Port warehouses prove essential to the Olympics (From Thurrock Gazette)

Port warehouses prove essential to the Olympics

8:00am Friday 1st June 2012 in News

MILLIONS of goods bound for Olympic venues are being stored at Tilbury Docks.

Since April 2011, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been using 500,000 sq ft of warehousing at the Port of Tilbury as items are shipped in from around the world and then distributed to Olympic sites in what is the largest peacetime logistical operation.

Omega, the official timekeepers for the Games, and Panasonic are also using warehouses at the Docks.

UPS, logistics provider for the Olympics, has set up a 200-strong team to manage the distribution of more than 30 million items, from athletes’ wardrobes and beds to boxing rings, hurdles and tennis balls.

The operation involves receiving shipments of flat-pack furniture and sports equipment, in some cases constructing the furniture, before loading it into containers for distribution, by either road, rail or river.

The UPS warehouse is full of sports equipment and also stacks of empty boxes, once containing furniture.

UPS’s director of sponsorship and operations Alan Williams said: “Tilbury is vital, a vital piece of the Olympic operation.

“The attraction is it’s a port which has created a unique situation, with great road links and the train station.

“The port’s also an important part in making this the greenest ever games and the barge operation is a unique part of that.

“It’s more about the legacy to demonstrate that the Thames can be used as an organisation supply chain. The Port of Tilbury have been great landlords for us.”