Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

inbound

Ocean race tests logisticians' mettle, creativity

For DHL, handling logistics for 11th Volvo Ocean Race was much more than a matter of moving equipment and supplies around the world on a tight timetable.

As any logistics professional will attest, it's nearly impossible to predict what the job will bring from one day to the next, and boredom is definitely not a problem. But it's a good bet there were times over the past nine months when DHL's Reinier Vens and his colleagues were wishing for a little less excitement.

Vens is DHL's project director for the 11th Volvo Ocean Race, which pitted six high-tech sailboats in a 'round-the-world competition that began in Alicante, Spain, in November 2011 and finished in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012. As the official logistics partner for the race, DHL was responsible for ensuring that each team's equipment and spare parts, as well as the Race Village pavilions and the material handling equipment for setup and breakdown were delivered on time to the 10 stopovers along the nearly 45,000-mile route.


That in itself was a mighty challenge that involved more than 150 40-foot containers of ocean freight, another 20 containers of air freight, some 16 tons of loose air cargo, and more than 100 express air shipments. To make sure critical supplies were available for each leg of the race, Vens and his group kept two identical sets of ocean containers in motion. The teams used the contents of the first set during the first leg of the race, then picked up equipment and supplies from the second set of containers to use on the next leg, and so on around the world. Sequencing the right containers in the proper order was no easy task, Vens said in an interview during the race stopover in Miami.

A "control center" in the Netherlands oversaw the entire mission. DHL kept emergency stock like spare masts and rudders at its Amsterdam facility just outside Schipol Airport. Amsterdam was an ideal staging area because it's a gateway to destinations worldwide, Vens said. "You can never plan where [an accident] will happen, so you ... have to be able to ship anywhere in the world."

DHL dedicated a team of six people to the race, including some who traveled from port to port ahead of the boats. On call 24/7, they worked closely with the Volvo Ocean Race's own logistics staff. DHL offices worldwide pitched in to provide support services like customs clearance and share their local expertise.

Local know-how helped to solve one of the most challenging logistical problems of the race. When one boat lost its mast in mid-ocean, the sailors motored to the nearest land—Tristan da Cunha, a remote island in the South Atlantic between Argentina and South Africa. Now what? DHL's Cape Town office had a solution: charter a local ship to deliver a new 100-foot mast, then pick up the yacht from the barely inhabited island and bring it to South Africa. "You can't plan for that creativity," Vens said.

Vens and colleagues handled many other dicey—indeed, potentially life-threatening—situations during the race. For example, when pirate attacks suddenly increased on the planned route from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, they chartered a large ship to lift the boats out of the ocean and carry them from East Africa to safer waters in the United Arab Emirates. A chartered vessel also picked up one damaged yacht in Auckland, N.Z., and delivered it to Savannah, Ga., for repairs, and plucked another from the water and delivered it to Itaja, Brazil. Quick action was needed to ship critical parts to such widely scattered locations as Chile, New Zealand, Brazil, and Spain, sometimes just a few hours after a call came in.

Few logistics managers have to contend with the kind of unpredictable and sometimes dangerous challenges the DHL team confronted, but everyone can learn something from the team's experience. It takes dedication and careful preparation to meet logistical challenges when time is of the essence, Vens believes. "Being ready [for an emergency] every time—that is what it's about," he said.

Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at the 11th Volvo Ocean Race.

The Latest

More Stories

Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

grocery supply chain workers

ReposiTrak and Upshop link platforms to enable food traceability

ReposiTrak, a global food traceability network operator, will partner with Upshop, a provider of store operations technology for food retailers, to create an end-to-end grocery traceability solution that reaches from the supply chain to the retail store, the firms said today.

The partnership creates a data connection between suppliers and the retail store. It works by integrating Salt Lake City-based ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data with Austin, Texas-based Upshop’s network of more than 450 retailers and their retail stores.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of smart AI grocery cart

Instacart rolls its smart carts into grocery retailers across North America

Online grocery technology provider Instacart is rolling out its “Caper Cart” AI-powered smart shopping trollies to a wide range of grocer networks across North America through partnerships with two point-of-sale (POS) providers, the San Francisco company said Monday.

Instacart announced the deals with DUMAC Business Systems, a POS solutions provider for independent grocery and convenience stores, and TRUNO Retail Technology Solutions, a provider that powers over 13,000 retail locations.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of self driving forklift

Cyngn gains $33 million for its self-driving forklifts

The autonomous forklift vendor Cyngn has raised $33 million in funding to accelerate its growth and proliferate sales of its industrial autonomous vehicles, the Menlo Park, California-based firm said today.

As a publicly traded company, Cyngn raised the money by selling company shares through the financial firm Aegis Capital in three rounds occurring in December. According to forms filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the move also required moves to reduce corporate spending for three months, including layoffs that reduced staff from approximately 80 people to approximately 60 people, temporarily suspended certain non-essential operations, and reduced or eliminated all discretionary expenses.

Keep ReadingShow less
minority woman with charts of business progress

Study: Inclusive procurement can fuel economic growth

Inclusive procurement practices can fuel economic growth and create jobs worldwide through increased partnerships with small and diverse suppliers, according to a study from the Illinois firm Supplier.io.

The firm’s “2024 Supplier Diversity Economic Impact Report” found that $168 billion spent directly with those suppliers generated a total economic impact of $303 billion. That analysis can help supplier diversity managers and chief procurement officers implement programs that grow diversity spend, improve supply chain competitiveness, and increase brand value, the firm said.

Keep ReadingShow less