Centralise your European customs with our Control Tower.
Trading in several countries usually means several brokers, several standards and no single place where it all comes together. The Customs Control Tower changes that: one point of contact, one operating model, and one partner accountable for your customs across every market, whether we file it or coordinate the brokers who do.
CUSTOMS CONTROL TOWER
One point of contact for customs across Europe.
A Customs Control Tower is the coordination layer that runs all of your customs as one operation, across every market and broker. Instead of a different provider, standard and contact in each country, you get a single point of contact, one standard, and one partner accountable for the whole. It is an end-to-end customs management service: we can be your lead broker or coordinate the brokers you already use, centralise your data, and give you full visibility across Europe, without needing a physical presence in every market.
WHO IT'S FOR
One solution for customs across borders.
The Control Tower works for any business operating across multiple countries or sites: large, cross-border operators who need efficiency and visibility, and importers and exporters clearing goods in several locations. It is scalable and dedicated to your business, so it fits whether you run customs in one region or many, and grows with you as volumes, markets and partners change.
WHAT IT DOES
The coordination layer that runs it all as one.
One central contact coordinating all your customs activity, so you raise it once and we run it, instead of chasing a different team in every country.
Manage and orchestrate your customs across every market from one control point, with one team handling distribution, exceptions and escalation.
Get notified of customs issues immediately, so problems are caught and escalated early instead of surfacing at the border.
Technology applied to optimise clearance times and costs, with automatic validation and enrichment of your customs data before filing.
One set of procedures, tailored to your business and applied the same way in every country, so execution is consistent and audit-ready.
We can be your single accountable lead broker, or coordinate the brokers you already use inside the same model, with the same governance, broker selection and SLA reviews behind both.
Unified dashboards and consolidated customs reporting across countries, performance against agreed KPIs and SLAs, and full CSV or raw export on demand. Your customs data is yours.
We monitor customs legislation, sanctions, trade restrictions and environmental rules, tell you what affects you, and help implement the change.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Key features for coordination, visibility, compliance and control.
One method behind it all. Lean Customs.
We designed our Lean Customs method as the proven process for taking customs from fragmented to controlled. Five steps that bring every market, broker and system into one coordinated operation, so you can see it, govern it and keep improving it.
-
1
Standardise
One process and one standard in every country, so execution is predictable and audit-ready.
-
2
Digitalise
Connected systems and automation that remove the manual work and give you one version of the truth.
-
3
Visibility
One clear view of status, costs and risks, so problems surface before they escalate.
-
4
Intelligence
Expertise applied to your data, so risks are flagged early and savings are found, not missed.
-
5
Continuous Improvement
Improvement built into the operating model, so your customs gets better over time, not just maintained.
WHY IT PAYS
The cost of customs run country by country.
In our experience, the businesses that struggle across borders are rarely doing customs badly in any one country. They are doing it differently in each, with no single place where the whole picture comes together.
1. No one owns the whole. With a broker per country, each does its part, but no one is accountable for the result across markets. Problems fall between the gaps, and so do savings.
2. Every market is a different standard. Different processes, different data, different quality. It is impossible to compare performance, prove compliance consistently, or fix a problem everywhere at once.
3. Exceptions are handled after they happen. Without one place watching, a held shipment or a compliance flag becomes a phone call after the fact, instead of something caught and escalated early.
4. You cannot see, so you cannot plan. No consolidated view of cost, performance or risk means customs stays a series of surprises rather than something you can forecast and improve.
RELATED SERVICES
Where the Control Tower connects.
One partner across Europe
The Control Tower is how the one-partner model is delivered: see the full case for consolidating customs under it.
Gaston Schul's Digital Portal
Your control tower portal: one window onto status, documents and data across every market.
Customs Clearance
The declarations the Control Tower coordinates, filed to one standard wherever your goods move.
Trade Compliance
The monitoring, screening and audit-readiness that the governance layer keeps consistent across markets.
Visibility and cost control
When the goal is seeing and reducing total customs cost, the Control Tower's reporting is where it starts.
RELATED NEWS
Customs & Trade. Controlled.
Gaston Schul does more than coordinate your brokers. We connect it all and run it as one. That is what one full-service operating model gives you, across all your customs and trade in Europe: the clarity to see, the control to govern, and the confidence to decide.
GET IN TOUCH
From control tower questions to clear answers.
Tell us where you trade and how your customs is set up today, and an expert will show you what one accountable partner would change. No obligation, just a clear answer from someone who knows customs.
Control Tower FAQs
Control Tower: frequently asked questions
Yes, the Customs Control Tower can accommodate for different customs procedures.
As an AEO-certified provider of customs services, we operate with reliable, measurable delivery standards and highly qualified staff. Gaston Schul maintains dedicated compliance teams in each country where we support our customers. Combined with our data-validation tools, these measures ensure consistent quality, accuracy, and full compliance throughout all customs processes.
The Customs Control Tower ensures consistent compliance with AEO standards and EUR customs regulations, supported by a full digital audit trail. This leads to a reduced compliance risk, faster internal audits, and demonstrable adherence to corporate and legal standards.
Yes, we can consolidate invoices over any desired timescale and/or group geographical regions together to make for a cleaner administrative process.
Gain a single, data-driven customs partnership that delivers clarity, cost control, and predictable outcomes through shared dashboards, quarterly reviews, and transparent governance.
Gaston Schul unifies every declaration, broker, and customs flow through the Customs Control Tower platform, giving Finance one version of the truth for duties, SLAs and spend across Europe. Transparent dashboards restore control and confidence in landed-cost forecasting.
Yes, we have standard models of integration and an IT team that can create bespoke solutions should you need them.
We offer full flexibility in data capture and can work with any data format our customers provide. In addition, Gaston Schul utilizes advanced tools for data enrichment.
Yes, automation with the Customs Control Tower enables near-real-time exception handling with API-based touchless processing. Incident-tracking pilots show up to 40% faster resolution times once full Control Tower integration is active.
There are no specific requirements. In case of Smart Layer Intake (EDI/API/AI) interfaces need to be created for system alignments.
No, you will receive a dedicated Account Manager and Customer Service Representative who will support you with all operational matters and new queries.
Yes, our teams can orchestrate both, declarations produced inhouse as well as from 3rd party customs brokers.
Yes. We understand that best serving your customers often involves the odd shipment into new regions, and we offer support with ad hoc clearances to our existing customers.
We can provide European coverage. Further coverage requirements can be discussed.
The timeline to set up a Customs Control Tower depends on several factors, including the number of countries involved, your declaration volumes, and the complexity of the required system interfaces. On average, a full implementation typically takes between 3 to 4 months.
The Customs Control Tower increases predictability through standardized, streamlined processes across all countries and shipments. By creating full visibility and consistent handling, it prevents unexpected issues and keeps goods moving. This reduces the perception of customs as a roadblock at the start or end of the supply chain.
By centralizing all customs activities within one coordinated model, you create a single source of truth for brokers, local teams, and clients. A unified Customs Control Tower provides shared workflows, standardized procedures, and flow visibility, ensuring everyone follows the same processes. This eliminates fragmented communication, reduces errors, and keeps everyone aligned.
We offer various visibility tools, ranging from manually populated status sheets to digital dashboards.
All declaration data can be included in the reporting. Further enrichments are possible and can be discussed with the Customs Control Tower team.
Yes. The Control Tower provides business-intelligence dashboards that give you clear visibility of your customs activities and their performance. These dashboards display agreed KPIs—such as throughput times, error rates, and financial metrics—and are made directly accessible to you. This ensures full transparency of customs costs, duties and service levels.