A customer in the industrial manufacturing industry needed a quick solution in order to avoid a $3 million dollar late delivery fee on the sale of two $7 million dollar jet engines. The engines were scheduled to ship by sea to the Middle East. Corrosion forming on the engine was a major concern. If the engines arrived with corrosion on them, they could be deemed unusable by industry standards.
The cover they typically used was made out of an inexpensive high-density plastic and was forming cracks around the rivets which allowed water to make contact with the engine. Sea water = corrosion. They needed a new type of cover that would prevent water and moisture intrusion and they needed them fast. If our customer didn’t get the engines shipped within 72 hours of the time they called us, they would incur a $3 million dollar late delivery fee.
SOLUTION
The cover needed to be custom engineered to allow access to lift points, visibility of placards containing shipping information, and ease-of-access for foreign customs checks all while protecting the engines from the harsh sea-air environment they were scheduled to be exposed to. Time constraints would not allow for manual patterning and prototype covers.
The Transhield Data Acquisition Team traveled to the customer location to perform a 3-D scan of the engine. Within one hour of arriving at our customer’s facility, we had not only scanned the engine to be covered, but had also prepared the 3-D file and electronically sent it back to Transhield for design, patterning and production.
RESULT
Within 60 hours of receiving the call for help, the Transhield team was able to custom design and fit two engine covers for shipment overseas. The covers fit perfectly the first time and the shipment took place as scheduled. Our customer was able to avoid late shipment penalties and had peace of mind that their $7 million dollar engines would be properly protected throughout their journey. Subsequently, two more covers have been ordered for future shipments.
“The cover fit perfect. I walked around it and tried to find a flaw, but couldn’t.” –Inspection Engineer
CLOAKED IN CONFIDENCE
Transhield demonstrated responsive customer service and the keen ability to devise a solution to a complex shipping problem. Let us help you with your shipping and storage challenge. We can provide a protective cover solution for your business’s short- and long-term needs.
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