One of the ways BASF achieves its goal is by sending samples of the various chemical products it manufactures to existing and prospective customers. However, one of the most frequently asked questions was: when I place an order online, I know exactly when it will arrive — why can't you do the same? Customers wanted the kind of convenient user experience (UX) they got from online retailers: placing orders with just a few clicks and tracking the status and current location of the shipment online.

The company ships 400 to 600 packages per day from Ludwigshafen, the equivalent of 100,000 shipments per year. The internal process required workers to print freight documents, sort the tracking documents, and manually enter orders into the carrier system. Much of the work was done manually, preventing the team from carrying out higher value-added activities.

“Customers want to know where the delivery is at any given moment and when to expect the package to arrive at their door.”— Jochen Mahler, Senior Manager of Sample and Non-Commercial Goods Services at BASF SE

In 2016, BASF partnered with Siemens Digital Logistics to create an integrated software solution — powered by AX4™, part of the Siemens Xcelerator platform — to book carriers, generate shipping waybills, and track shipments.

Today, when someone from the sales or customer service team initiates an order, the system transmits it directly from the sales interface to SAP with all the data about the batch and the requested quantity, partially automating shipment management, document organization, and carrier booking. BASF transmits shipping data in EDI format from SAP to AX4, which automatically generates the freight documents in the carrier's web service.

Together with Siemens, the company also developed a scan-to-print process that synchronizes warehouse intralogistics and attaches the automatically generated bill of lading to the package. The tracking feature protects both seller and customer across the up to 160 milestones available in the partner systems, allowing each order to receive a reference number to track every phase of the shipment online.

“By leveraging AX4, we no longer need to rely on our transport service providers' IT systems to find out where a shipment is.”— Jochen Mahler, Senior Manager of Sample and Non-Commercial Goods Services at BASF SE

By implementing a solution to digitally manage sample shipments, BASF brought greater visibility and efficiency to its ordering and shipping processes. A single click gives customers and BASF's sample center access to the order's status and shipping data. When orders arrive by 3 p.m., they can now be dispatched in just 90 minutes, typically reaching their final destination in the US the next day.

By moving to electronic processes, the company reduced the volume of paper used by 86% — with printing remaining only for the 14% of orders bound for countries whose regulations still require it.

“With the reporting feature built into AX4, we get useful reports and analytics so that we can automate even more processes in the future.”— Jochen Mahler, Senior Manager of Sample and Non-Commercial Goods Services at BASF SE

Beyond the Ludwigshafen site, the company is already rolling out the solution at other BASF sampling centers. Encouraged by this success, Mahler has already set new goals, such as using predictive milestone analytics to further reduce the number of return shipments.