Bensol Customs Brokers (1983) Ltd.

In 1983, Bensol downsized and centralized all operations to the Vieux-Montréal office, concentrating on information systems development well before others were forced to follow suit during the recession years of the late 80's and early 90's. This foresight allowed Bensol to better position themselves strategically in the market and to restructure and improve efficiency and human resources development ten years before re-engineering was a buzz word of the mid 1990's. The company's current partnership and management team of Morris Levine and Irving Rasnikoff bring their combined wealth of experience and leadership to Bensol. Both have been with the company for over 45 years, and were key players in its continued growth and development. Bensol's specialties reach far beyond imports and exports, as there is more to brokerage than "customs release" of shipments. NAFTA and customs consulting services, and duty drawbacks are some of the other services clients benefit from. They also offer marine insurance, local and long distance cartage, storage and bonded warehousing, and related logistics services to meet clients preferences for one stop shopping. Controlling all activities from the Montreal office, clients only have to dial one phone number to access information and their needs for shipments at any location. As EDI trading partners, Benson has been a long time participant in programs such as CADEX (Customs Automated Data Exchange) and RNS/PARNS (Release and Pre-Arrival Release Notification Systems). They are on the cutting edge of current EDI in implementing electronic release, using ACROSS (Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support Systems). Many other value added services are important to maintaining a competitive edge and serving the clients. The CSCB (Canadian Society of Custom Brokers) Gateway messages will be used to send and receive EDI Purchase Orders, Canada Customs (CCI) Invoices, Bills of Lading, Customs Manifests/Advice Notes, and in the future, NAFTA Certificates and Import Permit Applications, from carriers, Canadian importers, and foreign vendors. EDI usage has continuously improved speed and efficiency of work flow and timely services of release and delivery of goods to the client's door, while at the same time significantly reducing errors and costs. State of the art tracking software is fully integrated to release, entry, and accounting for import shipments activities. Information systems also link to delivery and internal accounting systems for more timely invoicing which greatly assists the manufacturing and distribution/retail clients with important cost accounting information. CURRENT GEOGRAPHIC MARKETING ACTIVITY GEOGRAPHIC MARKETING PRIORITIES/MARKETING STRATEGY As they enter their third generation, Bensol looks forward to the next fifty years as all the players including brokers, carriers, forwarders, importers, and Customs in all countries continue to improve working together and sharing trade information along the logistics and distribution chain. Bensol is also a member of the (CSCB) Canadian Society of Customs Brokers, an IATA Cargo Agent, certified for Dangerous Goods (IATA) Shipping & Handling and members of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.