DAKOSY and dbh Digitize the Release Process for ‘German Ports’

A joint German solution for the digitized release process of import containers is being developed by the service providers DAKOSY AG, Hamburg, and dbh Logistics IT AG, Bremen, who specialize in Port Community Systems. This year, the first shipping companies and freight forwarders are to be connected to the platform, which will be marketed under the label ‘German Ports’ in the future.

(Hamburg/Bremen) DAKOSY and dbh have created the conditions to standardize and digitize the release process for import containers in the German seaports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Bremen, and Wilhelmshaven. Both process-wise and technologically, various options are available to the participants to utilize the application for the release process.

DAKOSY and dbh are providing users with blockchain technology for the first time. The suitability and practicality of blockchain for the release process has already been confirmed within the framework of the IHATEC research project ROboB. Another trigger for the rapid implementation of this project is the currently high interest from carriers in digitizing the release process.

The entry into the new process is equally simple for carriers, freight forwarders, transport companies, and terminals. DAKOSY authorized signatory Dirk Gladiator reports: ‘Our solution for the digitized release process is based on existing platforms and processes that are already extensively used by the participants in the German seaports.’ The application will be available in both the Hamburg and Bremen Port Community Systems. In Hamburg, this will take place within the framework of the Import Message Platform (IMP), and in the Bremen ports and Wilhelmshaven within the Business Integration Platform (BIP).

Building a Blockchain

‘In parallel with the proven platforms IMP and BIP, we are building the framework for the blockchain to provide it as a hybrid alternative in the next step. The test phase is in preparation,’ outlines Holger Hübner, Head of Port Solutions at dbh, and assures, ‘the digitized release meets all requirements for security and verifiability of identities.’

So far, the release has typically not been communicated digitally but distributed through traditional means such as fax, email, or phone among the participants. ‘The manual process causes a high effort for all parties involved, as the actors must engage in bilateral dialogue for each individual container to organize permissions and empty container returns,’ Hübner and Gladiator explain in agreement.

With the use of the already established platforms IMP and BIP, as well as the optional extension with blockchain, the high demands for access permissions and secured IT processes are now resolved. The release is a sensitive process, as the release reference entitles the holder to receive the container, which often contains significant goods value.

Background Information on the Release Process

In principle, a release or release reference exchanged between the involved parties entitles the collection of goods at the container terminal. The process is initiated with the release request from the freight forwarder to the shipping company. The shipping company releases a container as soon as the corresponding invoices for the transport have been paid and sends the freight forwarder, as its customer, the so-called release reference, which entitles the collection of the goods. The freight forwarder commissions its service provider (e.g., a transport company or rail operator) to collect a container from the terminal. For this purpose, it passes on the right to collect in the form of the release reference to the service provider. The service provider must identify itself at the terminal with the reference to receive the container and transport it to the destination. The terminal receives the release reference directly from the shipping company and checks whether it matches the reference presented by the driver when collecting the goods.

Photo: © HHLA