Advertorial
Going the
extra mile
Moving show to a new venue
can be challenging from a
logistics point of view, as EN
Editor Saul Leese discovered
when he caught up with CEVA
Showfreight, who delivered
SPE Offshore at P&J Live for
Reed Exhibitions
C
EVA has been long been
associated with SPE Offshore
(SPEO) but this year its move from
its traditional host; the Aberdeen
Exhibition and Conference Centre
(AECC) to TECA – The Event
Complex Aberdeen sponsored by P+J
Live, created a whole host of new
challenges.
Exhibitors and contractors had
become accustomed to the old venue,
how it worked and the do’s and don’ts.
As a result, CEVA had to rewrite the
‘rule book’ from scratch.
CEVA, Reed Exhibitions and the
venue began planning the logistics
operation 10 months out, and even
held meetings, whilst the new venue
was still a building site. They agreed
on traffic flow direction, signage,
storage areas, loading bay protocols,
access points for vehicles, locations
of offices and services desks and
technical information such as floor
loading specifications. In fact, CEVA
were ‘guinea pigs’ and they found
themselves creating an operational
blueprint for the venue that is now
being used for other events.
Head of operations at CEVA, Chris
Hughes, said: “All this information
had to be incorporated into a
26 — October
“It was a huge amount
of work and not
something you could
simply cut and paste”
logistical guide that was distributed
to all exhibitors. It was a huge amount
of work and not something you could
simply cut and paste. It sounds easy
but at every turn there was a new
challenge. We’re good at overcoming
obstacles but some of the roads and
car parks hadn’t even got a name,
which was completely insane.”
As SPEO drew closer, CEVA’s
dedicated team were on hand to
answer calls from bewildered
exhibitors who were confused about
logistical changes.
The smooth running of any event
logistically is often determined by
waiting times and vehicle transition
from the lorry park to the unloading
areas. To reduce congestion onsite
CEVA decided to buck their usual
trend, and create a vehicle reception
away from the new venue. Chris
adds: “We produced vehicle passes
and provided directions to all
drivers. On arrival at TECA CEVA
traffic staff guided vehicle to the
correct loading doors scanning
the relevant paperwork along the
way. This allowed CEVA via its VRS
system to monitor all movements,
transition times, as well as time
spent at unloading areas. The system
provides invaluable information to
the organisers post show as CEVA