Saving 3,800 PLN on customs for Drew-Styl
We found an error in product classification for a furniture manufacturer. One audit reduced the cost of every shipment to the UK by 14%.
Drew-Styl is a family carpentry workshop from Białystok that has been producing solid oak furniture for 9 years. We helped them fix errors in customs documents that caused the company to lose money with every shipment to the British market.
The challenge
After the rule changes following Brexit, every pallet sent to London became more expensive by several hundred zlotys. Drew-Styl sent an average of 11 shipments per month. The owner didn't know that the commodity codes used since 2021 were incorrect. The system classified their oak tables as upholstered furniture. This pushed the customs rate up by exactly 4.2%, which generated unnecessary costs for large orders.
Our approach
We analyzed invoices from the last 7 months and checked a list of 34 products from the offer. Our two-person logistics team went to the facility to precisely describe the raw materials. We contacted a customs agency in Gdynia and prepared new export document templates. The entire checking and correction process took us 19 business days.
The solution
We introduced a new procedure for describing goods according to the actual wood composition. We trained Ms. Beata from the Drew-Styl office on how to correctly fill out declarations to avoid border inspections. Thanks to this, clearance now takes 2.5 hours less because the papers are clear and readable for officials.
Results
Fixing the errors in paperwork allowed the company to regain liquidity in UK trade and realistically lower prices for foreign recipients.
Timeline
-
March 2024Audit of 150 invoices and verification of HS codes
-
April 2024Preparation of new technical documentation for products
-
May 2024Training the office team on export procedures
-
June 2024First shipment without overpaid customs
"For months we paid more because no one noticed an error in one code. Wisła Digital Strategy straightened it out in less than three weeks. Now every shipment is a specific saving."