The Big Interview – Gary Edstein

Gary Edstein, Senior Vice President, Oceania – DHL Express, discusses the responsibilities of implementing a logistical programme for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

As the Official Logistics Partner for the Rugby World Cup 2011, how has the running of the event’s logistics gone so far?

Very smoothly, but we have had a significant logistics requirement. First of all we had to manage the ticketing for over one million tickets – 1.2 million to be exact – and, of that, 90,000 had to be distributed internationally. That has run very smoothly and I’ve had no issues from rugby fans abroad.

Then we had the requirement to move well over 100 tonnes of rugby gear for the 19 visiting teams playing in the competition from all parts of the world – anywhere from Georgia to Japan to Argentina.

Then throughout the competition we’ve been moving all that gear domestically around New Zealand. Each team had an allocation of four tonnes per team, but of course some of the teams were well over that. For example, England brought seven tonnes of gear, and left with even more!

What are the big challenges of being the official logistics partner?

I would say the biggest challenge is making sure all the rugby gear is in the right place at the right time. What we had to do when we were awarded the contract last year was to establish a dedicated project team, and we also set up a logistics control tower which operates 24/7, so we know exactly where the team gear is at all times.

Another substantial challenge we’ve discovered is making sure the teams have their gear ready to go at the right time. We book the space on the respective aircraft, and it’s all run quite smoothly so far.

We allocated a dedicated vehicle for each team with their own freight coordinator – who travels with the team and makes sure that all the gear is where it should be.

From DHL’s point of view, where does the main value for the brand and company lie as a partner of the Rugby World Cup?

It’s about building the brand. Obviously this is a global event, and the biggest sporting event this year. It also allows us to demonstrate our logistics capabilities, to coordinate such a large movement of freight around the world.

With rugby being such a global sport now it fitted very well with our global network.

How have you enjoyed the journey personally?

As an Australian, it has gone well so far, aside from the surprise disappointment to Ireland. Still getting over that! I think the interesting point from this year’s Rugby World Cup is the emergence of the second tier teams. They are really matching the tier one teams for a lot of the games now, and it only seems to be the last 20 minutes or so that the bigger teams start to break away and score a lot of points.

It’s really good to see sides like Japan, Georgia, USA and Russia really starting to demonstrate their capabilities and give the tier one sides a good game. And that’s really exciting as a fan.

How did the disaster in Christchurch earlier this year affect your preparations?

That was obviously a tragic event. Business-wise it impacted our New Zealand business significantly – we had to shut down our business during that period, but we were very lucky not to have major casualties. It’s been really tough on the staff down there who are still experiencing tremors.

It was very unfortunate that they couldn’t play any of the Rugby World Cup games, and I’ve been told that the Jade Stadium (AMI Stadium) may have to be pulled down, which would be a great shame. For the Christchurch people it is extremely sad, very disappointing, and I hope that some of those fans have been able to get up to Nelson or Wellington to see some of the games.

Finally, your advertising campaign has been running through the ad breaks – how has that been received?

Very positively, which is fantastic for us. We call it ‘the speed of yellow’ and when I look at it in alignment with rugby and what we do, we talk about speed, teamwork, reliability, and a can-do attitude. They are all very much the values of rugby, and our strengths as well, and I think the campaign reflects that.