SKD container transportation scheme for bulldozers

Discussion on the SKD container transportation scheme for bulldozers

As domestic bulldozer technology and brand influence continue to improve, exports of complete bulldozers are gradually increasing. However, as governments around the world intensify their protectionist policies for domestic companies (such as imposing value-added tax on imported products and maintaining low tax rates for localized production), the profit margins of exported complete bulldozers have decreased. This has prompted complete bulldozer exporters to export complete bulldozers in the form of SKD (semi-finished products or component assemblies). Importers then assemble the complete bulldozers in their home countries and sell them, achieving localized production and benefiting from preferential tax rates.

To ensure the rapid and safe delivery of export products and increase their market share in foreign markets, Chinese bulldozer exporters must re-evaluate their current shipping methods for complete machines. Currently, domestic bulldozer exports mostly utilize traditional methods of shipping complete machines via bulk carriers or roll-on/roll-off vessels. If SKD bulldozer exports are to be implemented, container shipping should be considered, as it offers the following advantages over traditional methods:

(1) Low freight. Container loading and unloading efficiency is high. At the same time, due to the characteristics of containers being able to be stacked in multiple layers, compared with traditional transportation methods, it can save about 10% of ocean freight and port charges.

(2) Transportation safety. Due to the harsh climate of sea transportation, the surface quality of the product is easily damaged. Compared with the traditional naked loading of the whole machine, the sealed box of the container itself forms a solid package, which can reduce the damage caused by moisture, contamination and theft.

(3) Shorter cycle. Container ships have high loading and unloading efficiency and are not affected by bad weather, so their transportation cycle is shorter than that of bulk carriers.

(4) The customs declaration and clearance port procedures are simple, and some countries have adopted preferential tax rate policies for container transportation.

In summary, compared with traditional shipping methods, shipping bulldozers in SKD containers has great advantages.

This article uses the MATCH MC 22 D bulldozer as an example to analyze the specifications of the machine’s components and containers, and designs a packing plan for the bulldozer’s SKD container shipment.

Vehicle configuration and SKD scheme design principles

The MATCH MC 22 D bulldozer weighs approximately 22.7 tons and is equipped with a straight-tilt blade, three-tooth ripper, and a standard cab. Its overall dimensions (without blade and ripper) are 4200mm x 2620mm x 3370mm (length x width x height).

After the bulldozer is assembled and tested, it is disassembled to ensure that it meets the factory inspection standards. It is then packed in semi-knocked-down boxes and assembled again after arriving at the destination. Taking into account factors such as cost, production and technical conditions of the importing country, the principles for disassembly of the whole machine and container selection are:

• Use a minimum number of smaller containers to reduce rental costs.
• Try not to disassemble the key transmission components of the whole machine to ensure reliable quality after reassembly in the importing country.
• Try to pack them in the form of large components. The assembly relationship between the large components is simple, which can simplify the disassembly and reassembly process.

Table 1 Dimensions and specifications of shipping containers

Table 2 Dimensions of each component (m)

Selection of containers

Since the total weight of the machine is 22.7t, referring to the container weight limit, the weight of each component after assembly and packing can meet the requirements, so the weight is no longer considered when designing the packing plan.

Prioritize the use of the smallest number of smaller containers for packing. Considering that the smallest 20′ GP container is only 5.89m long, and the combined length of the components is much greater than 5.89m, 40′ GP containers are preferred.

Analysis determined that the mainframe assembly was excessively wide (2620mm wide) due to the final drive. However, the final drive is a key transmission component, making assembly difficult and requiring high precision. According to disassembly principles, the final drive should be avoided as much as possible. Considering that the mainframe assembly is only 1200mm in height after the cab and floor wing panels are removed, the mainframe assembly can be tilted at a certain angle, as shown in Figure 1. After tilting the mainframe assembly 35°, a bracket should be designed to secure it. This method not only solves the problem of the mainframe assembly being excessively wide, but also fully utilizes the height space of the container. Because the use of the bracket requires the mainframe assembly to be loaded into the container by hoisting, that is, dropping the mainframe assembly from above onto the bracket, an open-top container must be used.

Based on the above analysis, in order to effectively utilize the height space and load capacity of the container, combined with the packing requirements of the main frame assembly, it was finally decided to use brackets to stack the components without exceeding the height limit, and use 40’0T containers.

Actual application effect

This article presents a packing solution for the MATCH MC22D bulldozer. The proposed multiple-box-for-multiple-bulk solution has been field-proven. Tianjin Mai Chi previously shipped MC22D SKD parts to Myanmar using this solution. This solution has been proven to generally meet the shipping requirements for MC22D SKD parts, but it presents significant challenges in material management during the disassembly and reassembly of the complete machine. The single-box-for-single-bulk solution described in this article is an improvement on the previous implementation of the multiple-box-for-multiple solution and addresses the challenges of this approach. However, it has not yet been implemented.

Tianjin Match currently uses containers to ship batches of MC16D bulldozer SKD pieces. The design concept of the MC16D bulldozer SKD container packaging solution is the same as that in this article.

Conclusion

The advantages of container transportation and the advantages of SKD bulldozer exports have prompted bulldozer export manufacturers to use SKD containers for complete machine export transportation to reduce the cost of complete machine shipping. Open-top containers are selected and stacked for packing. By using specially structured brackets, smaller parts are placed on the upper layer, which can fully utilize the space resources of the container. When designing the packing plan, the quality of each component should also be taken into consideration to ensure the overall quality is balanced after packing. Of the two bulldozer SKD parts packing plans listed in this article, the single-box single-vehicle plan is better than the multi-box multiple-vehicle plan. The plan of using all parts of the same vehicle to be packed together is conducive to material management during the disassembly, packing and reassembly of the complete machine, thereby ensuring the quality of the complete machine after reassembly.