SWISS LOGISTICS CONSULTING GMBH
SLC
PROJECT LOGISTICS
HEAVY LIFT & ROUTES
PORTS & CHARTERING

COMPLEX LOGISTICS.
EXPERIENCED ADVICE.

Independent logistics consulting built on knowledge, experience and practical execution.
BETTER DECISIONS.
THE SLC APPROACH
UNDERSTAND.Project. Cargo. Constraints. Objectives.
CHALLENGE.Assumptions. Interfaces. Commercial exposure.
VERIFY.Separate facts from what still needs confirmation.
COMPARE.Realistic alternatives and their trade-offs.
RECOMMEND.Clear, independent professional advice.
FIELD EVIDENCE

REAL CONSTRAINTS.
PROVEN EXECUTION.

Project logistics is physical. Cargo geometry, lifting systems, vessel interfaces, infrastructure and access routes must work together beyond the planning document.

Large circular project cargo suspended between two ship cranes
01 / HEAVY LIFTVESSEL INTERFACE / PROJECT CARGO
Remote unpaved access road surveyed for logistics feasibility
02 / ROUTE FEASIBILITY
Aerial view of port infrastructure and a red heavy-lift crane
03 / PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
Heavy-lift cargo vessel alongside an industrial berth
04 / MARINE LOGISTICS
CONSULTING CAPABILITIES

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
APPLIED TO REAL LOGISTICS.

PROJECT LOGISTICS

Project cargo. Heavy lift. Multimodal transport. Execution strategy.

PORTS, ROUTES & MARINE

Port strategy. Route feasibility. Chartering. Marine interfaces.

RISK & DECISION SUPPORT

Tender review. Assumptions. Feasibility. Options and independent recommendations.

KNOWLEDGE BEHIND THE ADVICE

WE DON'T LOOK AT
LOGISTICS IN ISOLATION.

Complex project logistics sits between engineering, commercial decisions, transport markets, infrastructure and execution. The value of experience is knowing where those disciplines interact—and where an apparently small assumption can change the entire plan.

01

TRANSPORT ENGINEERING

Transport concepts, dimensions and weights, transport envelopes, lifting interfaces, support concepts, axle configurations, route constraints and the practical implications of cargo design.

02

VESSEL & CHARTERING LOGIC

Vessel suitability, crane capability, deck and stowage considerations, laycan, transit, demurrage exposure and commercial flexibility.

03

PORT INTERFACES

Berth capability, draft, lifting arrangements, cargo handling, laydown, productivity, port restrictions and landside connectivity.

04

HEAVY-HAUL ROUTES

Road geometry, bridges, grades, overhead constraints, permits, escorts, temporary works and site access.

05

PROJECT & EPC INTERFACES

Fabrication sequence, delivery priorities, construction schedule, engineering dependencies and the consequences of late logistics decisions.

06

COMMERCIAL & CONTRACTUAL EXPOSURE

Scope boundaries, Incoterms, tender assumptions, responsibilities, exclusions, delay exposure and where commercial language meets physical execution.

HOW WE CONNECT THE DOTS

A LOGISTICS DECISION IS A SYSTEM.

CARGOWhat has to move?
VESSELHow can it move?
PORTCan it interface?
ROUTECan it reach site?
PROJECTDoes it arrive when needed?

Optimizing one element without understanding the others can create a cheaper component and a more expensive project.

EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE PROJECT LIFECYCLE

LOGISTICS STARTS
BEFORE THE CARGO MOVES.

The earlier logistics is integrated into a major project, the more options remain available. SLC experience spans the front end of projects through transport engineering, implementation and physical execution.

01
FEED / EARLY PROJECT PHASE

FRONT-END LOGISTICS ENGINEERING

Bring logistics into the project while engineering and procurement decisions can still be influenced.

  • Logistics basis and design criteria
  • Cargo and module transportability input
  • Port and route option screening
  • Transport concept development
  • Early heavy-lift and marine strategy
  • Schedule and logistics-interface review
  • CAPEX / logistics cost input and assumptions
  • Identification of long-lead constraints
KEY QUESTION / What needs to be designed differently now so logistics remains executable later?
02
ENGINEERING

TRANSPORT ENGINEERING

Translate cargo characteristics and infrastructure constraints into practical transport requirements.

  • Transport envelopes and dimensional studies
  • Heavy-haul and modular trailer concepts
  • Axle-load and configuration considerations
  • Lifting and load-transfer interfaces
  • Route geometry and clearance constraints
  • Bridge, grade and temporary-work interfaces
  • Port-to-site transport concept integration
  • Engineering information required for execution
KEY QUESTION / Can the engineered cargo actually move through the selected logistics chain?
03
PROCUREMENT / IMPLEMENTATION

PROJECT LOGISTICS IMPLEMENTATION

Convert the logistics concept into scopes, contracts, schedules, interfaces and execution-ready plans.

