Digitalization in Freight Forwarding Processes: A Lean and Industry 4.0 Approach from the CEVA Logistics (Air & Ocean) Case

Freight-forwarding operations remain burdened by necessary non-value-added (NNVA) coordination and pure non-value-added (NVA) re-keying across OMS/WMS/CargoWise workflows. This applied thesis combines a case study and Design Science Research to design, implement, and evaluate VBA-based workflow automation at CEVA Logistics (Air & Ocean). The flagship scope is Air Export Italy→Asia (2024-11 to 2025-09). Construct validity is ensured via triangulation of stakeholder interviews, system artefacts/logs, and process maps; reliability is supported by a written test protocol.