The infrastructure necessary Bimbo’s operations, the world leader in the baking industry, needs a great and impeccable project cargo logistics plan.

Nowadays, finding the best supplier of machinery and industrial infrastructure anywhere the world is a must. The quality, price and payment terms of this first link in the supply chain directly impact the final price offered to the consumer.

But when the machinery and structure add up to more than 200m³, the logistical challenge also weighs heavily on the purchase decision.

In today’s history, our project cargo teams received from Bimbo the great task of transporting a 10-ton industrial silo* from Spain to Mexico, under the Incoterm® EXW.

Troubles with booking

Among the 134 countries listed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Spain is in the 10^th position in the world ranking of container port traffic. Mexico, on the 25^th.

So, one could expect that the variety of ships available for oversized cargo is quite wide, right? Not so fast. Literally.

Let’s start with the first obstacle: four months after the world-wide contingency to prevent new COVID-19 cases started, several carriers did not have equipment to handle this type of merchandise.

On the other hand, the second challenge: if the reservation was not confirmed in the month of July, the next departure would only be available until the month of September!

The work of our teams should be, as always, fast and precise. As a consequence of the contingency, the shipping companies are confirming equipment up to a month late, which caused a significant gap for Bimbo.

To find a viable option in terms of dates, we started the plan considering four oversized cargo service options with different vendors.

The first was to ship the parts for the silo installation, which would be transported in eight containers. Fast, friendly and dedicated, as our brand promise, we got the shipment for July!

Nevertheless… to make all import procedures perfect, the containerized cargo must arrive together with the main structure of the silo – on the same date.

In parallel and against time, our operations team coordinated the efforts of the project cargo and ocean import teams to obtain a shipment that would arrive in Mexico in the precise time and a partner that had a MAFI Ro-Ro unit.

Who first yelled “Eureka!” was the EP Ocean team. The solution was to leave Spain with the silo through the port of Bilbao, while the containers would leave through Valencia, arriving exactly the same day into the port of Veracruz!

For the logistics to be perfect, our project cargo experts diagnosed that the best solution was to handle the oversized cargo as break bulk instead of MAFI RoRo, since shipping companies would only have MAFIS available in a month.

This was the solution to move the oversized cargo structure from coast to coast in Spain using a lowboy equipment from Valencia to Bilbao.

*Update!

During a 23-day journey, the silo has navigated calm seas until it arrived in perfect conditions at the port of Veracruz, on the last week of August, from where Bimbo took it to one of its 38 plants in Mexico, where it became a fundamental part of a supply chain made to feed to a better world.

And, to feed even more happy Bimbo consumers in Mexico, our teams continue to work hard to be more than a excellency logistics provider: we want to be your strategic partner in logistics, to optimize your supply chain! In the last week of September, two more silos with the same measurements and 12 containers with their parts left Spain to navigate calm waters until they reach Mexico.

Next month we will share with you how everything went! These are some of the photos of the arrival in August:

Fun facts:

• All the cargo in July’s story totaled 230m³. The ones that are sailing right now have the same measures. Imagine getting on a ship a semi-Olympic pool with two lanes and a depth of 2m, full of water! That’s how big each cargo is!
• Each silo measurements: 13.5m long, 4.2m wide, 4m high and 10,000kg (over 22 thousand pounds).
• After assembled, each silo will have the capacity to store 200m³ of raw material.
• For the lashing of each silo, eight 13mm and 200KN chains were welded to the ship, distributed at the stern and at the bow

. Stern: Four chains. One placed in each of the lower lugs of the silo, working in opposite directions transversely, with an approximate angle of 45 degrees.

. Bow: Another four chains. On each side of the frame, two chains were placed working in transverse and opposite directions (port/starboard).

Whenever you need a team of experts dedicated to project cargo (for oversized cargo or special shipping), with the experience and flexibility to find the best alternatives to reach the perfect logistics solution, contact us. We work every day to transform your big (or huge!) international dreams into reality.