Page 47 - Case Study Annual 2018

LAA Silver Award

Shipment of the materials commenced
from September 2016 until January 2017.
Consolidation in Johannesburg and Durban
was necessary to facilitate maximum space
utilisation of the containers. Weekly sea
freight export shipments were sent over this
period of the project. Additionally, there were
two electrical houses (ehouses) that had to
be sent on break bulk vessels, one of which
was exported directly from Richards Bay on
inducement, and the other was from Durban
port. DACHSER South Africa also had its
global offices involved in shipping integral
parts from Europe and South America to
South Africa and Tianjin in China.
Once the fabrication in China was
completed, the stacker reclaimers and ship
loaders were ready for shipment back to
South Africa. The magnitude of this part of
the operation was massive. One ship loader
equates to 99,000CMB and approximately
910,000kg. At 73m in length, these machines
equate to the width of a rugby field.
Three break-bulk charter vessels were
used to transport the machinery to South
Africa, from June to August 2017. The vessels
supplied by Jumbo Shipping for the ship
loaders were specialised vessels requiring
deck extensions to accommodate the length
of the ship loader. DACHSER South Africa
handled the safe passage, customs clearance
and offloading onto South African soil.
Due to the client’s tight timelines with
their Chinese manufacturer, the pressure
was on for DACHSER South Africa to ensure The team involved with this project was
that the processes of customs clearance, highly qualified, experienced, professional
loading and shipment were handled with the and excited for this magnitude of a project.
utmost accuracy and efficiency. This included The staff were brought in from two branches
special customs dispensation for customs and knew that this project had tight
clearing procedures, giving the company the deadlines that had to be met. There was
opportunity to clear multiple shipments on no time for errors or delays. DACHSER SA
one invoice. handled this mammoth project successfully in
The requirements for the entire terms of time, cost and efficiency.
project were highly specialised, from an
understanding of the customs policies and The way forward
procedures, and the associated timelines DACHSER has proved its capabilities in the
and risks, through to skilled knowledge of project market time and again, and this has
materials handling and the movement of the created more opportunities for DACHSER South
massive bulk equipment. Africa to grow this product in its portfolio. •

The Logistics News Case Study Annual 2018 45