CIMC facilitates efficient delivery of tanks for a juice vessel project of a leading international shipping company

Recently, CIMC LPT, and CIMC Wetrans, both being subsidiaries of CIMC, successfully completed the delivery of tanks for a fruit juice vessel project of a leading international shipping company. The project initiated based on the juice vessel system engineering customized by CIMC LPT for this leading international shipping company, which involved manufacturing 14 large juice tanks, and handling the logistics and transportation in several batches such as short-haul transfer, lifting, shipping, customs clearance and installation.

By integrating resources across the whole chain and pursuing technological innovation, CIMC's project team not only ensured the efficient delivery of tanks, but also achieved a roughly 30% reduction in logistics costs. This achievement sets a benchmark for high efficiency and synergy in the manufacturing and logistics of global food equipment.

In terms of project synergy, CIMC LPT, and CIMC Wetrans formed a complementary strategic partnership: the former took the lead in tank manufacturing, short-haul transportation, and berth coordination and management, while the latter integrated resources across the whole chain such as crane barges, deck ships and customs clearance companies. Through data sharing mechanism, the both parties realized the seamless collaboration throughout the entire process. CIMC's project team precisely grasped the policy window and operational gaps, promoting the seamless integration of the entire process from factory to dock, transportation, customs clearance and installation. This enabled the successful achievement of zero delays in the transportation of two batches, effectively avoiding hidden costs caused by fragmentation in traditional logistics model.

In terms of manufacturing and R&D, the super-large juice tanks delivered in this project were manufactured by CIMC LPT. Central to these juice tanks is an industry-leading tank measuring nearly 18 meters in diameter. The capacity of each tank satisfies the high-efficiency loading demands of leading large-scale juice transporters worldwide. The CIMC LPT team has ensured the stability and long-term reliability of the tank structure under extreme working conditions by integrating finite element analysis (FEM) technology with precise manufacturing processes. At the same time, the team’s innovative design of the support structure and special surface treatment process fully complies with international food safety production standards, providing strong assurance for the hygienic storage and transportation of liquid food such as fruit juice. The project strictly follows the safety certification standards of world-class classification society, and has selected top global suppliers for key components, so as to ensure that the overall system performance meets world-class standards.

In terms of breakthroughs in logistics technology, the CIMC Wetrans team addressed industry challenges with multiple innovative solutions through end-to-end coordination of factory shipments, terminal berths and marine approvals, precisely aligned maritime approvals with dynamic adjustments of berth resources and shipyard installation schedules, overcoming stringent customs declaration deadlines and the short customs clearance window in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone. This resulted in achieving 24-hour efficient customs clearance, thereby avoiding high demurrage risks. To address the force balance issue at the 16 asymmetric lifting points at the top of the tank, the team adopted a technique involving folding the sling in half and bundling it together, achieving uniform load distribution through dynamic adjustment. To address the safety hazards associated with high-altitude operation on the tank top, the team designed a customized lifting cage wrapped with protective blankets, and utilized shore cranes to assist operation, thereby preventing personnel from climbing and avoiding damage to coating. To meet the need for protecting the protrusions on the bottom of the tank, the locations of 380 support blocks were marked and accurately positioned on the deck ship in advance to ensure that the tank is seated stably.

The smooth and successful implementation of the project underscored the remarkable advantages of CIMC's collaborative model featuring "equipment manufacturing + smart logistics". With this model, CIMC has not only delivered the high-quality, efficient and cost-effective one-stop solutions to customers, but also set a successful example for the global food transportation industry to learn from and replicate.

In the future, CIMC will continue to deepen the collaborative development in “equipment manufacturing + smart logistics”, thus vigorously driving the global trade and food transportation sector to accelerate its transition into a new phase of high efficiency, intelligence and sustainability.