What we get up to....!

Over the past few years we have had some wierd and wonderful shipments, we thought we might share some of the highlights:

Highlight 1 - Causing Mayhem in Manhattan!

We were contacted recently by one of our customers, a UK Manufacturer of Flight simulator machines. They had secured a contract to supply their Simulators to the prestigious American toy store FAO Schwarz. The only problem, was to get the simulator there....

We had to pack and load the simulator in the UK, transport the goods to New Jersey where we built a custom built rig and frame to enable us to lift the simulator without damaging the delicate fibreglass panels.

The store is on 5th Avenue, on the corner of Central Park - one of the busiest junctions in the world. We had to close it.

The delivery had to take place at 11.00pm and the road was closed by the NYPD. The Custom built rig was then erected to take the simulator off the delivery vehicle and onto the 2nd floor!

Flight Simulator in Willenhall, UK

Flight Simulator in 2nd storey of FAO Schwarz, New York

Our Customer said:

"Thanks for all your assistance with the New York and Las Vegas flight simulator jobs, things couldn't have gone more smoothly."

Nick Hughes, Project Manager

Highlight 2 - Keeping the A380 on course..

A Client secured some lucrative engineering work for the new Airbus A380 assembly. These pieces, made in Birmingham (UK) were over 2 tons each, and had a highly polished steel surface. The manufacturer asked us to provide a door to door airfreight solution for these pieces to Alabama (USA) where they would undergo further work. We had to collect the finished goods, pack them in custom built crates and airfreight them on the first available flight.

The shipments varied from 2 tons to 9 tons, and up to date we have shipped over 70 tools. Every one on time.

Tools in custom built crates

Our customer said:

"This is a very important contract for our company and with Westhaven's help we have kept to schedule and on budget. I would also like to add that the personal service and support provided by the whole Westhaven team has made the whole process very easy. This level of service would make us go straight back to Westhaven in the future"

Chris Blanco, Project Manager

Highlight 3 - The show must go on......

We were contacted by a Theatre Production company who were arranging a tour of the Hit US musical "Kiss me Kate." The set was in the US and needed to be transported in 5 containers to the UK. The timescale was critical - as the first show was less than a week after the ship was due to arrive.

Also, because of the value of the set (over $1million) we were able to arrange for an ATA Carnet to offer exemption on Customs Duty, as the goods were only on loan to the UK - saving the company thousands of pounds.

Highlight 4 - An unusual request.....

Our final highlight caused some amusement in the office. When a Marketing company enquired about sending a cow from Glasgow to Ibiza, we wondered... As it turned out, "Daisy" was a Fibreglass cow made for a drinks marketing campaign - complete with Leather boots, Hat and goggles.

She had to be handled very carefully, and again timing was crucial to coincide delivery with the product launch.

"Daisy" on her summer holiday

We hope that this brief insight has been both interesting and useful to you. Please do not hesitate to call us if you have any Logistical nightmares, or urgent deliveries.