  • Logistics tender strategy and bid evaluation
  • Freight-forwarder and carrier scope definition
  • Chartering and vessel-option review
  • Port and terminal coordination
  • Supplier logistics requirements
  • Incoterms and responsibility interfaces
  • Logistics schedules and delivery priorities
  • Risk, assumption and open-item management
KEY QUESTION / Are commercial commitments aligned with the physical execution plan?
04
OPERATIONS / EXECUTION

FIELD EXECUTION & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT

Support the point where engineering, contracts and planning meet real operating conditions.

  • Cargo readiness and transport coordination
  • Port and vessel-operation interfaces
  • Heavy-lift and heavy-haul coordination
  • Route and site-readiness follow-up
  • Operational sequencing and priorities
  • Exception and change management
  • Interface coordination across stakeholders
  • Decision support during execution
KEY QUESTION / What has changed since the plan was approved—and what decision is required now?
SPECIALIST EXPERIENCE

THE INTERFACES
DECIDE THE PROJECT.

SLC's value sits not only inside individual transport modes, but in understanding how engineering, commercial responsibilities and operations connect across the complete logistics chain.

HEAVY LIFT & PROJECT CARGO

Oversized and heavy cargo concepts, lifting interfaces, handling strategy, transportability and execution constraints.

MARINE & CHARTERING

MPP and heavy-lift vessel concepts, chartering considerations, cargo suitability, berth interfaces and marine execution.

PORT STRATEGY

Port selection, berth capability, discharge concepts, laydown, handling productivity and connection to the inland route.

HEAVY-HAUL ROUTES

Route feasibility, geometry, infrastructure, permits, temporary works, escorts and site-access constraints.

TENDERS & COMMERCIAL

Scope definition, bidder assumptions, Incoterms, exclusions, risk allocation and comparison beyond the headline freight rate.

PROJECT CONTROLS INTERFACE

Delivery priorities, logistics schedules, dependencies, critical-path interfaces and the consequences of logistics decisions on construction.

WHERE EXPERIENCE MATTERS

FROM EARLY CONCEPT
TO REAL EXECUTION.

01

CONCEPT & FEASIBILITY

Identify viable logistics concepts before assumptions become commitments.

02

TENDER & PROCUREMENT

Review scope, commercial exposure, transport assumptions and alternatives.

03

PLANNING & ENGINEERING INTERFACES

Connect cargo, vessel, port, route and site requirements into one executable chain.

04

EXECUTION SUPPORT

Stay close to the operation when decisions move from paper into the field.

THE SLC DIFFERENCE

THE PLAN HAS TO WORK OUTSIDE THE PRESENTATION.

Project logistics is decided at the interfaces: cargo and vessel, vessel and port, port and road, road and site, contract and execution.

Our role is to make those interfaces visible early enough to do something about them.

INDEPENDENT ADVICEPRACTICAL EXPERIENCEEXECUTION FOCUS
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTS THE WORK

EXPERIENCE FIRST.
TECHNOLOGY WHERE IT ADDS VALUE.

We use technology to increase the amount of information we can examine, make relationships easier to see and challenge decisions more systematically. The objective is not automation for its own sake. It is better professional work.

INFORMATION

DOCUMENT INTELLIGENCE

Structure and interrogate specifications, tenders, reports, quotations and project documentation to identify requirements, inconsistencies and missing information.

GEOGRAPHY

SPATIAL & ROUTE DATA

Connect field observations, route constraints, maps, coordinates, photographs and project information into a more usable decision context.

ANALYSIS

AI-ASSISTED CHALLENGE

Use AI to test assumptions, generate counterarguments, identify missing information, compare scenarios and red-team proposed logistics concepts.

TRACEABILITY

EVIDENCE & VERIFICATION

Improve how observations, documents, photographs and conclusions remain connected so that decisions can be traced back to their basis.

TECHNOLOGY CAN PROCESS MORE. EXPERIENCE KNOWS WHAT MATTERS. THE PROFESSIONAL OWNS THE DECISION.
EXPERIENCE IN CONTEXT

COMPLEX PROJECTS.
REAL CONSTRAINTS.

Our work is shaped by the realities of industrial logistics: difficult cargo, demanding interfaces, remote locations, tight schedules and decisions that have to survive execution.

