Port congestion, Covid-related disruption, increasing ocean-freight rates and carriers’ reliability falling, scarcity of truckers, customs requirements and a specific deadline to be met sometimes all you can do is relying on your global forwarding partner.
This is a cool story. What if the above-mentioned shipment concerns a snow room? The story gets even cooler. And that’s exactly where it all begins.
Design For Leisure is a company based in London (UK) and Austin, TX (USA) which specializes in the design of award-winning hydrothermal spa and wellness environments for both luxury homes and professional wellness centers.
Back in July, a great opportunity for collaboration arose between Design for Leisure and D.B. Group America (discover D.B. Group in America). DFL had a project regarding the building of a wellness area (including a sauna, a snow room and some lounge heated chairs) for a private villa located in Bel Air, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
Design For Leisure had the necessity to transport all the technical elements and components from Germany, Austria and Italy to Los Angeles, respecting the strict deadlines required by the building schedule.
“Speed, together with a smooth and constant communication, were our main concerns for this shipment. We were introduced to D.B. Group through one of our Italian manufacturing partners for some very specialized equipment we needed to be delivered quickly from Italy to California. D.B. Group handled that shipment for us very well, and we continue to work with you since then.” [Matthew Williamson DFL]
To analyze, plan, organize and manage this shipment several teams were involved both in the U.S. and in Italy, including procurement, pricing, ocean-freight operations, customs consultancy and logistics.
After receiving the request, our LA unit together with our team in Italy studied the best performing solution to meet the needs of our customer.
All the goods were picked up from the production plants in Germany, Austria and Italy and transported by truck to our logistic hub in Montebelluna (Italy).
Here, our logistic operations staff proceeded to the consolidation of the shipment on a timely manner, to ensure all the pieces were loaded on our weekly LCL service to Los Angeles (read more about our LCL ocean service).
The ocean shipment departed from the port of La Spezia with direction Long Beach.
Last summer, the port of Long Beach suffered from heavy disruption. This happened because, while it was filled to capacity, resources to unload and reload the vessels were missing. The direct consequence of this became a huge increase in the time needed to move the containers out of the port, which led unloading waiting time for vessels up and therefore to lower capacity and higher prices.
A solution driven approach, a firm commitment to deadline and a strong local network have been crucial elements to solve the situation.
Thanks to our multidisciplinary team and to our long-lasting and trustworthy relationship with the terminal, the D.B. Group team was able to pick up the container as soon as possible.
The container load was then deconsolidated at our Carson (LA) warehouse and delivered within the agreed deadline in Bel Air.
More than 40 years of experience in the logistic sector working at the side of some of the major Italian and international companies led us to develop a deep expertise in managing even the most complex shipments, also when it comes to serve new industries such as the world of wellness.
A high-end level of customer service, a concrete approach in studying and researching the best alternatives to satisfy our customers’ needs, an innate sense of care for every shipment and the use of data-driven analysis and technology help us give shape to a high-end logistic service.
In such a challenging scenario, in which supply chains are still recovering from major disruption, communication becomes vital. A clear and direct communication can help to build transparent and trustworthy relationships with customers, who become not only clients but true partners in the creation of shared value.
“D.B. Group communication and customer support are why we continue to work with them as our logistics partner.” [Matthew Williamson DFL]
Efficiency and speed in communication, in the management of booking, quotation and shipments together with a proactive approach in finding alternative solutions help us to build high value partnerships that widen and enrich our expertise at each new challenge.
