The logistics of FC Bayern Munich’s summer tour in China

During FC Bayern Munich’s week-long Audi Summer Tour China 2015, the team had practice or a match every day. To make sure the team’s equipment made it safe and sound from the players’ hotel to the practice fields and stadiums, FC Bayern turned to DHL in China.

Xu Qin recently had a very special day on the job: while he was still making deliveries as a driver for DHL, on this particular occasion his customer was Germany’s most successful soccer team, FC Bayern Munich. Xu and his team were tasked with the very important job of transporting the team’s gear – soccer balls, shoes, goalie gloves, medical supplies, fitness equipment, and match jerseys – between the team hotel and practice fields or stadiums for matches.

Watch: FC Bayern Munich’s summer tour logistics in China

Carrying out such a high-profile delivery did make Xu a little nervous, but he added that “nervousness is second to the feeling of honor” as he watched the players take part in a practice session the day of their match in Shanghai.

Carsten Rauer, Head of DHL Trade Fairs and Events China, didn’t seem nervous at all during the training session – probably because he knows how well he and his team prepared in advance.

Planning makes perfect

Before the tour, Rauer said there was plenty of back and forth between his team in China and the corresponding team at DHL headquarters in Germany. There were some concerns relating to deliveries in China specifically that were addressed in these discussions. That included, for example, a law in Shanghai that prohibits trucks and vans from entering the downtown area where the team hotel was located.

Watch: A fan's dream - FC Bayern in China

“We had to contact the police in advance,” Rauer said. “The whole DHL team and management got involved to get the necessary licenses and permits for that.”

While DHL was taking care of each step of the actual logistics process, FC Bayern Munich joined the discussion to give DHL a rough idea of what needed to be where and when. While the team’s changing schedule means that down-to-the-minute details cannot be planned in advance, DHL knew the broad strokes of what the team needed moved around in China. That included 64 kilograms or soccer balls, 90 kilograms of player autograph cards, 544 kilograms of training and match kits, and 372 kilograms of medical equipment.

All in a day’s work

The deliveries went off without a hitch, meaning head coach Pep Guardiola and the players could carry on training as usual.

“Thanks to DHL it has all gone very smoothly,” FC Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

“Without the logistics from DHL, we wouldn’t be able to organize and carry out a tour like this,” FC Bayern Munich’s Executive Board Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in Shanghai. “That’s quite a logistics feat to manage, and I have to say, thanks to DHL it has all gone very smoothly.”

For Xu, the special day at the office had a particularly rewarding conclusion. At the conclusion of practice, the player’s all boarded the team bus to head back to the hotel. Xi would be right behind them with the training gear, but before he go to packing the equipment, a few of the players signed his DHL work uniform - including an autograph from his favorite FC Bayern player, Thomas Müller. All in a day’s work at DHL, the official logistics partner of FC Bayern Munich!

Now that FC Bayern Munich’s Audi Summer Tour 2015 is over, it’s time to start focusing on the Bundesliga and the team’s campaign in the Champions League! All the latest on FC Bayern can be found here on InMotion.