As the country prepares to hold its first Olympic Games in over 50 years, procurement teams across the UK are gearing up for the huge challenge that lies ahead.
Accelerating costs have so far been a major source for criticism with the original budget of £3.4 billion almost trebling to reach £9 billion.
Where some industries are worrying about meeting the enormous increase in demand, the food and drink sector is confident that the games will provide a much needed boost to the economy, provided effective planning is put in to place.
Food Manufacture reported that the food and drink supply chain has already started to implement these proposals-by making preparations with logistics companies to ensure the successful transportation of goods during the predicted gridlock of traffic that will impose upon London over the summer.
In a recent interview with Supply Management, John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, described the job of the Olympic procurement team as ‘one of the biggest challenges of any project in the UK’. The fact that the project is in the public spotlight and has a large number of stakeholders means that it will be under tight scrutiny which will no doubt increase the pressure upon the procurement teams to ensure that they perform.
Supply chain disruption has also been cited as a major cost implication on the games. The Financial Times reported that 93 per cent of UK businesses are expecting the games to have a negative knock-on effect which includes experiencing problems in their supply chains.
Purchasing teams will be looking to rely on eProcurement functionality and features such as supplier portals for rapid and effective selection and communication with suppliers and reporting and forecasting tools to help tackle the increase in demand and disruption that the games could cause.
With such an opportunity for all industries to benefit from the surge in demand and substantial increase in revenue, it is important that procurement teams are well prepared for any problems that could arise.
