Strong Relationships at the heart of Customer Retention

As a mixed worldwide delivery business, Spatial Global has many facets – freight forwarding, mail management, e-commerce, fulfilment, courier, warehousing, logistics and added-value services.  Two case studies highlight how Spatial makes a difference for its customers and helps to develop lasting customer relationships which in turn helps retain and build even stronger ties with its  UK and international customers.

Time-critical ship repairs at Drydocks World in Dubai need effective freight management

Spatial Global has been an integral supply partner of Drydocks World for over 20 years.  A Dubai World company, the business is the largest shipyard in the Middle East, employing some 10,000 people.  It is the flagship facility within DP World at Jebel Ali port in Dubai.

Drydocks’ core business has been ship repair and maintenance since its creation in 1974, and it currently has capacity for between 50 and 60 vessels.  With so many ships in dry dock at any one time, replacements for damaged or obsolete parts need to be available precisely when they are needed.  Delays can be extremely costly.

The engineering teams at Jebel Ali place orders daily on their procurement colleagues.  The procurement team, in turn, sources these – often at short notice – from a global directory of manufacturers.  The United Kingdom excels at producing components that meet exacting standards of performance and compliance, and as a result such items are being despatched daily from a variety of UK manufacturers.

Spatial’s role is to receive all these UK-sourced orders – which can vary from a small jiffy bag containing a tiny but vital part, to large pieces of machinery and precision-engineered equipment.  To meet tight delivery schedules, Spatial assembles a twice-weekly consolidated airfreight consignment, comprising the products of various suppliers destined for Drydocks World – some 4,500 miles away.

Accompanying each Spatial Global airfreight consignment is detailed documentation for shipment and customs purposes.  Accurate notification of goods received and shipped is crucial for the maintenance and repair teams in Dubai.  Spatial coordinates and prepares all necessary documentation for:

• Receiving goods into its UK warehouse.
• Checking goods receipts and commercial invoices for each shipment.
• Undertaking a visual check on the external quality/packaging integrity of goods for export.
• Assessing goods received for items that could result in delays (such as dangerous goods) and segregating these for separate handling.
• Building the airline assembly and freight manifest.
• Presenting the shipment to the airline for the necessary security screening procedures.
• Presenting the customs declarations to the UK CHIEF system, for pre-export acceptance.
• Preparing the pre-alert documentation for the consignee.
• Presenting original documents to the airline for customs clearance procedures on arrival.
• Providing evidence of export to the individual suppliers for their own internal audit purposes.

The strength of Spatial Global’s relationship and its understanding of its customer’s exacting requirements have helped to create an enduring partnership.  However, that has not stopped the business from a process of continuous improvement and innovation.  The service is constantly developing in line with industry changes, technological advances and evolving international trade regulations.