Case Study: Delivering radiopharmaceutical equipment

Case study

Global air charter delivery of critical parts avoids production stoppage

17K

kgs of freight

4250

miles by air

23

hrs door-to-door

The challenge

A global automotive parts manufacturer faced a critical shortage of key components. If this shortage continued, they risked causing a production halt for their OEM customers. The company needed parts moved from Spain to Michigan within the same day, with only three days of lead time. To further complicate matters, the request was confirmed late on a Friday evening, coinciding with one of Spain’s national holiday weekends, when shippers and facilities were closed.

 

With the tight turnaround time, standard express airfreight could not meet the manufacturer’s impending deadline. Coordinating a delivery to prevent a costly production stoppage would demand flawless coordination across multiple time zones, partners and processes.

The solution

By Saturday morning, Ascent’s International Air Charter team secured a dedicated B767-300F to move the freight, complete with all required permits for Spain and U.S. entry. The aircraft was positioned by Sunday night and held on standby for immediate departure once the cargo was released.

 

Despite Spain’s weekend closures and holiday restrictions, Ascent’s 24/7 team maintained constant communication between shipper, handlers and operations teams across continents. The freight was finally cleared on Monday evening, with the charter departing Spain at 07:10 local time on Tuesday morning, arriving in Ohio, at 09:43 ET.

 

To further safeguard delivery and production schedules, Ascent organized a dedicated sprinter van and supervised onsite. The van expedited two critical part numbers directly to the assembly site in Michigan, while the remaining cargo followed via dedicated, expedited tractor-trailer service.

The result

With swift service and proactive delay management, we were able to achieve:

This operation showcases the need of dedicated time-critical solutions to deliver certainty when standard logistics fall short. Through rapid aircraft sourcing, hands-on communication and end-to-end control, Ascent ensured continued production, preventing costly downtime and maintaining supply chain stability when every minute mattered.

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