OOCL (Oriental Overseas Container Line) needs little introduction — one of the world's most recognised carriers, with more than 230 offices across 58 countries and a heritage that goes back to the founding of China's first international merchant fleet.
What matters for this story is simpler: for three consecutive years, OOCL handed us a different programme — and each one taught us something the next one used.
2021 — 16,500 container storage boxes, packed for 54 countries
The first programme was an OOCL-branded container storage box, with Micro Shipping responsible end to end: concept, design, production, packaging, quality control and shipping.
Two details made the project. First, the people carrying the boxes: we redesigned the master carton from 36 pieces per box down to 18, so each box stayed liftable on stairs and in office corridors. Second, the destinations: the shipment was headed to 54 countries and regions, so we designed different packing methods and outer-carton labels by region and end use — staff gifts in one format, client gifts in another — so local offices could identify and distribute without opening anything.
After sampling inspection, 16,500 units shipped out by sea, air and a portion by land, arriving in batches across the regions.
2022 — the repeat: 3,000 more sets
The clearest verdict on any gift programme is the second order. In 2022 OOCL came back for 3,000 additional storage box sets — the repeat that turned a successful purchase into a partnership.
2023 — a new mega vessel, four sizes of model
In 2023, as OOCL's new mega vessel launched, Micro Shipping became the partner for its container ship model programme: roughly 1,000+ sets to date in four sizes — 20 cm, 40 cm, 60 cm and 90 cm — released in batches, with the order book still growing.
Each model carries 100+ components through more than 200 production steps, handled by craftsmen and technicians with 20+ years at the bench: bridge windows and antennas, anchor and windlass on the foredeck, bow thrusters, and rows of containers stacked in the exact pattern of the real ship.
Three years, three programmes, one supplier. That is what we mean when we say a gift programme works best as a relationship, not a purchase order.
Planning a multi-year gift programme? Tell us the occasion and the audience — we will scope year one, and design it so year two has somewhere to go.