logistics for the ”Baku Crystal Hall”

Gebrüder Weiss once again proves its expertise in the field of special transport projects in the Caucasus/Central Asian region. On behalf of the company Rock-Service GmbH & Co. KG, the GWEast+ department of Gebrüder Weiss is handling the entire logistics and customs processes for the transport of the event technology to Baku, Azerbaijan. On 26 May 2012, Baku is hosting the Eurovision song contest in the Crystal Hall which is currently being built on the Caspian Sea coast especially for this major event.

During the past months, Gebrüder Weiss transported the required equipment such as work platforms, steel scaffolding, forklifts and stage elements to Baku. The partial and full loads arrived on the road from Germany and by Air and Sea from Shanghai, China. Because most of the goods were imported on a temporary basis, they will be returned to their places of origin shortly after completion of the construction work. ”With our service concept and due to our expertise in handling projects like these in the Caucasus region, we were able to prevail against several multinationals,” says Thomas Moser, Regional Manager South/East/CIS at GW.

Overall logistics concept
The heavy units weighing up to 38 tons and with dimensions of up to 13 metres x 2.5 metres x
3 metres (when collapsed) are on the road between Germany and Azerbaijan for up to twelve days, depending on the waiting times at border crossings. The special transport fleet consists of around 40 GPS-monitored trucks of a Turkish subcontractor. Gebrüder Weiss provides RS Rock-Service with export documentation, handles customs clearance and takes care of load security and transportation surveillance. The overall logistics concept is rounded off by providing logistical assistance and country-specific information.

”Gebrüder Weiss is known as an expert in the Caucasus/Central Asian region and has extensive local market knowledge in Baku,” says Alexander de Ney, RS Rock-Service. ”That is what convinced us.” For construction of the ”Crystal Hall”, RS Rock-Service secured the contract for the illumination of the outer shell and the interior parts as well as the audience and hospitality areas.

Market entrance in Georgia
In order to strengthen its activities in the Caucasus region and the STAN countries, Gebrüder Weiss has recently established a joint venture with Tegeta Motors Ltd. in Tbilisi, Georgia with Gebrüder Weiss having a majority stake. The joint venture operates under the name Gebrüder Weiss LLC and provides logistics solutions as well as land, air and sea freight forwarding services.

About Gebrüder Weiss
With over 4,650 employees, 158 company-owned locations and an annual turnover of over one billion euros in 2011, Gebrüder Weiss ranks among the leading transport and logistics companies in Europe. In addition to its core business of overland transport, air & sea freight and logistics, the company also operates a number of highly specialised industry solutions and subsidiaries under the umbrella of Gebrüder Weiss Holding AG, based in Lauterach (Vorarlberg, Austria).
This includes logistics consultancy firm x|vise, tectraxx (industry specialist for hi-tech businesses), inet-logistics (software solutions for TMS transport management), Railcargo (railway transport) and the Gebrüder Weiss parcel service, GWP, a shareholder in Austrian firm DPD. This bundling of services allows the Group to respond to customer needs quickly and flexibly. Having implemented a variety of ecological, economic and social initiatives, the company, which is still family-owned and has a history going back 500 years, is considered a pioneer in terms of sustainable business.

About RS Rock-Service
RS Rock-Service is a leading service provider in the area of event technology in Germany.
Based in Salzgitter, the company offers extensive consulting, detailed planning and worldwide implementation services in the field of equipment, installation, programming and support for industry events, trade shows, concerts and tours.