Customer story – Premium motorboat manufacturer

This manufacturer of premium motorboats is growing quickly. Booming business doesn’t come without challenges, however. Always on their mind: damage to their high-value cargo during long and complex journeys on trucks and vessels. Visilion has given this boatbuilder real-time data – to put their mind at ease and create more predictability and agility.

Challenge

Every small mistake can have huge costs when it comes to high-value goods. When the cargo doesn’t fit into a standard container, the chance of mistakes only increases. Shipping oversized and out of gauge cargo, such as premium boats, takes careful planning and attention. The high-value cargo needs to arrive to the customer in perfect shape. All risks to the cargo have to be identified.

Unfortunately, the boatbuilder found that they couldn’t pay as much attention as they wanted to. They were left in the hands of logistics service providers who could only report on shipments as they departed or arrived. This left them feeling vulnerable. If something were to go wrong, they would not know until it was too late. On top of that, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the location or time of an incident. Nor keep customers up to date – customers who are greatly anticipating their deliveries.

Solution

The manufacturer decided to use Visilion to improve visibility in their supply chain. More specifically, they wanted Visilion to provide real-time data on the location and condition of their boats. They attached the compact trackers to their boats before their departure, which were then activated and provided data throughout the shipment. The exact location and condition of the boats were known during handling, on the road and on the sea.

Results

They felt that the compact trackers were easy to activate and provided high-quality data. One employee explained:

“We wanted to know how our boats are handled while transported; Visilion provided the information we were after. The reports were very detailed. For instance, they pinpointed when it left production and arrived at the dealer – down to the minute.”

They could also easily identify disturbances. In one instance, they spotted an unreported U-turn back to the manufacturer during a truck delivery. Upon investigating the incident, they quickly became aware of high winds at sea that would affect later shipments. These insights gave them a better level of security, agility and predictability.