Stadium cuts shipping costs by 50% for excavator manufacturer

Stadium Export Services has completed a bespoke packing and shipping project for excavator manufacturer, Komatsu UK, whilst reducing shipping costs by 50%.

The project involved the transportation and export of 28 excavator booms from Komatsu’s manufacturing facility in County Durham, UK, to their sister site in Tennessee, USA.

To minimise shipping costs, Stadium designed a cantilever packing solution which allowed one end of an excavator boom to be positioned over the top of another, increasing the number of booms that could be shipped in each container by 100%.

Prior to this, the 12 metre maximum container length meant that only two 6.7m long excavator booms could be shipped in each container, requiring 14 containers in total.

Stadium’s design solution halved the project’s costs by shipping four excavator booms in one container, requiring a total of only seven containers.

Despite the stabilisation of freight costs over recent months, the cost to ship items from the UK to the USA remains much higher than in pre-pandemic years. Orders for Komatsu’s long excavator booms have been impacted by the high shipping costs associated with exporting parts to the USA. It is hoped that the newly designed solution will help to combat these rising costs.

Brian Smith, CEO at Stadium Export Services, said: “It was important for us to support our customer with a bespoke packing solution to help reduce their freight costs, particularly during the current economic outlook. The booms were individually secured onto a pre-assembled timber framework, fixed onto timber skids. This reduced site time for Stadium and the number of shipping containers required for the project.”

David Tinkler, Logistics Engineer at Komatsu UK, added: “Stadium continually look for opportunities to deliver cost savings and this solution was put forward immediately upon receiving our enquiry. Their service and attention to detail is always excellent.”

What is an excavator boom?

An excavator boom is a component used to operate an excavator, a piece of machinery used for digging holes or moving materials. An excavator consists of a base attached to rotating wheels, housing that rotates 360 degrees and an arm, which is used for digging. The excavator boom acts as the arm of the excavator and usually consists of two pieces that articulate for better reach.

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