The mission

A manufacturer of semiconductor devices (chips and wafers) based in Ireland faces a highly critical situation: Failure of a machine used in the cleanroom production causes the automated production line to come to a full stop. A spare part is urgently needed! But the item is not on stock – and only a supplier in Japan can manufacture the piece. The spare part has to be transported from Japan to Ireland as quickly as possible.

The challenge

In a fast-paced environment such as High-Tech & Semicon, machine failure is a worst-case scenario, resulting in production stand-still, losses in revenue and severe time pressure to resume production workflows. High-tech companies need high-performance solutions, so the manufacturer turns to time:matters, a logistics partner who is fast, flexible and in full control of the logistics process. time:matters is commissioned to ship the sensitive and high-value spare part urgently needed for semiconductor production from Japan to Ireland.

Route from Japan via Frankfurt to Dublin

The transport

Booking procedures, shipment monitoring and client communication are handled expertly and professionally by the time:matters dedicated semiconductor desk in Amsterdam.

Day 0

The spare part is custom-made by a company based in Japan. As soon as quality checks are completed, a time:matters courier partner picks up the shipment at the supplier’s location. It is 18:50 PM Japanese Standard Time when the high-value component arrives at Tokio-Narita Airport (NRT). Swift export customs clearance follows, and the shipment leaves Japan with flight LH8385 to Frankfurt (FRA).

Day 1

Flight LH8385 is scheduled for arrival in Frankfurt at 06:20 AM. When the plane lands at 06:43 AM with a 23 minute delay, the time:matters Courier Terminal experts take over. Their superb handling expertise kicks in and (thanks to exlusive direct apron access) they manage to load the spare part tail-to-tail onto flight LH976, which departs just 32 minutes later (07:15 AM) to Dublin (DUB).

At 09:20 AM, a very happy customer receives the spare part and production restarts!

The result

time:matters achieves a total transportation time of less than 24 hours, from pickup in Japan to handover in Ireland. Our client’s comment: “Guys, you are amazing!”