Taking collaboration to new heights

The background

The year 2020 stands witness to human resilience and the undying spirit of collaboration. As COVID-19 spread across the world, commercial establishments reduced their operations to protect their employees. In April 2020, when the pandemic reached Kenya, the sudden spike in cases quickly exhausted the local supply of COVID-19 testing kits. To make more available, the Kenyan government tried sourcing from other countries. However, logistics had become challenging due to global shutdowns and limited cargo carriage capacity. At that point, we partnered with our customer, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies, to coordinate the collection and delivery of required materials from multiple production sites in Europe and Asia to Kenya in Africa.

The challenge

During the pandemic, many organisations stepped in to provide access to testing kits wherever needed. Our customer was no exception. To realise their plan, they needed a logistical partner who could wear multiple hats. Their existing service provider offered only transportation via air. The customer needed more services because the cargo was getting stranded at the airports due to insufficient documentation, accumulating penalty charges and causing irreversible delays.

They wanted a logistics partner who could organise air transport and arrange all the necessary documentation at short notice.

The Maersk solution

As soon as the customer reached out to us, our teams sprang into action. Since time was of the essence, we initiated several solutions at once. One team handled the processing of all statutory export and import permits, while another arranged cargo space allocation with the airlines. In parallel, packaging and trucking to the origin airports and cargo-handling at the hub helped in ensuring the final dispatch. Once at the destination, we handled final customs clearances and organised last-mile distribution to customer’s offices and medical clinics across Kenya.

In the case of projects likes these, acting fast is critical where services like Maersk Air Freight provide excellent support. A strong global network, local expertise, AEO (Accredited Economic Operator) status, and visibility and tracking facilities go a long way in ensuring a cargo journey that is more than just transportation. Everything must happen fast, efficiently and with great precision.

The result

Maersk delivered the testing kits on time to the clinics and customer’s offices. Despite a complicated challenge, the solution was quick and centrally coordinated, featuring support from multiple teams, yet facilitated by a single point of contact in each of the sourcing countries.