A few years ago, I wrote my first post on this blog, telling a little about the logistical operations necessary for hosting the Olympics, in particular the Rio 2016 edition. Nineteen Olympic medals later, Brazil is preparing for another edition of the Olympic Games in 2020, now in Tokyo, Japan. Although the opening of the competition is only on the 24th of July, the logistics for the event have already started a long time ago.
An article released by the newspaper O Globo on the last day 24 brought interesting information about the logistical operation involving the Brazilian team. With about 6 months left for the start of the games, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) is preparing the last container with equipment to be sent to Japan. A trip between the Port of Santos and the Port of Tokyo, considering the international container services currently available in the country, takes a little over 40 days, requiring a change of vessel before the final destination, usually made in China. Due to the long transit time involved in the maritime transport of containers, it is essential to plan the operation well in advance.
Of the 14 containers expected to be sent to Japan, 10 have already been dispatched, 1 will leave Brazil in March and the other 3 will leave China. Among the material that has already been sent are sailing boats that will be used by Brazilian athletes, sports materials, uniforms, floors and sports equipment. The last container to be shipped from Brazil will carry items such as medical supplies, furniture and bodybuilding equipment. The justification for transporting these materials so far is the high price of the items in Japan. According to Sebastian Pereira, a former judoka and current COB high performance manager, it is cheaper to take weight training equipment from Brazil than to buy it on the other side of the world.
Figure 1 – Examples of materials from the Brazilian Olympic delegation exported to Japan
Source: Jornal O Globo
An additional factor of complexity for the operation is the number of different destinations involved in this logistics. With a view to facilitating the acclimatization of Brazilian athletes, COB negotiated the installation of 9 different headquarters in Japan to accommodate the country's delegation before the start of the competition: Hamamatsu (which will also receive the Brazilian delegation for the Paralympic Games weeks later and which has a large colony of Brazilians), Saitama, Sagamihara, Ota, Chiba, Enoshima, Miyagase, Koto and Chuo. In the last three editions of the Games, Brazil had only one facility for accommodation and preparation of athletes before the start of the competition. However, the high cost and unavailability of dates at Japanese universities and the use of the best centers in the country by the home delegation made it necessary to use educational and sports spaces throughout the country, indicated by the Japanese Olympic Committee. In agreement with the municipalities of these locations, the Brazilian delegation will carry out social actions to promote sport, Olympic values and integration with the community and local schools in exchange for the use of these spaces.
Figure 2 – Headquarters of the Brazilian delegation at the 2020 Olympics
Source: ILOS supported by Google Maps
In addition to these bases, COB will also support two other subvillages: Izu, 140 km away, which will receive track cycling and mountain biking, and Sapporo, 1.100 km away by car and 900 km by plane, which will receive the marathon and race walking (the move, so far from Tokyo, occurred because of the heat in the host of the Games).
As it is a country with a different climate and a time difference of 12 hours longer, it is important that athletes arrive in Japan in advance and, therefore, COB plans for all Team Brasil members to arrive at these venues at 12 days of the respective competitions.
In addition, another issue that reinforces the importance of these venues is the limitation of accommodation in Vila dos Atletas. Each delegation can host a limited number of people in the Vila, making it necessary to plan well to consider the start and end date of each modality in which the country took athletes and define which athletes will inhabit the village in each period. Of the approximately three weeks the competition lasts, the second week is more complicated in this regard, as most of the modalities have already started and many have not yet ended.
Another peculiar element concerns demand planning. While companies are trying to predict how many consumers it will reach and how many units will be sold, the forecast that COB needs to make is, mainly, the number of athletes who will be able to reach the Olympic Games and which sports modalities. This number impacts both the amount of uniforms needed and the types of equipment and items needed, for example. So far, 152 athletes from 17 different sports are guaranteed at the 2020 Games.
Until the 24th of July, we are rooting for Brazil to exceed the expectation of 300 athletes classified for the Tokyo Olympics, even if it costs more hours of work for the logistics team!
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Fernanda Monteiro
More than 11 years of experience in training and consultancy projects, focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain. In consultancy, he carried out projects such as Transformational Logistics Plan, Diagnosis of logistics operations, Strategy and Calendarization of Transport Operations, Measuring the Cost of Serving, Market Study, Mapping of Inventory Reduction Opportunities, Review of the S&OP Process, Management Plan Training and Implementation of Commercial Processes in companies such as Nestlé, Raia Drogasil, Ipiranga, Lojas Americanas, B2W, Coca-Cola, Andina, Embraco, Martins Atacado, Loja do Mecânico, Santo Antônio Energia, Ecoporto and Silimed. She is currently one of the teachers of the Inventory Management Course taught every six months by ILOS. She worked on the development and management of Online Courses in Logistics and Supply Chain, Supply Processes, Demand Planning, Inventory Management and Industrial Management. Still in the training area, she was responsible for applying ILOS business games in companies such as Raia Drogasil, Fibria, NEC, Novartis and Moove.
