Consolidation & Freight

A project rarely needs one model. It needs forty, in different quantities, finishing on different dates. Consolidation gathers those into a single shipment so you clear customs once, pay one set of destination charges, and receive one document set instead of forty.

What consolidation solves

• Multiple suppliers, one shipment — goods from different production lines gathered, checked in and shipped together, including items sourced outside our own catalog.
• Phased production — models that finish weeks apart can still travel together, provided the earliest goods are packed for a short stay in the warehouse.
• One document set — a single commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading covering the whole shipment, with the per-model breakdown attached as a schedule.
• One customs entry — you clear once at destination, which reduces broker fees and the chance of an entry error.
• Cube optimisation — loading planned to use the container properly. Lighting cartons are large and light, so careless stuffing wastes money on air.

Choosing the mode

Lighting and furniture are volumetric cargo: freight is driven by cubic metres more than by kilograms. As a working guide, below roughly 15 m³ LCL is usually the cheaper option; above about 20 m³ a 20 ft container is generally both cheaper and safer for fragile goods; above roughly 45–50 m³ a 40 ft high cube is the natural choice.

Air freight earns its cost on samples, urgent reorders, a fixture missing from a handover, and small high-value shipments. Splitting a shipment — a few cartons by air, the balance by sea — is normal and often the right answer when a project date is tight.

LCL means more handling, because your cartons are consolidated with other cargo. For glass, shades and plated finishes that extra handling is the risk, so ask about palletising where the shipment contains statement pieces.

Terms and documents

EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP are all available. FOB is the recommended starting point for a first order because it separates the goods price from the freight, so you can see each and choose your own forwarder. Full document handling is described under Export & Documentation.

Consolidation and the export document set are handled by the same desk, so the carton marks, the packing list and the bill of lading are reconciled against each other before the container is sealed — which is what prevents the classic arrival problem of a carton that appears on no document.

Common questions