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6 London Business Matters London 2012 Managing the ...
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6 London Business Matters London 2012 A LAN Williams is the UPS direc- tor of 2012 sponsorship & opera- tions and the man responsible for coordinating the London Olympics logis- tical programme alongside the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). That sentence does not remotely do justice to the magnitude of Williams’ job when one considers that the Olympic Games are by far the biggest sporting and logistical event in the world; only wars require more planning. I met the logistics supremo last month and prepared by mugging up on the UPS website to get a sense of the scale. I learned that the Games would fea- ture 800,000 spectators, 21,000 media reps with 400 tons of broadcast equip- ment, and 10,500 athletes. Thirty million items need to be warehoused, inventoried and tracked so that they are delivered on time, to the right person and place, and, if necessary, converted into a functioning object. Take as an example the 10,500 beds for the athletes which will be sourced from China and Malaysia and, having arrived as flat packs, will be assembled by UPS staff. Over 1,000 UPS employees, including 150 dedicated drivers, will be on hand at 34 official Olympic venues across the UK where the athletes will be competing in 26 Olympic sports, in 205 competitions and 300 medal events. Williams told me that UPS’ strong rela- tionship with the Olympic and Paralympic Games started in 1996 when Atlanta, home to the company’s global HQ, was the host city. Since then the company has been involved in Sydney and Beijing as well as with the Winter Olympics in Nagano in Japan in 1998. The rationale is easy to understand as Williams points out that brand awareness pre- and post-Beijing moved from 14 to 45 per cent. “We are well known as a parcel deliverer but less as a global logistics company. The link up works both ways. Potential customers get a strong message: ‘if UPS can be trusted with the Olympics then our freight movements shouldn’t pose too much of a problem...’” Furthermore the company’s vast expe- rience has helped change the Olympic approach so that savings can be made, for example, by shipping competitors’ coun- try uniforms direct from source to the UK. UPS also helped put together a Customs and Freight guide for LOCOG which is as com- prehensive as anything I’ve seen and accu- rately describes the ATA Carnet, the ‘pass- port for goods’ for temporary imports for which the LCCI is responsible as part of the worldwide ATA guarantee chain. As soon as Olympic venues are ready, test events in the ‘London Prepares’ programme are able to be carried out. By the middle of January the Olympic sports subjected to such tests have included boxing, table tennis, fencing, judo, taekwondo, weight- lifting, goalball, handball, basketball and gymnastics. Much has been learned, Alan Williams told me, not least the confirmation of Donald Rumsfeld’s observation that there are “unknown unknowns” as well as known ones. Contingency plans have been amended accordingly and now include both ash clouds and urban riots. Helping UPS present a professional public face are four ‘Ambassadors’, carefully cho- sen to chime with the company’s credentials: sailor Ben Ainslie, best in the world, asso- ciated with the Olympics nearly as long as UPS; gymnast Louis Smith, up and coming, bronze medal winner in Beijing, tipped to go at least one better in London; Denise Lewis, a sporting legend whose years of dedication and training won her gold in the heptathlon in Sydney; Steve Rider, a TV doyen, the “pro- fessionals’ professional”. Legacy UPS’ contribution to the much heralded legacy promises has a distinctive green tinge. By demonstrating that a logistical challenge of this magnitude can be faced with environ- mental considerations high up the priority list they are giving a lead for future events. Electric vehicles operate alongside those pow- ered by methane from UK landfill sites, barg- es are being considered for shipping furniture along the Thames and other waterways, and they operate a zero landfill waste policy. The expectation, believed Williams, was that actions like these would become the norm. Williams, who is based at LOCOG’s offic- es in Canary Wharf, has been with UPS for 22 years, having joined them from an auto- motive company following a business and engineering degree. After spells with UPS in Europe and the USA, this was the one to come home for. What will he do when the Games are over? “Re-acquaint myself with the family and take a holiday.” Will he, and UPS, be back for Rio in 2016? “We’ll take stock once London is over and make our decision then.” www.ups.com Managing the ’unknown unknowns’ by Peter Bishop Tipping point UPS is the Official Logistics and Express Delivery Supporter of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with responsibility for virtually all the delivery and logistics services required to produce the Games, including delivering over 30 million Olympic items. Or, as UPS graphically put it: if you were to tip the Olympic venues upside down, they would be responsible for everything that fell out (except the people and horses). “The Olympic Games are by far the biggest sporting and logistical event in the world; only wars require more planning.”
Transcript of 6 London Business Matters London 2012 Managing the ...
