DHL isn't looking for the fastest final mile when it comes to building the sites for the 2012 Olympics, but ensuring that materials arrive at the right place, right time and in the right quantity could win them gold. In November 2008, DHL won the contract to run two of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)
logistics centres in Barking and Chigwell in Essex, beating off competition from the likes of Port of Tilbury and EWS Railways.
The sites now manage inbound material deliveries for suppliers, manufacturers and contractors involved in the construction of the park. All inbound construction traffic is required to pass through these centres for marshalling, scheduling and security clearance.
Ray Payne, head of construction strategy and logistics at the ODA, says: "The logistics centres at the Barking and M11 sites [Chigwell] provide core vehicle marshalling services for the ODA. Each centre is in-line with the needs of the Olympic Park and provides straightforward access irrespective of the size and number of deliveries.
"Given the complexity of the Olympic Park construction programme and constrained nature of the site, the ODA has taken a strong stance to manage construction traffic, imposing a robust security regime and reducing the impact on the environment
and local community."
Jonathan Shortis, business development director at DHL Supply Chain, says the company has put in place a software system that details vehicle status in real-time, the time required on site, and the location of the final delivery point.
He says: "Vehicle marshalling and security clearing operations take place at the two centres prior to scheduling the deliveries to the park. Customers can therefore benefit from minimised vehicle waiting times at site and decreased congestion in and around the park."
The Barking logistics centre is a 23-acre facility, accessed either from the A13 or the National Rail network. The site has capacity for 93 lorries per hour, 146,000ft2 of warehousing space and 40,000ft2 of secure office space.
It has secure parking, high-speed internet access and an on-site canteen. It mainly deals with construction traffic coming from the South, East or from the ports at Tilbury, Felixstowe, Dover or Southampton. It can also offer a 'drop trailer' service where customers can deliver and/or collect the trailer from the site, increasing vehicle utilisation and ensuring compliance with drivers' hours regulations.
Shortis adds: "DHL works with the operator of the on-site Barking rail terminal - John G Russell - to provide a full multimodal capability. Barking can receive goods from the UK or mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel link."
Meanwhile, the M11 logistics centre near Chigwell has the capacity to handle 90 trucks per hour and offers an alternative point for inbound traffic arriving from the North and West.
It is situated half a mile south of Junction 5 of the M11 and is predominantly used for vehicles delivering to the North Plaza in the Olympic Park. A range of surveillance and security procedures are in place at the two centres, including:
The road links to both logistics centres give access to all sizes of vehicles, materials and construction machinery.
"We can remove waste, excess materials and any construction machinery that is no longer required, wherever possible utilising the inbound fleet on a back-load basis," says Shortis.
"If a job is delayed or called off, the excess materials can be returned to an alternative destination or back to the source location. This service provides customers who have a range of related materials for certain jobs to be stored, assembled and despatched in the correct order."
The contract runs until June 2011 - ensuring that the sites in which the Olympics take place should be ready for the world's athletes come August 2012.
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