Mark
Supervisor sales
The world of logistics is full of terms that might sound foreign to the average person. Terms like "groupage box" or "buyer's consol" are just a few examples that we would like to clarify here. In our previous blog, we talked about how a shipping container is more than just a black box. But what exactly contains these rectangular boxes, the holy grail of modern maritime transport?
When you, as an importer, place an order that fills an entire container, things are pretty straight forward. The container is being loaded, transported to the port, put on board a cargo vessel and finally unloaded at its destination. But what if you have less than a full container to ship, or if you have multiple suppliers whose orders together make up a full container? In that case, we are talking about consolidation, also known as groupage.
What is consolidation?
Consolidation is the process of combining shipments from different suppliers into a single container for transport purposes. Berkman Forwarding facilitates this process from China entirely in-house. We have our own offices and warehouses in the main Chinese ports, allowing us to serve our customers optimally. Every week, a dedicated groupage container departs from these individual ports to Rotterdam according to a fixed schedule. So if you have shipments that do not fill a full container, they can join our Berkman box, be unloaded upon arrival in Rotterdam, placed on pallets and delivered to their final destination. Of course, we can also offer other value-added services, such as repackaging, labeling or temporary storage in Rotterdam. The motto is: You ask, we deliver!
What are the advantages of consolidation for you as an importer?
- Cost savings: By combining multiple shipments into one container, shipping costs per unit can be significantly reduced.
- Faster lead times: By shipping goods together, delivery times can be shortened, especially if consolidation leads to more efficient routing and transport.
- Lower environmental impact: Consolidation reduces the number of transport movements, which can contribute to lower CO2 emissions and a smaller ecological footprint.
- Simpler customs clearance: A single, consolidated shipment can simplify customs and administrative procedures, thereby speeding up the process.
What is a buyer's consol?
Now that we have illustrated what a groupage container is, let us delve into the family special: the buyer's consol. For importers, this can be a great way to save costs, spread risk, and optimize inventory management. How does it work?
Imagine you have five suppliers near Shanghai from whom you regularly order and whose individual orders are all less than a full container. But combined, they fill up a full 20' or 40' container, and Berkman can help you with that. You simply ask your suppliers to deliver their cargo to our own warehouse in (in this case) Shanghai, and we ensure that all these individual orders are being loaded together into one container. This container is finally delivered to the required delivery location without being reloaded or unloaded en route. This means less chance of damage, loss or theft, lower costs, and a much more efficient process.
Berkman Forwarding can facilitate this process from various origins in the Far East. An additional and important advantage is that upon arrival in Rotterdam, we only charge B/L costs and clearance costs once, regardless of the number of shipments from different suppliers in the same container.
As we started this blog: consolidation is a skill you can learn, and Berkman Forwarding is here to assist! Curious about the advantages for your organization, more especially how much you can save? Ask about the various option, we are ready to help out!
