition from NCTS to DVA was also a challenge. We worked with Customs to get the first declarations through, but many things turned out not to be tested properly. And then there was also the fact that certain business rules were not updated until about five days before going live.'

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Pingpong problems
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Communication with customs doesn’t always go smoothly, according to Van Litsenburg’s experience. 'The deadlines remain fixed, even though specifications arrive late. This means we don’t really have enough time to thoroughly test everything. The risk is that you end up with ping-pong problems: you fix one error, only to encounter a new error message.'
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"Our software evolves with the needs of the customer."
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Customers also need time to adjust to new systems. That’s where Stream Software’s role as an advisor comes into play. 'We need to provide strong support to our customers. Customs doesn’t always adopt a customer-oriented approach. They might introduce a new code, but without further explanation, customers encounter error messages. That’s why we invest heavily in communication and knowledge sharing. Through daily newsletters and an online documentation page, we keep our customers informed about the latest issues and offer all kinds of tips and tricks.'

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War room
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To resolve all problems and questions quickly, Stream Software sets up a war room for large-scale issues like this. 'We bring together various departments. This approach is essential for managing the influx of questions and problems. You know these issues will arise, and that's perfectly logical. So, you need to anticipate them.'

In the coming year, Van Litsenburg hopes to focus on fine-tuning with his team. 'Once the storm around UCC settles, we can concentrate on that. For example, ensuring that users only need to click once to execute something instead of three times as is currently the case. Additionally, we’ll focus on cloud solutions. Our software evolves with the needs of our customers. As soon as there’s room, we’ll focus on improvements and innovation.'

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Also read the article on Nieuwsblad Transport's webpage.