Croton Group's Edrawback Application Uses Dynamsoft SDK to Help Optimize Drawback Returns for Customers

INDUSTRY:

Manufacturing, Finance

QUOTE

Most companies that perform drawbacks for organizations rely on the customer to keep the documents. With the help of the Dynamsoft SDK we were able to make the Edrawback application fundamentally different. It allows users to efficiently capture, store, retrieve and manage all paperwork related to drawbacks. So, the entire process is now simpler and helps optimize the drawback return process."

Mendy Aaron
lead technologist, Croton Group

IN BRIEF

Croton Group is known for its fine line of Croton watches, made since the 1870s and sold worldwide. The organization acquired the watchmaker in the 1990s. In 2007 Croton Group segmented its products into distinct brands for clearer focus. Today, in addition to watches, the Croton Group also provides leather goods and manufacturing related technology services. The technology services team leverages expertise in the import and export of goods to provide relevant technical services. To this end, the Edrawback application was developed to ensure organizations fully leverage their opportunity to reclaim import / re-export fees – drawbacks. To ensure the application could provide effective document scan and document management capabilities, Croton Group used Dynamsoft's Dynamic Web TWAIN software development kit (SDK). It allowed the company to use built-in document capture, document editing and uploading features so the Edrawback application could be realized in just a few months rather than a year or more. This also helped save on development costs.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The Croton Group, based in West Nyack, NY, is the manufacturer of fine Croton watches which have been made since 1878. The company produces around 250 styles annually and sells more than one million units each year. In 2007, the Croton Group segmented its portfolio of brands, which include Nicolet, Andre Girroud, Manhattan, Paul DuPree, and others. Each brand targets specific demographics and price points. In addition to fine watches, its Nina Raye brand includes products for the prestigious exotic leather goods market. Naturally, the selling of these brands has helped Croton Group develop extensive expertise in imports / exports. As a result, Croton Group also provides related technical services. The first product for its technical services is an import / re-export duty drawback software solution. The Edrawback application simplifies an otherwise complicated process of filing paperwork for refunds related to drawbacks.

http://www.crotongroup.com/

Croton Group logo

THE TASK

Many manufacturers and sellers import goods and then re-export them rather than selling the goods domestically. In the USA, organizations that do this must file special tax documents to pay certain taxes on such goods. Organizations can also claim refunds due on these taxes, known as a drawback. This drawback process is complicated and if not effectively accomplished organizations can lose money. Lost money can stem from overpayments, not recovering full refunds due, staffing and outsourcing needs to meet drawback requirements, and more. Croton Group has created Edrawback, an application that helps users efficiently store and manage all the necessary documents required to apply for drawbacks. There are seemingly countless drawback requirements that create pain points for organizations that must submit drawback-based paperwork. The Edrawback application covers such requirements and more so organizations can streamline the filing process without incurring added expenses or lost time. Users can securely store, retrieve and manage all of their documents in a single application. This includes tax filings as well as related documents, such as old invoices.

http://www.edrawbacks.com/

Within the application, a user simply selects a carrier, whether import or export, applies a tracking number, and a date. After, they can easily scan the related documents or find related documents already scanned. The application creates folders for each defined user style and date and automatically places scanned or browsed images in appropriate folders on the server.

The scanning and document management part of the application was crucial. It had to be accomplished relatively quickly and it needed to be powerful yet simple to use. To meet this need, Croton Group opted to use a software development kit (SDK) rather than to create a scanning, editing and management module from scratch.

A HELPFUL SOLUTION

After some research, Croton Group came across Dynamsoft's Dynamic Web TWAIN SDK. This SDK would help Croton Group save on development time and costs in implementing the image capture features of Edrawback.

Dynamsoft's Dynamic Web TWAIN SDK provide developers a simple way to access TWAIN interface in a web application so they need write just a couple of lines of code in JavaScript. This is instead of taking months to learn the TWAIN standard and then develop an application with hundreds to thousands of lines of code. A finished application gives users key features for document scanning, uploading, editing, and document management within web browsers. The SDKs have built-in support for local image editing and saving options to a variety of formats. Documents can be saved to local or remote databases or other repositories. It supports 32-bit / 64-bit Internet Explorer® (IE), Firefox®, Chrome®, Safari® and OperaTM browsers on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android.

Croton Group used Dynamsoft's Dynamic Web TWAIN SDK for its browser-based Edrawback application. The SDK is ideal for many industries requiring simple document scanning, uploading, editing and document management from popular web browsers. These industries include manufacturing, government, healthcare, finance, and other such industries with heavy document management requirements.

Key technologies built into the SDK are ideal. For example, Sandbox ensures hassle-free communication by improving stability and compatibility with scanning devices while also improving security. Supported devices include TWAIN-compatible scanners, digital cameras or capture cards. Scanned documents can be saved to local, server, remote databases or other repositories. Extensive editing is also possible: rotate, crop, mirror, flip, erase, sizing, zooming, annotating, and more.

An update to Dynamic Web TWAIN in June 2014 provides an add-on to facilitate connections to TWAIN- based scanners in Google® Chrome versions requiring HTML5-based plugins. It's now well known in the industry that browser providers are phasing out browser plugins based on the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI). In May 2014 Google dropped support of NPAPI plugins for its Chrome browser. The updated Dynamic Web TWAIN SDK offers a newly developed HTML5 WebSocket plugin add on. So, it allows document scanning from within newer Google Chrome browser versions that don't allow NPAPI plugins. The SDK also continues to support NPAPI for use in legacy browsers.

REALIZED ADVANTAGES

Using the Dynamsoft SDK allowed Croton Group to develop the application much sooner than had it been done from scratch. What probably would have taken 9-12 months or more instead took just three months. This saved significant time and also helped reduce development costs.

The simplicity of the code in the SDK ensured only minor changes were necessary for it to work with Edrawback. In fact, Croton Group was able to use the sample code that came with the SDK to get a leg up on development and integration. One issue came up with the Firefox browser. Scanning would sometimes freeze but, Dynamsoft technical support quickly helped resolve the issue.

Now, the Edrawback application can help Croton Group fulfill a clear mission. On average, it's estimated up to 85 percent of legally available drawbacks aren't claimed. Therefore, after a period they are forfeited to the government. The Edrawback application, with comprehensive document scan and document management capabilities, helps organizations make sense of the related paperwork. So organizations can optimize their drawback procedures.