How SFL helped RIF Worldwide correct critical VAT and tax configuration, remove hundreds of hours of repetitive work, and build a more automated CargoWise operation across Finance, Customs, Warehousing and customer visibility.
RIF Worldwide was already using CargoWise across its freight operation. The opportunity was not to replace the platform, but to make substantially more of it work for the business.
The immediate concern was Finance. VAT and tax configuration was not consistently producing the intended billing outcome, creating unnecessary exposure around customer charging, credit notes and compliance. At the same time, significant operational effort was still tied up in repetitive activity across job creation, Customs entry, tracking and warehouse processes.
RIF wanted to move further towards a digital operating model, but the answer was not to automate everything indiscriminately. The financial foundation had to be corrected first. The highest-value manual processes then had to be identified, redesigned and automated in a controlled way.
SFL began with a full CargoWise GAP Analysis. What followed was a six-month optimisation programme that ultimately reduced manual data-entry tasks by 85%, recovered 425 hours every month from job and consol creation, and cut Customs entry processing time by 93%.
The Client
RIF Worldwide traces its origins to Hong Kong in 1990, with its UK operation established in 2002 as the organisation expanded into Europe.
The company provides international transportation by air, ocean and road, supported by Customs, warehousing, fulfilment and wider logistics services.
CargoWise had already become an important part of that operating model. RIF’s next objective was to increase the value it was extracting from the platform — particularly across financial control, process automation, Customs, Warehousing and customer visibility.
The Challenge: Correct the Financial Foundation, Then Remove the Work Around It
The first priority was VAT and tax configuration.
RIF had identified that its existing setup was not consistently producing the required tax treatment for customer billing. That created more than administrative inconvenience. Incorrect charging could lead to underbilling or overbilling, additional credit-note activity, revenue leakage and unnecessary tax exposure.
Before SFL could push further into automation, those controls needed to be right.
The wider consultation then exposed a second opportunity. CargoWise contained substantially more automation capability than the operation was currently using.
Job and consol creation, Customs data entry, container and air-cargo tracking, warehouse orders and customer notifications still involved considerable manual intervention. Individual tasks might have appeared manageable on their own, but together they represented a significant amount of operational capacity being spent on repetitive work.
RIF did not need more people completing those tasks faster. It needed to determine which activities still required human judgement and which could be redesigned around CargoWise workflows, integrations and data-capture automation.
Why RIF Chose SFL
The requirement crossed multiple parts of the CargoWise environment, which meant RIF needed more than a specialist in one module.
SFL brought:
- CargoWise system-audit and GAP-analysis capability to identify where configuration, process and utilisation were limiting performance.
- Cross-module expertise across Finance, Forwarding, Customs, Warehousing and Workflow.
- Integration and middleware capability to connect CargoWise with customer-facing and external systems.
- OCR, RPA and data-entry automation expertise to remove high-volume repetitive activity rather than simply shift it elsewhere.
- Ongoing managed support capability to continue governing and improving the environment after the initial optimisation programme.
The value was in that combination. The same team could diagnose the environment, redesign the processes, implement the changes and remain involved as the CargoWise operation continued to evolve.
The SFL Solution: From GAP Analysis to a Six-Month Optimisation Roadmap
SFL began with a full system GAP Analysis to establish how the existing CargoWise environment was configured, where high-value improvement opportunities existed and which issues needed to be addressed first.
From that assessment, SFL built a six-month optimisation roadmap focused on three connected areas: removing high-volume data entry, extending automation into Warehousing, and improving the flow of CargoWise data into the customer experience.
The sequencing was deliberate. Financial and process foundations were corrected first so that the automation introduced afterwards would reinforce the right operating model rather than accelerate an inefficient one.
Removing High-Volume Data Entry
SFL first mapped the processes consuming the most operational time and redesigned them around a clearer future-state workflow. SOPs were created to define how work should move through CargoWise, and workflow and task-management capabilities were introduced to reduce the dependence on users manually pushing each activity to its next stage.
OCR, RPA and data-entry automation were then applied to several high-volume processes, including job and consol creation, Customs invoice and packing-list processing, and container and air-cargo Track & Trace activity.
This produced some of the most significant results in the programme.
Manual data-entry tasks were reduced by 85%.
In job and consol creation alone, approximately 425 hours of work were recovered every month.
Customs processing also changed materially. By reducing the amount of invoice and packing-list information that had to be interpreted and entered manually, SFL helped reduce Customs entry processing time by approximately 93%.
The objective was not to remove people from the operation. It was to remove repetitive work from people whose time was more valuable elsewhere.
Extending Automation Into Warehousing
RIF’s CargoWise environment also extended into Warehouse operations, where individual orders had previously required manual creation.
