Below, we’ve provided two case studies showing how we’ve helped importers to not only reduce their landed costs by between 25-50%, but how we’ve also improved service, taken away a lot of their workload and in one case, recovered almost £30,000 of overpaid import duty!
| Our Customer: | Staffordshire Hydraulics Services, Kidsgrove |
| Their Business: | Supply of equipment to the oil and gas sector |
| Customer Type: | SME |
| Our Contact: | Steve Moulton, Purchasing Manager |
| SCL Services Used: | Freight Review, Freight Management, Customs Compliance |
Staffordshire Hydraulics have been importing hydraulic pumps and high-pressure fittings from the USA for over 30 years and their shipments are always sent by air freight to ensure they meet the needs of their customers in the oil and gas sector. They also import by air from Asia and by road from Italy. Prior to our approach, they had been loyal to a freight forwarder for over 10 years but didn’t feel they were getting the service or the support they once had.
We therefore offered to carry out an assessment to see if there were any opportunities to reduce cost or improve service levels. Their purchasing manager, Steve Moulton was very open to the idea as they had no real logistics expertise in-house. He was also concerned that their costs had increased over time, and that their urgent USA shipments from Cleveland and Los Angeles were taking too long to arrive.
We spent a morning reviewing 3 months of their import activity, studying freight invoices, delivery performance and Customs entries and came to the following conclusions:
After we submitted our proposal for the Freight Review using our shared savings model, Staffordshire Hydraulics saw the potential benefits and that not only would the review result in significant cost savings, but that they would see many other benefits including a faster service, certainty of cost and that someone with logistics expertise would be managing and overseeing this area of their business every day.
As a result of the Freight Review, we delivered an annual saving of 50% on their import air freight costs and were also able to improve their transit times by 2-3 days. This really helped their production team who are always keen to receive the USA product swiftly so they can fulfil orders to their own customers.
As things stand today, Staffordshire Hydraulics have been a customer since 2010 and in that time, we have become an extension of their business, controlling costs, assisting with Customs entry preparation, monitoring individual shipments and guiding them through the ever-changing logistics landscape, especially during the disruption caused by Covid-19.
| Our Customer: | Middleby UK, Warrington |
| Their Business: | Supply of commercial cooking and food processing equipment |
| Customer Type: | SME |
| Our Contact: | Mark Daintith, Purchasing Manager |
| SCL Services Used: | Freight Review, Freight Management, Customs Compliance |
Middleby UK is part of the US based MIddleby Corporation, headquartered in Elgin, Illinois. They have suppliers across the USA and need their inbound supply chain to be robust, flexible and competitive. They use both air and ocean freight to import their consignments and prior to our contact, they had been using two different freight providers for several years.
We spoke with Mark Daintith and offered to conduct an assessment to see if there were any opportunities to help them reduce their landed cost or to improve processes or service levels. At the time, Middleby were not unhappy with their service, but their lean structure meant they had not been able to conduct a proper review of their import air and ocean freight arrangements for a few years.
We spent a morning reviewing their activity over a 4-6 month period, studying freight invoices, bills of lading and Customs entries and came to the following conclusions:
Again, we offered to carry out the Freight Review using our shared savings model which Middleby liked, as they knew the review would be self-funded and would generate net cash to their bottom line as well as gaining access to a source of expertise and operational support.
As a result of the Freight Review, we delivered a 25% saving on their annual freight costs and just as importantly, we locked in the new freight rates for an extended period, giving Middleby confidence in their selling prices and margins. They also saw improved shipment visibility and better service in the new arrangements. In our second year, during our routine verification of import freight invoices we noticed repeated classification errors in their import Customs entries which drew our attention. We dug deeper and saw that these errors went back several years. As a result, we submitted a bulk repayment claim to HMRC for overpaid import Customs duty and were successful in achieving a refund of over £26,000. This finding led us to launch our Customs Compliance offering which is now a valuable part of our service to customers.
Middleby UK have now been a customer since 2011 and in that time, they have grown, expanding their supplier base and we have in turn adapted their logistics model to accommodate this growth, always ensuring that their logistics model remains agile and competitive.
"It is a pleasure to work with Andy who is professional, driven and easy to get on with” Paul Critchlow, Managing Director, Distinctive Medical Products, Runcorn
“We did not know we had a problem with our import shipping until Andy Cliff came to visit and offered us an overview of all of our overseas transport requirements” Richard Brown, Managing Director, Abbey England, Knutsford
“I am writing to thank you for all the work you have done for my company since we started working together in 2017. You have made our incoming freight more “straightforward” and we now know that we get the most favourable prices” Paul Hornby, Managing Director, Foilco, Warrington
“A high recommendation goes out to Andy and SCL from a very satisfied customer Middleby UK” Mark Daintith, Purchasing Manager, Middleby UK, Warrington
“I would certainly recommend Andy to any company looking to improve cost and service in the logistics area, especially in these uncertain times” Rob Laird, Finance Director, Uren Food Group, Neston
“Not everyone has time to scrutinise invoices to check the costs are correct, especially when the freight forwarders try to bamboozle you with trade jargon” Neil Barlow, Director, New World Air Brake, Warrington
“What really surprised us was that as well as achieving savings of almost 50% on our freight costs, we also saw marked improvements in the service levels” Steve Goldstraw, Managing Director, Staffordshire Hydraulic Services, Stoke-on-Trent
“From the very first meeting, it became apparent that Andy Cliff was professional, committed, tenacious and enthusiastic and very much customer-led in his thinking” Jim Hickey, Head of Procurement, Luxfer MEL Technologies, Manchester