6 London Business Matters London 2012
A lAn Williams is the UPS direc-tor of 2012 sponsorship & opera-tions and the man responsible for
coordinating the london Olympics logis-tical programme alongside the london Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (lOCOG).
That sentence does not remotely do justice to the magnitude of Williams’ job when one considers that the Olympic Games are by far the biggest sporting and logistical event in the world; only wars require more planning. i met the logistics supremo last month and prepared by mugging up on the UPS website to get a sense of the scale.
i learned that the Games would fea-ture 800,000 spectators, 21,000 media reps with 400 tons of broadcast equip-ment, and 10,500 athletes. Thirty million items need to be warehoused, inventoried and tracked so that they are delivered on time, to the right person and place, and, if necessary, converted into a functioning object. Take as an example the 10,500 beds for the athletes which will be sourced from china and Malaysia and, having arrived as f lat packs, will be assembled by UPS staff.
Over 1,000 UPS employees, including 150 dedicated drivers, will be on hand at 34 official Olympic venues across the UK where the athletes will be competing in 26
Olympic sports, in 205 competitions and 300 medal events.
Williams told me that UPS’ strong rela-tionship with the Olympic and Paralympic Games started in 1996 when Atlanta, home to the company’s global hQ, was the host city. Since then the company has been involved in Sydney and Beijing as well as with the Winter Olympics in Nagano in Japan in 1998. The rationale is easy to understand as Williams points out that brand awareness pre- and post-Beijing moved from 14 to 45 per cent. “We are well known as a parcel deliverer but less as a global logistics company. The link up works both ways. Potential customers get a strong message: ‘if UPS can be trusted with
the Olympics then our freight movements shouldn’t pose too much of a problem...’”
Furthermore the company’s vast expe-rience has helped change the Olympic approach so that savings can be made, for example, by shipping competitors’ coun-try uniforms direct from source to the UK. UPS also helped put together a customs and Freight guide for LOcOG which is as com-prehensive as anything i’ve seen and accu-rately describes the ATA carnet, the ‘pass-port for goods’ for temporary imports for which the Lcci is responsible as part of the worldwide ATA guarantee chain.
As soon as Olympic venues are ready, test events in the ‘London Prepares’ programme are able to be carried out. By the middle of January the Olympic sports subjected to such tests have included boxing, table tennis, fencing, judo, taekwondo, weight-lifting, goalball, handball, basketball and gymnastics. Much has been learned, Alan Williams told me, not least the confirmation of Donald rumsfeld’s observation that there are “unknown unknowns” as well as known ones. contingency plans have been amended
accordingly and now include both ash clouds and urban riots.
helping UPS present a professional public face are four ‘Ambassadors’, carefully cho-sen to chime with the company’s credentials: sailor Ben Ainslie, best in the world, asso-ciated with the Olympics nearly as long as UPS; gymnast Louis Smith, up and coming, bronze medal winner in Beijing, tipped to go at least one better in London; Denise Lewis, a sporting legend whose years of dedication and training won her gold in the heptathlon in Sydney; Steve rider, a Tv doyen, the “pro-fessionals’ professional”.
LegacyUPS’ contribution to the much heralded
legacy promises has a distinctive green tinge. By demonstrating that a logistical challenge of this magnitude can be faced with environ-mental considerations high up the priority list they are giving a lead for future events. electric vehicles operate alongside those pow-ered by methane from UK landfill sites, barg-es are being considered for shipping furniture along the Thames and other waterways, and they operate a zero landfill waste policy. The expectation, believed Williams, was that actions like these would become the norm.
Williams, who is based at LOcOG’s offic-es in canary Wharf, has been with UPS for 22 years, having joined them from an auto-motive company following a business and engineering degree. After spells with UPS in europe and the USA, this was the one to come home for. What will he do when the Games are over? “re-acquaint myself with the family and take a holiday.” Will he, and UPS, be back for rio in 2016? “We’ll take stock once London is over and make our decision then.”
www.ups.com
Managing the ’unknown unknowns’ by Peter Bishop Tipping point
UPS is the Official Logistics and Express Delivery Supporter of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with responsibility for virtually all the delivery and logistics services required to produce the Games, including delivering over 30 million Olympic items. Or, as UPS graphically put it: if you were to tip the Olympic venues upside down, they would be responsible for everything that fell out (except the people and horses).
“The Olympic Games are by far the biggest sporting and logistical
event in the world; only wars require more planning.”
189935-LBM GCU.indd 1 6/1/12 10:42:54