SFL redesigned that process so customers could upload the required order file into a designated FTP location. The information could then move into CargoWise and create the corresponding warehouse orders automatically.
The warehouse team no longer needed to spend time recreating those orders before fulfilment could begin. Its focus could move directly to the work that belonged on the warehouse floor: pick, pack and dispatch.
A customised daily report then returned stock information to the customer, helping both sides remain aligned without creating another manual reporting process.
The principle was simple but important: if usable information already existed upstream, the warehouse should not have to create it again.
Connecting CargoWise to the Customer Experience
As the internal processes became more structured, RIF also wanted the information held in CargoWise to become more useful to customers.
SFL configured the required server environment and deployed custom middleware to connect CargoWise with RIF’s customer-facing technology, with particular emphasis on purchase-order visibility.
Track & Trace and WebTracker capabilities were also strengthened so that shipment information could flow more effectively into the customer experience. Automated notifications reduced the need for service teams to distribute routine updates manually.
This completed an important part of the optimisation journey. Better internal data was no longer confined to the ERP. It could increasingly support a better customer experience as well.
From Optimisation to Ongoing CargoWise Care
The six-month programme established the new operating model, but optimisation did not stop at go-live.
Once more of an operation depends on workflows, integrations and automation, ongoing governance becomes more important. Processes change. New partners need to connect. Reporting requirements evolve. System updates introduce new capability. And new opportunities for improvement continue to emerge.
SFL therefore continued supporting the RIF environment through an ongoing managed-services model aligned to what SFL now delivers through Care by SFL.
That support covered management reporting, KPI monitoring, partner connectivity, issue resolution and continued optimisation of the CargoWise environment.
The original engagement recorded an average of approximately 65 hours of SFL support per month, while the support model reduced IT development costs by 60%.
The relationship also continued to produce new optimisation opportunities. More recently, SFL supported RIF with the upload of four million postcode records into CargoWise in 90 hours to enable automated carrier rating without disrupting the live environment.
The significance is not the postcode project by itself. It demonstrates the value of maintaining a long-term CargoWise partner around the operation: as the business changes, the environment continues to be refined rather than waiting for the next major transformation project.
The Results
The programme produced measurable gains across Finance, Operations, Customs, Warehousing and ongoing CargoWise support:
- 85% reduction in manual data-entry tasks — Workflow redesign, OCR, RPA and system automation removed a substantial amount of repetitive activity from the CargoWise operation.
- 425 hours recovered every month from job and consol creation — High-volume entry was redesigned and automated rather than continuing to consume operational capacity.
- 93% reduction in Customs entry processing time — Automated handling of Customs data materially reduced the time required to create entries.
- 60% reduction in IT development costs — Ongoing SFL support gave RIF access to CargoWise capability without needing to reproduce the same development capacity internally.
- VAT and tax configuration corrected — Financial controls were strengthened to reduce the risk of incorrect charging, unnecessary credit-note activity and revenue leakage.
- Warehouse-order creation automated — Customer order information could flow directly into CargoWise, allowing warehouse teams to focus on fulfilment.
- Customer visibility strengthened — Middleware, Track & Trace and WebTracker improvements allowed more operational information to flow directly into customer-facing processes.
Importantly, staff numbers were not reduced as a result of the automation programme. The value came from significantly reducing the amount of time employees needed to spend on repetitive work and allowing that capacity to move back into higher-value operational and customer activity.
The Real Gain Was Capacity Returned to the Business
The strongest result from the RIF engagement was not a single automation or integration. It was the cumulative removal of work that had gradually become part of normal operations.
Finance gained stronger VAT and tax controls. Operations had fewer jobs and consols to create manually. Customs teams spent dramatically less time converting documents into system entries. Warehouse orders could be created from information supplied upstream. Customers could access more useful shipment information without every update depending on manual communication.
Each improvement removed another point where a person had been required simply to move information forward.
That is why the 85% reduction in manual data-entry tasks matters. It shows what becomes possible when an established CargoWise environment is revisited systematically and the processes around it are redesigned around what the platform can now carry.
For RIF, that meant hundreds of hours returned to the business every month, stronger financial controls and an operating model capable of continuing to improve through Care rather than waiting for another major system project.
How Much Manual Work Still Sits Around Your CargoWise Environment?
CargoWise environments evolve as the businesses using them evolve. New customers, services, integrations and compliance requirements are added over time, while manual activity can remain embedded around processes long after a more efficient approach becomes available.
SFL Tech helps established CargoWise users identify those gaps through System Audits and GAP Analysis, then turn the findings into targeted optimisation across Finance, Operations, Customs, Warehousing, Workflow and Integration.
Through Care by SFL, that optimisation continues beyond the initial project with ongoing service management, governance, root-cause resolution, platform adoption and continuous improvement.
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