Wim Buytaert Transport bv

“We wanted a paperless office- accessible at any time, from anywhere. Cloud-based, secure, future-proof.”
— Kris Buytaert, External Consultant (Digital Transformation)

About the business

Wim Buytaert Transport bv operates in the international transport and handling of industrial gases. It is a small, highly specialised business built for agility: next-day moves, customised solutions, and the kind of technical competence that industrial gas producers and traders rely on when demand is urgent and volumes are smaller.

With over 25 years of experience in cryogenic transport, the team of ten drivers has carved out a niche in handling tank containers that often need reconditioning before they are ready for their next shipment. It is not a straightforward job, and that is exactly the point. Equipment can arrive from overseas with issues (pressure, temperature, damaged parts), and drivers need the technical confidence to troubleshoot in real conditions.

“Not everyone can do this. It requires technical skill, and tenacity, because sometimes things can go wrong at the customer site.”

The business was built over 25 years, growing organically from the owner’s reputation in the sector. “My brother is a born driver. That gives him empathy for the challenges drivers face, and people trust him.”

Kris supports the business as an external advisor, focused on digital transformation and business processes.

How they found Qargo

Kris discovered Qargo through an article in Bloovi, and immediately recognised the kind of company he wanted to back: modern mindset, strong founders, and real intent to build something better for transport. At the time, Qargo was early — and so were they. The decision was driven by belief in the people’s capability and the partnership mindset.

 “You believe in the people and their competence and tenacity to build a new system from the ground up. In the early days, that partnership feeling wasn’t marketing, it showed up in support.” 

The challenge

Before Qargo, the business didn’t have a traditional TMS. Admin relied on a mix of paper, manual processing, and a homebrewed system Kris had built using Google Sheets, a mobile app, and Zapier automations, and separate invoicing tools – all good systems on their own, but not integrated.

It worked. Until it didn’t.

As demand became more diverse, the system became too complex to maintain, and the admin burden kept growing. “We realised the home-brew system was no longer fit for purpose.”

Operationally, the biggest problems were:

• Documents were hard to retrieve after jobs were executed (often requiring physical searching)
• Auditing and quality tracking was difficult
• Driver dispatching happened at the last minute, and took too much time
• Admin ran late into the evening to keep up with orders, paperwork and invoicing
• Scaling the office team was harder without a consistent system to follow

It mainly required working until late at night to catch up with the administration. They also evaluated other options, but most were built on heavy frameworks (e.g. Dynamics-style setups), with high licence costs and expensive professional services required just to tailor the basics.“The alternatives were expensive licenses, plus a high upfront professional service cost to tailor it.”

The solution

Qargo gave the business the modern foundation they were looking for: paperless, cloud-based, secure, and future-proof, with the ability to support the full workflow through to invoicing.

Just as importantly, it gave Wim the ability to get remote support — accessing the operation from anywhere, without on-site infrastructure. “No servers on site. No IT infrastructure on site. And I needed to be able to manage from anywhere in the world.”

They also wanted flexibility: the ability to make small modifications themselves, without expensive professional services or complicated on-premise infrastructure.

Qargo gave them structure and consistency. It made it easier to onboard people into the operation, and it brought order to processes that used to be scattered across paperwork, late-night admin, and disconnected tools. “We wanted a paperless office- accessible at any time and any place.”

It also removed the reliance on late calls and last-minute dispatching. “Today tasks are dispatched to the drivers throughout the day. You don’t have to annoy them late… in the morning they find their jobs and start.”

For a specialist operator where accuracy matters, Qargo also improved control over documentation and auditability,  especially once paired with fleet tracking.“We gained the capability to review and take out errors, that transparency is very important.

Integrations

To support their workflows, the team has integrated Qargo with key systems – with mixed results depending on the tool.

The business currently integrates Qargo with:

• Trimble FMS (fleet management / tracking)
• Peppol (e-invoicing compliance)

Trimble was introduced with unclear requirements (and the team experienced typical “early adopter” friction), but Peppol was the opposite: fast, smooth, and well supported. “Peppol worked like a charm. Frederik knew how to help us set it up very well.”

Looking ahead, they plan to integrate further, including WhatsApp, Outlook, and future connections with port operators and UK customs workflows as their international activity evolves.

The onboarding experience

As early adopters, Kris described the onboarding period as trial-and-error compared to how structured Qargo onboarding is today, but the support was consistent throughout.

They were fully up and running in two months, and as a small team they adapted quickly, with drivers being the most critical group to win over.

“Did you feel supported by the Qargo team during the transition? 100%.”

The results

Qargo helped the business move away from reactive, paper-heavy work and towards a more controlled, scalable way of running transport operations. 

✅ Less manual document handling, and faster access to job documentation
✅ Better auditability of executed work — especially when paired with fleet tracking
✅ Faster, cleaner dispatching without last-minute admin and late calls
✅ A more scalable process, making it easier to bring office staff into a consistent workflow
✅ Reduced pressure on evenings, as admin no longer stacks up in the same way

Why it matters

In specialist transport, margins aren’t won by working later, they’re won by running tighter. Digitising the back office is not about removing the human side of the job. It is about giving expert teams the tools to work faster, track quality properly, and scale without burning out.

When the job involves cryogenic gases and time-critical demand, operational clarity is not a nice-to-have, it is what keeps the business reliable, profitable, and trusted. Operators need one system that keeps the workflow visible and controlled, without creating more admin burden as the business grows.“Automation and quality tracking are important, because customers will question details.”

What’s next?

With Qargo now embedded, Kris is focused on making sure the business gets the most out of the platform– translating new features into real operational value, not just technical updates.

They’re planning to push more integrations forward, and continue aligning quarterly with their Account Manager to identify what to adopt next.