Singapore-based commodity trader Acalpo is specialized in edible oil, mainly, although other soft commodities (rice, milk, wheat) are part of the scope as well. The company imports from the origin; Indonesia/Malaysia/Ukraine/Thailand; and exports to India, West Africa & the Middle East. The trade in these commodities can broadly be classified into two categories: papers/hedge trades (across the counter trade in CBOT and MDEX, which are exchanges for palm oil), and the physical trades. The latter can be subdivided into bulk shipment and value-added business, in which prepacked palm oil is distributed under their own brand name. To evaluate existing approach and address potential improvements for all the aforementioned components, Acalpo turned to Agiboo’s flagship CTRM solution to streamline the daily workflow.
Which is why we spoke to Acalpo director Guatam Rampuria to talk Agiblocks!
“Before Agiblocks, all trade-related data was maintained in Excel, for the most part. That included position and mark to market reports as well. Moreover, contracts and all logistics documents were manually created using Word. In other words, lots of paperwork, and no real security of data – while generating reports was cumbersome and time-consuming.”
Optimization efforts and efficiency gains
“We turned to Agiboo with a desire to establish a structured process to manage trades. We were after a seamless management of contract creation and approval process, as well as a structured management of trades and related logistics processes and document management – which is what we found in Agiblocks.”
Examples include documents linked to contract or delivery, e-signatures and paperless document management. “Then there was the timely and enhanced reporting well as statistical reporting for analysis, which gave us a better understanding of our position for improved decision-making, in real-time to boot.”
"Implementation was a smooth ride"
Onboarding with Agiblocks
“The backbone of a successful implementation of any CTRM solution for me is management understanding of the capabilities of the software, cooperation from both management and users and of course the adaptability and openness of users to a new tool. Thanks to the very intuitive interface and the ease of use of Agiblocks, implementation was a smooth ride.”
All contracts were captured in Agiblocks with proper segregation using Internal company configuration. Paperless document generation with e-signature was made possible using the document template feature, while Agiblocks’ contract status and user role’s function allowed for proper workflow and approval process. “For improved logistics processes, we could rely on Agiblocks Reservation, delivery, and finance module as well as timely and detailed reporting using Power BI reporting for data report and charts.”
