Our Story
The start of our success.
Our goal in building SmartBorder was twofold -- upgrade an older ABI system
in use at Great Lakes Customs Brokerage, and offer the resulting system to other brokers around
the country for their customs brokerage needs.
This was not intended to be a simple re-write of the existing DOS-based software to Microsoft Windows, but to create a new breed of application, from the ground up, to handle high volumes of
releases and entries, 24/7, with multiple brokers
operational at the same time.
The challenges we faced were great. Our determination was greater.
We were faced with several key requirements which, at the time, were
not possible with most other systems.
This new system MUST:
- Be able to adapt quickly to changing US Customs rules and regulations.
- Be able to handle the high volumes of data
over the internet.
- Be customizable to any customer without impacting other customers.
- Be updatable without interaction by the administrators.
- Be operational 24/7 with minimal downtime.
It wasn't easy. But these sorts of challenges were what attracted the type of people we have to design and build
the system.
In order to allow the development team
to focus on the task at hand, with minimal
distraction and a more attractive (read: warmer!) environment to ease the burdens
of the
long hours to come, the entire team and their families moved 1,300 miles,
from Buffalo, NY to Boca Raton, FL. 21 months later, the application
was launched,
and Great Lakes started using the software for their day-to-day operations.
As our first customer, Great Lakes found out quickly where the system excelled,
and where it needed improvement. This was the first test of our requirements.
Many changes were made to make the system operate faster, align to business rules
better and communicate to customs more effectively. We used our own
creation for our internal business before selling it out to other brokers.
Shortly after the launch, we picked up shop and moved back to Buffalo, where we continue
operations today. Many positive changes have been made since the days in Florida,
including several major upgrades to handle the continued flow of new business.
Always looking ahead, we will continue our best efforts to provide the trade community with state-of-the-art software and premium
customer service.