When a lack of planning caused a basic airfreight solution to fail, a global Tier 1 called-in award-winning emergency logistics specialist Evolution Time Critical to make the impossible possible. Through ingenious planning and detailed knowledge of local airports in the US, Evolution was able to get the parts to the vehicle manufacturer on-time.
Due to production delays, the US Tier 1 supplier needed to import material from Europe by airfreight rather than sea, in order to produce components at its US plant for the OEM customer in Detroit. The shipment had been booked on a trans-Atlantic airline which had insufficient capacity available to move the entire shipment, and so split the consignment into three batches over three separate flights. However, because the documentation was for the entire shipment, US Customs could not clear the first and second batch until the final one had arrived.
“This particular situation highlights the absolute importance of attention to detail and planning,” commented Evolution Time Critical managing director Brad Brennan. “The selection of a carrier with the ability to fly the entire shipment intact within the allocated timescale was essential, and failure to analyse the impact of the customs issue created a major production problem.”
When all three trans-Atlantic airfreight batches had arrived, the whole shipment finally cleared Customs, but production of components was now significantly behind schedule. The Tier 1 immediately stepped up production to make up for lost time, but the schedule was so tight that the planned road delivery to Detroit would fail to arrive in time to maintain OEM production. The Tier 1 contacted a number of US-based logistics providers to see if delivery times could be improved with internal flights, but none of them were able to meet the required schedule. Finally, they contacted Evolution Time Critical.
“Our team were able to identify a solution which others had not, using small regional airports at origin and destination, that could respond much more quickly. We were able to utilise these airports’ efficient cargo handling capabilities and proximity to the customer, to enable us to quickly deliver components from each flight to lineside,” explains Brennan. “The entire project took 13 internal flights across a little more than a week, allowing all deliveries to be made within the specified windows and vehicle production to be maintained.”
