UPS to deliver 700000 bottles in less than 72 hours: Mission Impossible?

Filed in archive News on November 5, 2005

A good news for japanese wine lovers: you can enjoy your glass of Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday, Nov. 17, the official date for releasing the new vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau, because UPS is going to deliver 700000 bottles of that to Japan.

"This is an exceptional delivery operation both in terms of tight deadlines and tonnage. In less than 72 hours, we must move 750 metric tons of wine from france to Japan. This compares to 130 metric tons in 2004. So we are marshalling all our expertise to meet this challenge,"said Alain Gambuli, sales director for UPS Supply Chain Solutions France.

The success of the operation depends on lengthy preparations and extremely fast execution. At the beginning of 2005, when Japanese firms placed orders for Beaujolais Nouveau, UPS Supply Chain Solutions booked its flights to ensure delivery. At the beginning of November, the enterprise started collecting the 750 metric tons of wine from local wine storehouses, located in the Burgundy region of France.

The cases of wine will be taken to the airports and then transferred to dedicated warehouses using special pallets adapted to air transport. Once in Japan, UPS Supply Chain Solutions will use its skilled employees to oversee customs operations, then the Japanese team will put cases on special road-transport pallets to their destinations.

Well, If I were a Japanese, I would say to UPS people: Wish you good luck with your mission, coz on Nov. 17, I really want my Beaujolais Nouveau.