2008 Beijing Olympics : Is your supply chain fit to run

THE countdown to the Olympics 2008 has begun. Like the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war, China is looking to make a statement by winning more Summer Olympic gold medals than the United States. Both countries will doubtless honor the systems that they say produce victories — Chinese authoritarianism versus American liberty.

While the next few weeks will be abuzz with which approach comes out tops, the Olympics themselves have a serious and noticeable impact on global business, and supply chain in particular. The impact the Beijing Olympics COULD have on your supply chain can and will be significant.

To summarize as briefly as possible: In an effort to reduce pollution and congestion before, during, and after the Olympic Games the Chinese government has implemented a variety of measures aimed at restricting and/or closing down heavy polluting industries, forced reductions in traffic, etc. Some of these are :

• Trucks weighing in excess of 3 tons restricted from entering Beijing City. Ring roads 3-5 designated by Beijing Organizing Committee for Olympic Games as “Olympic Lanes”
• Trucks registered in other provinces restricted from entering Beijing.
• 20% of registered Beijing enterprise vehicles will be restricted from running during the Olympics.
• All vehicles subject to odd-even license plate number controls, meaning only one type of vehicle (odd or even) allowed to operate in Beijing on particular days
• Trucks that are not emission-controlled will be prohibited from entering Beijing.
• Non-Beijing licensed vehicles allowed into Beijing but can not pass beyond the 5th ring road.
• Hazardous Materials transport to be strictly controlled.

While this might be a touchy issue ( read Olympic cyclists wearing smog masks) with the Chinese authorities, the bottom line is that if you havent been planning for this - it is very likely that your supply chain and replenishment strategy in particular will take a serious beating. Back-to-school sales might be the first to get affected.

That said the Olympics do bring a feeling of celebration and healthy competition to the world. Get the latest action here : Olympics Tracker.