Winner Automates Sanctions List Checks and Optimizes Hit Quality

Winner Spedition GmbH & Co. KG automates sanctions list checks with S-CHECK and benefits from fuzzy-based algorithms that optimize hit quality. S-CHECK is a solution from TIA, a company of the MHP Solution Group, and is perfectly tailored to the needs of Winner.

(Iserlohn) – Precise, sustainable, efficient: These values are embodied by the administrative building of Winner Spedition at its headquarters in Iserlohn. In 2016, the architecture of the office building was awarded the internationally renowned “Iconic Award” and is thus one of the few corporate headquarters in the logistics industry that embodies such a high standard of aesthetics.

Precise, sustainable, and efficient is also the IT infrastructure of Winner Spedition, which is based on the platform “AS/400” designed by IBM. Today’s versions are marketed under the names “iSeries” or “IBM i”. Its strengths include extremely high performance, combined with reliability and consistent upward compatibility. Any program written in 1988 for the then AS/400 can still be run almost unchanged on a successor model.

Good Personal Impression

Nevertheless, Winner had to say goodbye to an older software because it was no longer maintained and updated by the manufacturer. Anyone who fails to comply with the obligation to check sanctions lists or violates the regulation commits a criminal offense or administrative offense under the Foreign Trade Act (AWG). “We were therefore looking for a new application for automated sanctions list checks,” reports CIO Metin Isiktas, who researched possible alternatives on the internet. “I quickly came across the S-CHECK solution, which could fully meet our requirements,” recalls the IT manager, who had included two other providers in the decision for a price comparison. S-CHECK is a solution from TIA, a company of the MHP Solution Group. “A reasonable price, a suitable product, and a good personal impression from the contacts at TIA” ultimately “clearly spoke for S-CHECK,” so that the software was installed on Winner’s server just a few weeks later.

Low Training Effort – Intuitive Input Mask

Winner TIA in Use – © Winner Spedition GmbH & Co. KG

The training effort for the two employees involved in the sanctions list checks from the legal, insurance, and claims department was low. “There are only two application cases when matching addresses with sanctions lists,” explains Isiktas. On the one hand, a new address can be manually entered and checked in S-CHECK, with the input mask being intuitively operable. On the other hand, the software provides lists of potential hits that must be checked and evaluated by the employees.

Minimized ‘False-Positive’ Rate

To influence the so-called “false-positive” rate, a threshold for matching reported addresses can be set in S-CHECK. “For us, the software triggers at a match of 70 to 80 percent,” says the CIO. However, there has never been a “real case” at Winner where an address could not be delivered.

A significant advantage of S-CHECK is the high hit quality of the software solution. When preparing the anti-terror lists to be searched, different spellings, translation errors, and phonetic similarities are already taken into account. During the matching process, every possible entry that belongs to an anti-terror address is first found. The search uses fuzzy-based algorithms along with a distance function that determines a similarity measure between the vectors of the address to be searched and the vectors of the anti-terror address. The distance function used considers not only the similarity of the entries but also the relevance of a word area. Thus, frequently used address parts such as “Street” weigh less than “Bartholomäusweg.”

Independent of External Service Providers

In the next step, S-CHECK will be integrated into the existing ERP and transport management system by Winner’s IT team, so that addresses can be automatically matched with all relevant sanctions lists. Currently, this is still done by the previous software, which, however, falls short in some important areas compared to the TIA solution. “With S-CHECK, we will have web-based access to the permanently updated sanctions lists in the future and will no longer have to take care of the updates of the address lists ourselves,” emphasizes Isiktas, who enjoys working with his new supplier. “TIA has supported us with all necessary documentation, so we can integrate S-CHECK into our existing software landscape independently of external service providers.” This project is to be completed by December 2020: precise, sustainable, and efficient.

Background: Winner Spedition

Winner Spedition GmbH & Co. KG is an international logistics service provider based in Iserlohn, with a history dating back to 1946. The core competencies of the medium-sized family business include the transport of industrial goods with a specialization in long goods. In addition, Winner combines the use of complete trains (Company Trains) to connect road and rail transport. The own fleet includes 150 pulling units, 400 semi-trailers with integrated coil troughs, 150 coil units, and 600 swap bodies. The family-run forwarding company, now in its third generation, employs around 550 people and operates 22 locations in Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria. Uniform transshipment and storage properties, as well as ground-level drive-in warehouses with crane systems with lifting capacities of 3 to 32 tons, ensure fixed defined lead times and weather-independent handling. Overall, Winner has 78,000 square meters of covered storage space, of which 20,000 square meters can be heated. Winner is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, AEO, SQAS, and DIN EN 16247-1.

www.winner-spedition.de.    www.mhp-solution-group.com   www.doing-logistics.com

Photo: © Winner Spedition GmbH & Co. KG