Logistics Profiles
Schenker Gives a Top Performance in Salt Lake City
Ever since the inaugural Winter Olympics in Charmonix, France, in 1924, the Games have steadily been gaining momentum every four years – Salt Lake 2002 is no exception. More than 2,527 athletes representing 78 nations competed in 78 events, up from 2,303 athletes and 68 events at the 1998 Nagano Games. New records were made, old ones were defeated and emotions were invariably running high.
The timely coordination and delivery of everything from bobsleds and skis to broadcast equipment is critical to the Games’ success, so who better to call in for the job than the experts? Schenker’s U.S. subsidiary, Schenker Inc. was appointed as the official supplier of customs and freight forwarding services for the Winter Games in February 2000, at the same time the Australian division was preparing for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Schenker emerged triumphant in what was noted as one of the largest logistics events of the last millennium, and enjoyed recent success with the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta.
The groundwork was laid in July 2000 when the Utah division expanded its network and leased a 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse in West Valley City, Utah, a community neighbouring Salt Lake City. The 16 loading dock facility began accepting shipments a few months later. Schenker worked with dedicated teams around the globe to establish an Olympic Committee, and the standard staff of nine eventually increased to 30 in January 2002.
Oliver Bohm, Olympic team and branch manager, Schenker Inc., enjoyed the privilege of selecting his staff from over 29,000 employees around the globe. “About half of our staff is from our U.S. offices. The rest come from Australia, Switzerland, India and Japan,” said Bohm, adding that the team members all earned their stripes working the Sydney Games.
Schenker of Canada
Joins the Olympic team
The global team effort extended to Salt Lake’s partners to the north when three teams traveled to Calgary, Alberta for training prior to the Winter Games.
World class training facilities at Canada Olympic Park, the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, not to mention a comparable climate and altitude to Utah make Calgary the city of choice for many athletes.
Schenker Calgary was responsible for the import and customs clearance of training equipment, tools and medical supplies for the German biathalon team, the Finnish curling team and the bobsled team from Germany, Romania, New Zealand and France. Schenker coordinated the delivery to sites within the city and the movement of cargo to Salt Lake, the latest departure leaving on February 13, 2002.
“We collaborated with Schenker offices worldwide to provide the necessary services within the time frames required by the participants,” explains Karen Pointer, inside sales coordinator, Schenker Alberta. “Due to the size of most of the pieces and the limited air cargo space available, shipments travelled by road with transit times varying from 24-72 hours, depending on the urgency of the arrival in Salt Lake.”
Schenker Delivers For the CBC
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) enlisted Schenker of Canada’s services in November 2001 to deliver television and radio broadcast equipment to Salt Lake City. Preparation for a nationwide telecast of this magnitude requires extensive planning and foresight, according to Pierre Paquette, manager of special events for the CBC. Research is usually initiated two years in advance, with comprehensive planning of the space required, selection of equipment and shipping details.
“The transport of broadcast equipment has to be done with air-ride trucks and handling has to be done properly, because equipment is very valuable, up to $250K for one piece of equipment,” emphasizes Paquette. “The total value of one 53’ trailer could total up to $2 million.”
Timely delivery of the equipment is also a priority since every delay could impede the installation process. The first crew arrived in Salt Lake on November 26, 2001, to install cabling between the various technical rooms. A total of eight loads of freight crossed the border from three Schenker originating points – Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - with the last delivery arriving on February 1, 2002.
Global Event Logistics
The mass influx of athletes, media personnel, and associated staff directly connected to the Games reached an all-time high in mid-January 2002 – approximately 125,000. For several weeks prior to the Games, Schenker turned over the cargo in its West Valley City warehouse at least five times. The projected delivery of freight to the 10 competition sites throughout northern Utah is estimated between 35,000 to 40,000 cubic metres. In anticipation of the avalanche of cargo, the warehouse began operating three shifts as of January.
A smoothly working team is critical in a task as huge and complex as the Salt Lake City Games, Bohm emphasizes. During the peak of Olympic activities, he says his team will be concentrating on what they learned in Australia: the importance of reliability, timing and accuracy.
Linda Luchetti, spokeswoman for the Olympic Properties of the United States comments that Schenker pulled off its freight handling services without a hitch. “You’d expect that to be the case, though,” she said. “They served as the customs and freight forward supplier for the Sydney Games.”
The Final Stretch
While the Olympics were underway, business at Schenker was expected to slow down a few paces until the Closing Ceremony. “Then we’ll be back to 24/7 as everyone tries to leave town at the same time,” says Bohm.
Karl Seyffer, project manager for Schenker Montreal, knows how true that really is – his role in coordinating the outbound loads for CBC can become quite chaotic. “The CBC had two to three months to move in, two days to tear down and another two days to ship all the freight,” Seyffer says, without the slightest hint of exaggeration. “All the freight for the CBC had to be returned by February 28th.”
Schenker’s proven track record in event logistics management paved the way to victory in Salt Lake City. “Dealing with Schenker for the Sydney Olympics was very successful,” says Paquette. “Some elements of shipping can be planned in advance, but there are also many last minute requests and in the case of Sydney, everything was handled with the same priority which makes our life much easier.”