A logistics conference was organised by BAA Heathrow last week in order to identify opportunities that could be generated through a more strategic, airport wide, approach to logistics.
With 185,000 passengers travelling through daily, 90 airlines, 220 retailers operating across all four terminals and nearly 79,000 staff employed at the airport, logistics plays a central role in enabling Heathrow to function successfully. Significantly, this scale and complexity will increase next year with the opening of Terminal 5.
The conference called: 'Heathrow City Logistics - An Evolving Strategy', heard speakers from many organisations including BAA, DHL, Cranfield University, Bisham Consultancy and the environmental research firm, Eunomia. The purpose was to consider where commercial users of Heathrow could better align their logistic strategies in order to increase efficiency, improve waste management and reduce congestion which would in turn deliver key environmental benefits through fewer emissions.
The conference was the brainchild of BAA Heathrow's new Logistics Director Shaun Cowlam. Before joining BAA Shaun served in the British Army as Head of Logistics in Land Command. Prior to that he was in the Middle East providing logistics support to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the CBE.
It is this military approach to more efficient logistics which should see major improvements being made in this crucial area of airport operations. Says Shaun: "Logistics are the backbone of Heathrow, touching almost every aspect of the airport from the food served to passengers through to deliveries made at the airport's construction sites such as the mammoth
Terminal 5.
"It is our intention to work in partnership with the firms that operate at Heathrow to adopt a more integrated and coordinated solution to logistics."
Given the constraints of Heathrow's location and the premium placed on space at the airport as well as the issue of increasing congestion, this conference was held at an opportune time. Put in perspective, 60,000 vehicles travel through the central terminal area daily, a more streamlined approach to deliveries could see this number reduced. This in turn would contribute to reducing emissions and potentially aid the improvement of air quality around the airport.
Looking to the future, should Heathrow East Terminal go ahead, a major construction project will be situated in an even more challenging location than Terminal 5, in the middle of the airport's central terminal area. With this in mind, the need for a single operational and construction logistic strategy is evident.
Other key aspects of the airport's operation such as Ground Handling, the operation of Control Posts, Improved Waste Management and Wider Consolidation were also identified as areas where potential opportunities lay.
Heathrow City Logistics will be an important forum where commercial users of the Airport will be able to make their voice known and also play a part on working together to support the case for future growth.
Heathrow's Terminal 3 re-development is part of BAA Heathrow's ten year £6bn capital