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Brexit Update

Brexit update from Burkert UK

Brexit Readiness

Burkert consults, manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic process control equipment for component and system solutions to a very diverse and wide range of industries with production facilities based in Germany and France. The UK has left the EU, and the Brexit transition period comes to an end on the 31st December 2020. The end of this transition period will change how we ship our products from our distribution centre in Germany to the UK. We have plans in place to ensure that we are “Brexit Ready” and are able to meet all your fluid control needs; the following sections provide more information for you to plan alongside us.

UK Global Tariff

From 1st January 2021, the UK will apply a UK-specific tariff to imported goods from the EU. This UK Global Tariff (UKGT) will replace the EU’s Common External Tariff which applies until 31st December 2020. Unless there is an agreement reached between the UK and the EU that changes the need for the UKGT, Burkert UK will amend local pricing to reflect where products are impacted by the new UKGT. We will contact you shortly with further information regarding product commodity codes and where you can find more details from the UK Government website.

Brexit Transition & Our Freight Services

Over the past years we have invested heavily in our European Distribution Centre in Öhringen, Germany; this has allowed us to offer direct deliveries from this facility to our customers in the UK. Unfortunately, due to new regulations and documentation required to support the importation of goods after the Brexit transition period, we will no longer be able to provide this direct delivery service to UK customers.

In future, all new orders will be consolidated at our European Distribution Centre and shipped to our UK warehouses in Cirencester for processing and onward shipment to customers. The cost of shipping goods from Burkert UK to UK customers is unchanged at £15.00 per consignment that is ≤34Kg in weight. Consignments that have a weight >34Kg will be calculated and quoted as required. The freight service from our UK warehouse will continue to be a next working day service for UK mainland locations, subject to geographical courier restrictions.

Product Lead Times

At this stage we do not have a clear vision of the customs clearance procedures after the Brexit transition period. Therefore Burkert UK have decided to plan ahead for possible delays as new systems are put in place. We will extend our product lead times by 5 working days for all shipments that fall beyond the end of the Brexit transition period and we recommend that our customers and partners build a safety factor into their own MRP planning. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope to be able to remove this safety factor as soon as possible.

New Warehouse & Local Stock Solutions

Burkert UK are investing in additional staff and a new UK warehouse in Cirencester alongside our existing facility to minimise interruptions to our supply chain. This new warehouse extends Burkert's ability to offer UK customers local stock for immediate dispatch. If you are interested in how our new facility can help reduce lead times and increase product availability please contact your local Account Manager to discuss a tailored stock agreement for your needs.

We have evolved our business significantly over the last few years through customer centric thinking and the development of new processes and tools, including the functionalities of our eShop and have in general increased our inventory to improve customer experience which should help in this uncertain climate.

Shipment Update

As means of an updated status report regarding the current and well documented shipment challenges to Great Britain resulting from leaving the European single market, please see the below.

By means to prevent unwanted queues of trucks at the UK border, the British Government towards the end of 2020 introduced an additional step for us to export into Great Britain, which includes applying for and receiving an export pre-clearance number from UK customs for each shipment before many consignments are collected by our freight forwarders.  This process is very much in its infancy as freight forwarders, fast parcel operators and customs brokers alike seek consistency and efficiencies throughout these new procedures.

Over recent weeks, frustrations with this process and regularly incorrect or incomplete documents from importers to Great Britain, currently estimated by the National Clearance Hub to be 90% of all shipments, has meant that DB Schenker and the DPDgroup have suspended deliveries from Germany to Great Britain.

We are making significant progress with our chosen partners, particularly over the past week, and are investing in the trials of a number of initiatives with DHL International, FedEx and Kuehne+Nagel through the logistic services of both road and air freight. 

Whilst we are seeing the signs of a breakthrough, over the coming days we will learn from the results of these investments, align our expectations and adjust our approach as necessary.

In the meantime, we will keep you updated – let’s find the best way to handle this situation together.

Should you have any questions, experiences or further comments to help us improve our services regarding freight forwarders or customs brokers then please do not hesitate to contact us.

We know that these topics are very dynamic and likely to change, during this year the team at Burkert have focused on being available for all your process control needs and maintaining seamless supply whilst adapting to the ever
changing world that we share. We are committed to this approach and will continue to be there with you as you need us.

We look forward to your continued support through these challenging times and beyond.

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