About a year ago we lived the expectation of the first Olympics that would be held in our country. The preparation of Correios for the challenges ahead was the subject of my first post on this blog. 358 days later, what will be the balance of this mega event?
Inside the courts, Brazil obtained the highest number of medals in its entire history, both in the Olympic and Paralympic games. Inside the distribution centers and control centers, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is the same, as confided Carlos Henrique de Luca, General Coordinator of Correios during the last International Supply Chain Forum, held earlier this month.
“Rio 2016 logistics set up the best storage structure in all the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Mick Wright (Auditor/IOC)
The honorable mention made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to Correios, electing the logistics operation of the Rio 2016 Games as one of the best in history, brought a great sense of pride to the Brazilian company. However, anyone who thinks that the logistical operation has come to an end is mistaken. Despite the closing of the competitions last month, the activities are not over yet. The current month, by the way, is the moment when the greatest movement of items is observed throughout the project period, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Typical logistics movement
Source: Correios
By March 2017, all material used in the Olympics will be dissolved and demobilized. According to Carlos Henrique de Luca, this is one of the most stressful and difficult moments of the project. The need to demobilize the athletes' village to hand over the apartments to the owners, remove materials from arenas that will have other destinations and disassemble rented electronic equipment to return to companies are examples of situations that require speed and agility in the dissolution and demobilization process. At the same time, the number of professionals available to carry out this operation is much smaller than previously observed, which makes the moment even more critical. If during the Rio 2016 games there were 5.000 people working in logistics, after the competitions that number is now around 300 professionals, some even pressured by the news that their employment contract will be terminated after the operation.
In total, more than 30 million items were moved by the Post Office. The greatest difficulty, however, was the wide variety of objects, which required very different care. As illustrated in Figure 2, approximately 70% of these items were furniture, fixtures and equipment (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment or FF&E), such as beds, mattresses and wardrobes used in athletes' lives. The rest of the material was divided between sports equipment, such as arena floors and athletics obstacles, and technology equipment, such as cameras and screens. Elements such as cones and barriers used in organizing events accounted for the remaining 5% of items.
Figure 2 - Types of materials handled
Source: Adapted from Correios
And what to do with all this material at the end of the games? Between returns and discards, it is even possible for the general public to acquire objects used in ceremonies and competitions, such as balls used in matches, Olympic torches carried in the relay and podiums used in awards. To find out what's still for sale, just go to the Rio 2016 Official Auction.
Despite the challenge, the experience gained from operating the Rio 2007 Pan American Games, the technical visits made at other major sporting events, such as the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2014 Brazil World Cup, and the laboratories carried out in the test events that took place between August 2015 and May 2016 were essential to guarantee compliance with the 31 SLAs agreed with the IOC. The established goals were the same as in London 2012 and some of them are exemplified in Figure 3.
Figure 3 – Examples of SLA's agreed with the COI
Source: Adapted from Correios
During his lecture at the International Supply Chain Forum, Carlos Henrique de Luca also shared other interesting curiosities about the preparation made by Correios for the Rio 2016 games:
- Investment in English courses for more than 120 employees
- Conceptual reference model training Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) for more than 200 professionals
- Training in logistics operations for large events for more than 2.000 people
- Using the mobile app SmartSheet by the entire operational team for communication during games
- Acquisition and implementation of TMS from Optimus GIS
Since the beginning of the decade, Correios has been undergoing a major transformation. In 2011 the new statute of the company was approved, allowing, among many other measures, the Post Office to operate in integrated logistics, financial and electronic postal services. In 2014, there were brand change, while in the following year a new organizational structure was implanted. This year, a new integrated logistics solution for e-commerce was launched, aiming to help micro and small companies in their business. All of these steps, added to the work carried out at Rio 2016, are part of Correios' goal of being seen no longer as a mere courier, but as a major logistics operator. The message seems to have been assimilated by the market, which is already negotiating large contracts with the company and allows Correios to seek ever greater leaps.
References
Presentation of the Spotlight Session “Logistics Operations with Zero Error”, held at the XXII International Supply Chain Forum, on October 5, 2016, by the General Coordinator of Logistics at Correios, Carlos Henrique de Luca.
<http://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/materias/2011/09/19/sancionada-a-reestruturacao-dos-correios>
<www.logweb.com.br/nova-vice-presidencia-dos-correios-vai-ampliar-atuacao-em-logistica-integrada/>
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.
