With northern parts of Russia experiencing temperatures below -67 F (-55 C); freezing temperatures by anyone’s’ standards, FLSmidth Ludowici depends on Russian ‘ice truckers’ to secure customer deliveries through the limited supply window provided in the winter months. As with many people in the northern parts of Russia depending on food and other supplies, FLSmidth Ludowici’s remote mine site customers are no different; relying on transport suppliers to make it through - no matter the weather conditions. Robert Mold, FLSmidth Ludowici Sales and Marketing Manager said, “Basically, the goods need some major organising to get payment, production and logistics sorted so our products can get there on time. The delivery windows are very tight as it really is “ice truckers” taking the goods in while the region is frozen. Wayne Horn our Fire Assay Product Manager, works tirelessly to ensure we make our solutions match our global customers’ needs and delivery requirements – however unusual they seem. ”
“Wayne and our local agent, Andrew Guba in Russia, work with customers and our manufacturing plant in China, to get our fire assay crucibles to customers in the northern reaches of Russia. 

It has been extremely beneficial having a local agent, as he speaks the language and understands the country’s culture and customs, as well as being familiar with remote locations and most feasible modes of transport”, said Mr Mold. “With Wayne and Andrew’s constant commitment to customer service representing the backbone of our business operations in Russia, we are constantly creating new opportunities for the entire business – One Source solution.” “Our Russian customer orders three to five containers of fire assay crucibles annually.  These need to be delivered in one shipment - during their winter months, as the trucks need to travel on the ice to secure deliveries.  During the warmer months, the ice is too soft, which makes it difficult for transporting goods via road.  It is critical that the order is received well in advance so that there is sufficient time for the goods to be manufactured, payment received to ensure the goods can be released, and then be transported to and around Russia before the ice starts to soften,” said Mr Mold. 

FLSmidth Ludowici Product Manager for Fire Assay Wayne Horn’s said, “The team have worked hard to secure a purchase order with our Russian customers, even a repeat one, requires at least 30-50 emails generated to close the deal.  A great deal of time and effort is required to negotiate and confirm terms of payment and delivery times, especially as the goods are required to leave China around Christmas/Chinese New Year time, when transport companies are extremely busy or closed. This joint thinking by our team ensures we secure this repeat business, time and time again.” “Due to the high quality of the product and service levels provided to the customer, as well as competitively priced products, favourable payment terms and delivery times; we have secured repeat orders for a number of years.  These enquiries may be considered too difficult to deal with by competitors, as it takes so long (up to a month of negotiations) to secure an order, with many suppliers not closing the deal.  At FLSmidth Ludowici, we have a team of committed staff who are involved in all the negotiations and logistics on-hand to close the deal – sales staff, a logistics officer as well as administration and accounts staff, all dedicated to providing operational excellence to all our customers.  This is the way we operate – in constant communication with the customer and prospective customers, so that we can offer a favourable outcome for them, whilst not offering outcomes that cannot be met especially in this inhospitable corner of the globe,” commented Mr Horn.