Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea-Air Logistics: Quality, Cost-Effective, and Reliable Service
Shippers of all sizes and verticals use Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea-Air product to save time and money, and minimize carbon emissions, when compared to air freight alone.
Supply chain disruptions are becoming the norm instead of unpredictable, one-off events. This shift makes reliable and efficient transportation options increasingly essential. Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea-Air Logistics leverages the speed of air transport, along with the lower cost and lower carbon emissions of ocean transport, to boost supply chain resilience, flexibility, and sustainability. The seamless, end-to-end process and dedicated team overseeing the Sea-Air solution ensure consistent reliability and quality service.
With planned and unplanned cargo that ranges from fashion to finished vehicles to delicate flowers and produce, Sea-Air Logistics provides savings in either lead time or cost. Companies can leverage Sea-Air as a primary mode for forecasted volume or cost-effectively meet an unexpected spike in demand.
Each Sea-Air shipment is pre-booked onto an ocean vessel, within dedicated containers that enjoy high priority for equipment and space.
During the sea transport stage, the shipment is assigned air freight space, ensuring it is uplifted without dwell time. Once the vessel reaches its hub destination, shipments are transloaded to an aircraft, typically within 8 to 12 hours.
“Even during COVID, the Sea-Air product maintained an on-time performance level of 95%.”
-Leo Qvarnström
Director, Sea-Air Logistics
and Air Sustainability,
North America
Kuehne+Nagel
Because Kuehne+Nagel works only with premium carriers and requires their adherence to stringent performance requirements, it can confidently forecast transit times. “Even during COVID, the Sea-Air product maintained an on-time performance level of 95%,” says Leo Qvarnström, Director, Sea-Air Logistics and Air Sustainability, North America with Kuehne+Nagel.
A cross-functional team within Kuehne+Nagel oversees each shipment. “One ‘control tower’ team handles the whole shipment from origin to destination and across modes, providing an integrated, controlled operation that’s also scalable,” says Robin Knopf, Global Head of Sea-Air Logistics with Kuehne+Nagel.
The experts on the Sea-Air team boast decades of experience and speak the language of both modes. “They are magicians,” Knopf says. They leverage their sea and air freight knowledge, using Kuehne+Nagel’s global network and the latest technology to predict movements and track shipments. Because the handling processes are so tightly managed, the damage rate on shipments is close to zero.
“One ‘control tower’ team handles the whole shipment from origin to destination and across modes, providing an integrated, controlled operation that’s also scalable.”
-Robin Knopf
Global Head,
Sea-Air Logistics
Kuehne+Nagel
The Sea-Air product often works in lanes with an imbalance of trade—that is, more cargo typically comes into a hub than exits it. These markets tend to experience less volatility than many other trade lanes, and the shipments capture capacity that would otherwise sit empty on a return flight, Qvarnström says.
Shippers of all sizes and verticals use the Sea-Air product to save time and money, and minimize carbon emissions, when compared to air freight alone.
Some also use the solution as a kind of mobile warehouse, avoiding the cost of warehousing freight while it’s in transit. Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea-Air Logistics also helps companies diversify their supply chain and logistics operations, boosting flexibility and resilience. It works year-round as a true alternative to other transport modes.
“That’s the beauty of the product; it’s something that everyone can take advantage of,” Qvarnström says.