Manufacturing

A manufacturing plant depends on two flows of cargo. The inbound flow is raw materials, components, spare parts and packaging, without which the line stops. The outbound flow is finished goods that must reach customers in Ukraine and abroad on time and in the condition agreed in the contract. Manufacturing logistics ties both flows to the production plan: cargo has to arrive not "as fast as possible" but when the shop floor needs it.

This is what sets it apart from a one-off equipment move. Moving a machine tool or relocating a plant is a separate project with rigging and oversized loads, covered under the Industrial equipment industry. Here the subject is regular work: dozens or hundreds of shipments a year, repeated routes, the same documents and constant control of lead times.

Plants work with different supply models. Some keep a large stock of raw materials and order rarely but in big lots. Others move to just-in-time supply: material arrives in small lots for a specific production plan, and the warehouse is kept to a minimum. This model reduces money tied up in stock but makes the line sensitive to any delay on the road.

That is why international supply over a long leg usually combines both approaches: regular scheduled shipments and a safety stock of critical items in a warehouse near the plant. The size of the stock depends on the transit time, border queues, seasonal traffic restrictions and how many days the line can run without a delivery.

What to agree in advance

• The shipment schedule and unloading windows at the plant warehouse.
• A back-up route or mode in case a border closes or a delay occurs.
• Who reports deviations from the schedule and how.
• The minimum stock below which a delivery is expedited.

For exports it is important to settle from the start who is responsible for what. Contracts use the International Chamber of Commerce's Incoterms 2020 rules for this: they define where the seller hands over the goods, who pays for carriage and insurance, and who handles export and import clearance. The chosen term decides which part of the route the manufacturer arranges and which the buyer does.

• EXW, FCA: the buyer arranges the main carriage; the seller hands over the goods at its warehouse or an agreed place.
• CPT, CIP: the seller pays carriage to the destination; risk passes to the buyer on handover to the first carrier.
• DAP, DPU, DDP: the seller delivers to the buyer, and under DDP also pays the import charges in the buyer's country.

Besides commercial documents, exports often need a certificate or declaration of origin if the buyer claims a preferential duty rate, conformity certificates for the destination market, and packaging that will survive the whole route.

Most manufacturing cargo travels on pallets. The standard EPAL Euro pallet measures 1200 × 800 mm, and truck loading and warehouse racking are planned around it. Pallets and crates made of raw wood for international transport must be treated and marked under the ISPM 15 international standard, or the destination country may refuse the cargo.

Many manufacturers work with returnable packaging: steel racks, plastic containers, special trays for parts. Its return has to be planned as a separate flow too, so that packaging does not pile up at the customer while the supplier waits without it.

• A list of suppliers and customers with warehouse addresses and contacts.
• Typical lots: weight, number of pallets or packages, dimensions, commodity codes (HS codes).
• For dangerous materials, the UN number and safety data sheet.
• The production plan, or at least an indicative schedule of material needs.
• Contract terms: Incoterms, who insures the cargo, document requirements.
• Details of the customs procedure if the plant works with tolling raw materials.