PROJECT ENVIRONMENTS

MINING & INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

Project cargo, heavy transport, port interfaces, route constraints and site delivery planning.

MARITIME

PORTS, VESSELS & CHARTERING

Vessel concepts, berth suitability, lifting interfaces, schedule and commercial exposure.

LANDSIDE

HEAVY HAUL & ROUTE FEASIBILITY

Transport envelopes, road constraints, permits, temporary works and execution readiness.

COMMERCIAL

TENDERS & DECISION SUPPORT

Scope review, assumptions, option comparison, risk visibility and independent recommendations.

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

CHILE & INTERNATIONAL PROJECT LOGISTICS

Experience spanning Chile, Peru, Canada, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Iran and other international project environments, with exposure to LNG, petrochemical, power, mining and major industrial developments.

SELECTED MAJOR PROJECT EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCE ACROSS GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS.

Selected examples of major-project experience include:

PERU LNG METHANEX RELOCATION TCO / KAZAKHSTAN LNG CANADA BURULLUS CCPP BLACKSANDS / EGYPT BASF / ZANJAN CENTINELA / CHILE AND OTHERS

Project names are shown as experience references. Detailed scope, role and project information should be verified before publication where confidentiality or client restrictions apply.

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

REAL PROJECTS.
REAL GEOGRAPHY.

Explore major-project experience across LNG, mining, power, petrochemical, plant relocation and engineered heavy transport.

PERUPERU LNGInfrastructure + project execution
KAZAKHSTANTCO FUTURE GROWTHFeasibility → execution
CHILE / USAMETHANEX RELOCATIONPlant relocation + heavy marine
EGYPTBURULLUS CCPPHeavy lift + implementation
EXPLORE THE PROJECT ATLAS →
FROM EXPERIENCE TO TECHNOLOGY

SOME PROBLEMS NEED ADVICE.
OTHERS NEED BETTER TOOLS.

When recurring professional problems cannot be solved efficiently with existing tools, that experience becomes input for Swiss Digital Solutions. SDS develops focused products around verification, mapping, documents, route surveys and marine surveys.

EXPLORE DIGITAL SOLUTIONS →
PROOFIFY.IOVerification & evidence
NOMAP.APPMapping & spatial information
DOCUMATOR.APPDocument intelligence
ROUTESURVEY.APPRoute survey workflows
MARINESURVEY.APPMarine survey workflows
INSIGHTS & FIELD THINKING

EXPERIENCE IS MORE USEFUL
WHEN IT IS SHARED.

CONSULTING NOTE / 014

What makes a logistics concept executable?

A preferred option becomes executable only when its physical, commercial and operational interfaces have been verified as one system.

READ →
PROJECT LOGISTICS / 008

The vessel fits. Does the road?

Marine feasibility is only one gate. Port handling and the inland route can still invalidate an otherwise attractive vessel solution.

READ →
FIELD EXPERIENCE / CHILE / 021

The last 42 km decided the project.

At El Abra Mine, the shortest part of the logistics chain became the section that governed whether the delivery concept could work.

READ →
CONSULTING NOTE / 014

WHAT MAKES A LOGISTICS CONCEPT EXECUTABLE?

A logistics concept is not executable because every individual component appears reasonable. It becomes executable when the complete chain has been tested, the interfaces are understood and the remaining assumptions are actively controlled.

Early concepts are necessarily built with incomplete information. The professional task is not to remove all uncertainty before making progress; it is to make uncertainty visible. Cargo data, lifting requirements, vessel capability, port restrictions, inland-route conditions, site readiness and delivery priorities must be assessed as connected parts of the same operating system.

PHYSICAL FEASIBILITYCan the cargo pass through every lift, transfer, berth, route and site interface in the proposed configuration?
INFORMATION MATURITYWhich dimensions, weights, drawings, schedules and operating conditions are confirmed—and which remain assumptions?
COMMERCIAL ALIGNMENTDo contractual scopes, exclusions and responsibilities reflect how the operation must actually be performed?
OPERATIONAL READINESSAre permits, temporary works, equipment, people, access and decision authority available when the cargo moves?

Responsibility is as important as capability. Every open constraint needs an owner, a date for resolution and a defined consequence if the assumption proves wrong. Without that discipline, risk remains hidden inside the concept and reappears later as delay, variation or emergency work.

SLC VIEW / An executable concept is a verified chain of decisions—not a collection of individually plausible transport ideas.
PROJECT LOGISTICS / 008

THE VESSEL FITS.
DOES THE ROAD?

A suitable vessel can create false confidence. The cargo still has to be discharged, transferred, configured for inland transport and delivered through the least flexible infrastructure in the logistics chain.

