ACM handles challenges on the transport side

At ACM AB, our basic idea and objective is to be a local supplier to our customers, where we can offer great flexibility and high accuracy on our transports. With warehouses in two locations in Sweden, we have created a secure distribution network where we can offer both fast and cost-effective deliveries, while at the same time be able to deliver products from several different manufacturers in one shipment.

From the year 2020 until now, our know-how and logistics setup have really been put to the test as we have encountered many different problems and challenges that have made it impossible to manage the transports in the usual way.

An example is that we usually have a number of vessel transports per year with a large volume of kaolin from England to our warehouse, but throughout 2021 the demand at our supplier was so high that we could not stock the same volumes as before. In order to continue to offer fast delivery times to our customers, we had to switch to trailer transport instead of sea freight.

In England, the problems have followed one another during this time. The pandemic affected production capacity with sick staff, long lead times at shift changes, etc. Brexit has affected deliveries in many ways and there is a major shortage of drivers. With these conditions, a lot of time has been spent on planning, changes and puzzling in order to get deliveries home on time to our customers.

As for the products we bring home from the rest of Europe and Asia, there have also been major challenges there. Every year we take a number of containers with sea freight from both the US and Asia but the delays have been enormous. We all remember the incident in the Suez Canal, which unfortunately had a far greater impact than we initially thought.

To try to solve these situations, we have had to look at alternative shipping methods, alternative products or, together with our suppliers, investigate the possibility of helping within the distribution network to provide our customers with products on time.

We look ahead

ACM constantly strives to be your reliable supplier of a product range that is constantly being developed by some of the leading and most innovation-driven manufacturers within the respective market segment. The products comply with international standards and regulatory requirements and contribute to a safer and healthier working environment and a cleaner environment for all of us!

In 2022, the situation has started to return to more normal conditions in terms of lead times for production and transport. We are also back with our vessel transports from England to our warehouse.

What we take with us from this period and which we continue with is the extended dialogue between our customer service and our customers regarding forecasts, consumption and the customer’s situation in the near future.

The close dialogue with our customers was of great help during the difficult period, but it will also help us in the same way in the future as the transport situation in the world continues to put us to the test. Our close customer collaborations show the commitment we have to continuously improve our customers’ processes and products!