Customer Story
From Manual to Momentum: DHL Automated 2M+ E-way Bills and Cut Compliance Processing Time by 70% with Sovos India
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Overview
DHL Group is the world’s leading logistic company. Founded in 1969, DHL is a globally recognized leader in logistics and supply chain management, operating in over 220 countries and territories. In India, DHL has established a strong presence across multiple business divisions, including DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain, and DHL Global Forwarding. The organization operates across India and having GST registrations in 30+ states with multiple ISD registrations (Input Service Distribution).
Given the scale and complexity of its operations, DHL manages GST compliance through a decentralized model, where return filings and statutory reporting are handled at the state or entity level. At the same time, reconciliation, data validation, and compliance performance are centrally monitored to ensure accuracy, consistency, and timely adherence to regulatory requirements.
To streamline its GST processes and enhance operational efficiency, DHL leverages advanced tax technology solutions by using of Sovos India Tax Compliance Suite since 2022.
The Challenge
- Limited TMS–EWB Integration and Bulk Action: Several critical shipment-level data fields including shipment number, department code, principal name, loading date, service level, hub details, and reference fields were required to be linked from the Transportation Management System (TMS) to the e-waybill (EWB) system. The absence of seamless integration between the two led to incomplete data capture, reconciliation challenges, and reduced shipment tracking visibility.
Additionally, the lack of bulk action functionality meant that users had to perform repetitive tasks through multiple manual steps, making the process time-consuming and significantly impacting operational efficiency. - Data Security and Unauthorized Access Risks: DHL user credentials including User IDs and passwords are highly sensitive and must remain exclusively accessible to authorized personnel. Any access or misuse by unauthorized individuals, such as external parties or former employees, poses serious risks including data breaches, unauthorized system actions, and exposure of confidential business information. Maintaining strict access controls was therefore essential to preserving data privacy, integrity, and security.
- ERP Integration Constraints for E-Invoicing Direct API integration between the ERP system and the e-Invoicing platform was not feasible due to IT policy restrictions. As the ERP could only generate XML files while e-invoicing required JSON format, the gap necessitated manual intervention resulting in processing delays and data inconsistencies.
The Solution
Enhanced EWB Application & Bulk Processing
Two complementary solutions were delivered: a fully featured application interface and an Excel-based bulk utility, together enabling users to perform mass actions efficiently and significantly reduce processing time. The platform was upgraded to incorporate all required TMS fields across both tools, enabling:
- Complete and accurate shipment-level data capture
- Advanced filtering and search using TMS parameters
- Seamless bulk processing with a consistent, structured data format
Secure Access via SAML-based SSO
To safeguard system access, the application was integrated with SAML-based Single Sign-On (SSO), ensuring that only authorized DHL personnel can log in. Users are authenticated through DHL’s secure ID credentials, and upon successful verification, a validated SAML token is issued to grant access. This approach eliminates the risk of credential misuse and ensures robust data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.
SFTP-Based Automated E-Invoicing Framework
A secure and scalable SFTP-based integration framework was designed to overcome the ERP’s formatting limitations and eliminate the need for manual intervention. Key capabilities of the framework include:
- Automated ingestion of XML files from ERP
- Rule-based transformation into API-ready JSON format
- Built-in validation for data accuracy and compliance
- Real-time monitoring and automated workflow triggering for end-to-end process continuity
The Results
Operational Efficiency and Data Accuracy
- Significant reduction in manual effort and processing time through bulk action capabilities
- Complete shipment-level data capture achieved by integrating all critical TMS fields
- Improved reconciliation outcomes and enhanced tracking visibility across 30+ states
Strengthened Data Security and Access Control
- SAML-based SSO ensured system access was restricted exclusively to authorized DHL personnel
- Eliminated credential misuse risks and aligned access management with DHL’s data privacy and compliance standards
Seamless E-Invoicing and ERP Integration
- Manual file conversion eliminated through automated XML ingestion and rule-based JSON transformation
- Reduced processing delays and data inconsistencies across the e-invoicing workflow
- Real-time monitoring enabled a reliable, audit-ready e-Invoicing process
Why Sovos?
Sovos India brought deep expertise in Indian tax compliance, with a thorough understanding of the regulatory requirements surrounding GST, E-Invoicing and E-way Bill. For a multinational organization operating across 30+ states like DHL, this domain knowledge was essential in delivering solutions precisely tailored to India’s compliance landscape.
What further set Sovos apart was its ability to configure solutions around DHL’s specific operational and IT constraints from incorporating TMS-specific data fields to engineering a custom SFTP-based e-invoicing framework rather than requiring DHL to adapt to a rigid platform.
Since 2022, the partnership has enabled DHL India to transition from a largely manual, fragmented compliance process to a streamlined, automated, and audit-ready framework positioning the organization for sustained compliance excellence as India’s tax regulations continue to evolve.
“We deal with people spread across the nation, Sovos India helped us managing it all”
“Sovos India has been a great companion to us for all our GST compliance needs. We deal with people spread across the nation, and thus it is challenging to maintain the consolidated Input / Output Registers which would severely affect our Reconciliation. Sovos India Tax Compliance Suite has really helped us to meet this requirement and made our GST return filing process seamless. The GST Compliance Solutions offered by Sovos India and their team’s support are incredible. We completely rely on them for our GST Compliance.”
Sachin Warik
Senior Manager Finance
DHL Supply Chain India Pvt Ltd.