INNOVATION
Justin Grace A
ll suppliers are supposed to work to exacting standards and to tight deadlines, but in elite track cycling, the
to a race in Poland on Thursday. The significance of these deadlines and what they mean to our ultimate goal is something we need to share with our supplier partners. New technology, new suppliers Cycling technology and training have advanced dramatically over the last 20 years. As such, our team now employs materials developed in Formula One motor racing and other high- performance sports. To understand why getting supplies to events and training sessions on time is so important to the team, it helps to get to grips with the minutia of detailed planning that goes into developing athletes, bikes and surrounding technology to be at the absolute peak for the big events. The team might enter an event to test the performances of the equipment, knowing that riders are not physically ready because they have been training for another event later in the season. If suppliers do not get equipment to the team on time, the effort might be wasted. Suppliers also need to understand the purpose of such events and not become focused on that specific outcome: they need to understand the big picture. Suppliers can need reassurance that there are specific boxes to tick, and anything that sits outside of them is irrelevant. If they buy into that, it’s easier to debrief them afterwards. But sometimes there are the suppliers who haven’t really understood the big picture, and they can go to a debrief and are fairly vocal if they feel the work they’ve done has been compromised. Experts manage relationships British Cycling has recruited from a number of industries, including automotive and aerospace, to help it develop the technologies it needs to win top events. These are the individuals under my management who form relationships with the most important and innovative suppliers. We introduce these experts, who also manage relationships with suppliers, by educating them about the sport and tapping into their diverse experiences to think of ways that we could do things
pressure is at a different level. I can tell you, more or less to the minute, what time we’ll be racing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, just about a year from now: that’s an absolute deadline, no slippage, no-scheduling, if it’s missed it’s missed and four years of dreams and hard work are gone. While I can tell you when we’re racing, what I can’t tell you is the exact equipment we’ll be using: it will continue to be developed and refined up to the very last minute with the help and cooperation of our suppliers. In planning training and competition schedules for the Great Britain Team, which won six sprint medals in the 2016 Rio Olympics, I have to ensure riders, bikes, clothing and technology are all the best they can possibly be and at the track at the right time. These preparations rely heavily on a complex network of suppliers. When we’re asking a supplier for components to be ready on a Wednesday, and they do not arrive before Friday, then the whole reason we needed them might have passed, because they were supposed to go
Winning relationships support Olympic success Justin Grace has coached track sprint cycling for national teams in the UK, France and New Zealand, helping win a string of Olympic medals in the process. Here, the sprint coach of the Great Britain Cycling Team tells how innovation from suppliers is vital to remaining competitive.
12
STATE OF FLUX
Powered by FlippingBook