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the cladding manufacturer overseeing delivery at the Swedish site. “We arranged for our ALLMI-registered person to follow the vehicles out to Jarbo at our cost to provide that extra- mile service for our customer. “As a result of us going that one step further, our relationship with our customer has strengthened massively. We have been rewarded with further work, including a vast storage agreement, with finished goods to be held at our Pencoed facility, and the loading of their containers being handled by our experienced team,” Michael said. “Partnerships and longstanding relationships with our customers have kept us in business throughout the pandemic and allowed us to grow our team in the first half of 2021.” Supplier relationships UWL also nurtures relationships with its suppliers. During the pandemic, for instance, the company brought payment dates forward where possible. “We kept as regular a flow of work to our suppliers as we could and as much as we supported them, they supported us,” Michael said. As for what motivates employees at family- run UWL to go the extra mile, he commented: “Our staff truly enjoy coming to work. It is not your typical nine to five and neither would any of us want it to be. “UWL has thankfully kept its family values throughout our expansion and as the years go by, and more people come into the team, we ensure that we are all striving for the same success, with customer service always at the heart of everything we do.” Adapting for Brexit Michael Mitchell noted that at the start of 2021, it was evident that there were not enough clearance houses to cope with the demands of Brexit. “We therefore set up a Customs clearance department and brought all Customs requirements in house,” he said. “We saw an increase in business as a result and have grown the team to a five-person permanent operation in a very short time. We raise our own import declarations via a CHIEF system, complete export declarations and raise our own T documents. “Being part of a global logistics network, we have been able to assist all our clients and their customers alike with clearances all over the EU and developed great partnerships as we go.”
Going the extra mile Pencoed-based United Worldwide Logistics places customer service front and centre. Its efforts were recognised with the 2020 BIFA Extra Mile Award
EXTRA MILE AWARD
Descartes gives international freight
packaging, replacing wood with polystyrene foam to allow for more compression without damage. “We used foam backed with cardboard underneath the straps with cornices over those to ensure the goods underneath were not damaged by the securing processes and roof straps,” Michael said. The new packaging solution also occupied less space, reducing the cost of transport. Up to 10 loads of panels left the UK each day from Immingham direct into Gothenburg, and on to the delivery site via both rail and direct trucking. During 2020, COVID-19 restrictions prevented forwarders and shippers a single Customs platform to import and export freight across international borders. Descartes’ Customs, freight and transport management software is used by most of the major forwarders and shippers in the UK to optimise speed of entry with single data entry for multiple countries, boosting productivity, improving data quality and ensuring compliance with the Union Customs Code. Descartes’ transport management solutions will increase efficiency, reduce costs and enhance customer service when using outsourced multimodal transportation operations.
United Worldwide Logistics (UWL) began working with a local company specialising in cladding for buildings in October 2019. Initially, this involved transport within the UK, but UWL’s investment in specialist MOFFETT (truck-mounted forklift) vehicles, an on-site shunter and a dedicated customer care team led to further work in Europe. “Our customer had spent a great deal of time and money creating product for a project in Sweden,” said UWL managing director Michael Mitchell. “Due to the delicacy of the product, previous suppliers had caused extensive damage to the goods during transit and our customer lost the contract. It spent months working on regaining the contract and when this finally paid off, it asked us for assistance.”
Delicate operation The interlocking cladding panels, which
measured between 6 m and 13 m in length, had to be handled with care as the slightest knock could bend or dent them, rendering the interlocking mechanisms unfit for purpose, Michael explained. UWL worked with the customer to redesign the
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October 2021
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