Vessel selection is visible, commercially significant and often addressed early. Route feasibility can receive attention later, even though one bridge, curve, gradient or access restriction may remove the preferred option entirely. The lowest ocean-freight solution has little value if it creates an inland configuration that cannot reach the site.

PORT INTERFACECrane reach and capacity, berth limitations, discharge arrangement, ground bearing, laydown space and the transfer into road equipment.
TRANSPORT ENVELOPEThe combined width, height, length, axle loading and swept path of cargo, support arrangement and transport equipment.
ROUTE CAPABILITYCurves, gradients, crossfall, bridges, culverts, overhead restrictions, road condition and space for temporary interventions.
EXECUTION CONDITIONSPermits, escorts, traffic management, operating windows, weather exposure, site access and restoration obligations.

Marine and inland studies should therefore develop together. Vessel choice influences how cargo is presented at the port; transport configuration influences discharge and lifting requirements; route limitations may feed back into cargo design, support locations or modularization strategy.

SLC VIEW / Do not approve the vessel in isolation. Approve the vessel-to-site logistics system.
FIELD EXPERIENCE / CHILE / 021

THE LAST 42 KM DECIDED THE PROJECT.

During route survey and logistics planning at El Abra Mine, the decisive question was concentrated in the final 42 kilometres: could the proposed delivery concept survive the actual access conditions to site?

Long international movements can be planned around established ports, carriers and transport corridors. The final approach to a remote industrial site is different. It is fixed by local geometry, infrastructure, operating restrictions and the realities observed in the field. A route shown on a map is not yet a transport route.

SURVEY THE OPERATIONRecord the route as it will be driven, including approach direction, turning behaviour, stopping points, passing areas and site interfaces.
CONNECT CARGO TO ROUTETest every observation against the real transport envelope, axle configuration, ground clearance and steering capability.
DEFINE INTERVENTIONSTranslate constraints into temporary works, road modifications, controls, responsibilities, approvals and reinstatement requirements.
PROTECT THE SCHEDULEResolve critical access questions while cargo design, transport equipment, delivery sequence and construction priorities can still change.

The lesson is broader than one project. The shortest distance can be the part with the fewest alternatives and the greatest influence on execution. Field verification converts a line on a planning map into an evidence-based logistics decision.

SLC VIEW / The last mile should not be the last part of the logistics concept to be engineered.
WHEN TO INVOLVE SLC

EARLY ENOUGH TO
CHANGE THE OUTCOME.

01BEFORE THE LOGISTICS CONCEPT IS FIXED.

Test feasibility, interfaces and alternatives while meaningful options still exist.

02BEFORE A TENDER IS PRICED OR AWARDED.

Expose assumptions, scope gaps and commercial risks before they become contractual.

03BEFORE A PORT, ROUTE OR VESSEL IS COMMITTED.

Verify that the preferred solution survives the constraints around it.

04WHEN A PROJECT NEEDS AN INDEPENDENT VIEW.

Challenge the current plan without being invested in the original answer.

A SIMPLE SLC QUESTION

WHAT COULD MAKE
THIS PLAN FAIL?

Good logistics consulting is not only about finding a solution. It is about understanding what the solution depends on.

A PRACTICAL START

BRING US THE LOGISTICS PROBLEM.

We can start with a route, a port, a transport concept, a tender, a risk or simply a decision that does not yet feel sufficiently clear.

DISCUSS THE CHALLENGE →
Urs Schaerer and his son Leo Schaerer in safety equipment during route survey and logistics planning at El Abra Mine
FIELD RECORD / URS & LEO SCHAEREREL ABRA MINE / ROUTE SURVEY & LOGISTICS PLANNING
ABOUT SLC

KNOWLEDGE BUILT THROUGH EXPERIENCE.

Swiss Logistics Consulting GmbH provides independent advice for complex logistics challenges. We combine practical project experience, industry knowledge and structured analysis to help clients understand what matters before commitments become difficult or expensive to reverse.

Our approach stays close to the realities of execution: cargo, vessels, ports, roads, sites, contracts, schedules and the interfaces between them.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER
URS SCHAERER
LOGISTICS PRACTITIONER / CONSULTANT / ENTREPRENEUR

Urs brings the personal experience and curiosity behind SLC's approach. His work connects established logistics practice with new ways of analysing information, challenging assumptions and improving professional decisions.

URS ON LINKEDIN →
START WITH THE PROBLEM

WHAT ARE YOU
TRYING TO DECIDE?

Start with the decision, constraint or logistics challenge. We can work from there.