Fast Corridors: innovative customs processes and technology to increase supply chain competitiveness. The case of IKEA Italy

Customs play a crucial role in facilitating and speeding up the international flow of goods, especially in logistic nodes such as seaports or dry ports. Burdensome customs procedures can significantly affect the competitiveness of supply chains by increasing times and costs. This paper describes the features and benefits of the so called "Fast Corridor", an innovative customs process and technological procedure introduced in Italy in 2015. Compared to standard import processes, the Fast Corridor streamlines the flow of import containers from ports to their inland destinations, thanks to a transparent, more economical, secure and IT-integrated procedure, making supply chains more competitive. The Fast Corridor is based on the concept of the virtual long quay, according to which the hinterland becomes an extension of the port areas. Once unloaded from ships, goods are virtually considered to be in the inland node of final destination. Route assurance from port to the destination is provided by geofencing technology, a location-based service that uses truck-mounted GPS to trigger pre-programmed actions. IKEA was the first to adopt this new procedure. Company benefits amounted to -30% in terms of customs costs per TEU, and up to -35% in terms of port-inland node transit time and dwell time for all containers, including those not using the Fast Corridor. Based on the successful implementation by IKEA, other Italian Fast Corridors were activated. This paper provides a deeper understanding of new business models and technologies in freight transport and can outline useful best practices for practitioners in the field.