Shifting of IPL - a huge logistical management exercise...!!!

Being from the Retail and Logistics sector I always try to see the operations side of every event. And I was eager to research about IPL when it was shifted at SA. I felt it would be really interesting to know how the IPL team managed the logistics of IPL that too in such a short notice..

When was the last time you did something for the first time? — goes an airline ad. But with IPL, the firsts don’t seem to end.

Let me share what I found about the IPL logistics....It is really great..!!

How long would it take you to relocate to another country? A month,  perhaps two? The Indian Premier League (IPL) had just a few days to move. That’s a little over three weeks to ensure the entire tournament settles into its new temporary home in South Africa.

Let us take a look at some stats:

• Eight teams, 128 players and 59 matches in 44 days.
• 12,000 hotel nights, 20,000 air tickets and will move at least 1000 people every day.
• Total number of 3,000 people who will be ferried from one part of India to another.
• 4 production kits will be moved through air. A cargo plane will transport the kits, undergoing  44 legs in 44 days of cricket—often with 2 legs a day.
• 700 people were currently working full time in South Africa on the DLF IPL, including an enormous team that has relocated from India to South Africa.This includes the Central IPL and IMG event team of 60, a television and digital media crew of over 200, the eight team franchises bringing about 30 playing staff each along with 20 coaching staff, executives and team owners for each team.

In South Africa, a range of companies were engaged over the course of several days at the end of March to provide security, broadcast support, PR and advertising, event management, entertainment, travel, hospitality and ticket sales.

IPL is bigger—in terms of sheer logistics activities—than the ICC World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. The Commonwealth Games 2006, which was a 10-day multi-sport event, involved around 1200 people. The organizers got around two years time in advance for the preparation. During the tournament, all local facilities were used for production and therefore there was no kit shipment or kit movement.

The World Cup Cricket 2007 organizers also got around 18 months to plan and organize the six-week-long event. It had four production units and all of them were shipped in. And there were seven production kit movements.

In comparison, the IPL organizers got about only eight weeks of planning time to organize the six-week tournament. Including the players, a total number of 3,000 people who will be ferried from one part of India to another.

Isn’t this a management lesson to be learned from the IPL organizers…??

Of the four production units, three have come from the UK. Around 44 production kits will be moved through air. A cargo plane will transport the kits, undergoing 44 legs in 44 days of cricket—often with 2 legs a day. Handling these details is sports marketing company IMG.

Here are some of the logistics that the IPL organizers are looking at:

1] Stadiums: The stadiums for the tournament will be managed by the IPL and will be handed over to them once the last domestic game has been played on each ground. The South African domestic season ends with 
matches in Johannesburg, Kimberley and East London on April 5, 12 days before the IPL is due to start.

2] Pitches and ground facilities:  South Africa will be ensconced in autumn in April/May but that should not affect pitches significantly. And Scott told 'The Indian Express' that “preparing a T20 pitch is easier than preparing a Test pitch”, so he doesn’t anticipate any problems.

3] Television: IMG will produce the world feed. James Rego, who is in charge of production, said the engineering crew will arrive in South Africa between April 5 and April 10. According to tournament director Dhiraj Malhotra, there will be more cameras — 29, besides six Hawk-eyes — at every match. List of commentators was also fixed.

Local broadcaster SuperSport will broadcast all 59 matches live in South Africa. Docky Dockrat, SuperSport’s internal production manager, told 'The Indian Express' that the broadcaster will be dedicating a 12-hour channel to the event.

4] Hotels and flights: The hotel partner is likely to be the Southern Sun group, which is the official partner to CSA and plays host to the South African team and visiting teams to the country. The group has hotels in all eight cities where the tournament will be held. The Southern Sun Newlands told 'The Indian Express' that they had already been informed about the arrival of IPL teams and were gearing up to host them.

As for flights, South African Airways looks set to do most of the internal travel and it is also the official partner to the South African team. According to him, the “SAA will be conducting a probe to establish their capacity and what is available in terms of aircraft” before deciding if there would be sufficient availability on existing flights or if they would need to charter planes.

5] Security: The tournament’s security will be handled by the South Africa-based firm Nicholls Steyn & Associates. The company is headed by Rory Steyn, who was bodyguard to former South African President Nelson Mandela, and Bob Nicholls, who is known in India for his involvement in the rescue operation at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal hotel.

Isn't it great..!!

Can anyone quote an event better managed in such a short time,,,??