Locality, venue logistics and cross-team coordination tools
Venue load-in and delivery-slot planner
Several delivery teams need the same lift or dock on set-up morning and you need a timetable the venue can approve.
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The short answer
The planner places each delivery team on the lift, dock or door it needs, inside the access window the venue approved. Two deliveries conflict when their times overlap on one resource and at least one needs the resource to itself, or the venue has said one team at a time.
It then proposes a timetable that moves later deliveries back, never earlier, until nothing overlaps, and warns where a resource becomes a bottleneck. It does not check weights, lift ratings or any engineering or safety limit.
What to enter
- Each lift, dock or door, with the access window the venue has approved in writing, and whether the venue confirmed one team at a time.
- Each delivery team as a label, the resource it uses, its requested start and how long it will occupy the resource.
- Whether the delivery needs the resource to itself, and a buffer for clearing and resetting the resource if the venue needs one.
What counts as a conflict
An exclusive delivery cannot share its slot with anything else on the same resource. Two deliveries that do not need exclusive use may overlap, although the venue still has to confirm that.
A delivery requested outside the approved window is flagged separately, and so is a proposed time that no longer fits the window after other deliveries are moved.
Reading the proposed timetable
The proposal shows each delivery's requested time, its proposed time and how many minutes it moved. A resource that needs deliveries moved, or runs past its window, is listed as a bottleneck.
Treat the proposal as a starting point to send to the venue. It is not an approval, and the venue may offer different windows.
Limits
The tool holds no weights, lift ratings, floor loadings or unloading speeds. A delivery with unknown start or duration is not placed, and is listed so it is not forgotten.
For questions to ask the venue about access, see the event venue loading access page, and note the answers in the event venue site inspection checklist.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional set-up morning
Fictional organisation and figures, to show the calculation.
A fictional forum has one service lift approved from 07:00 to 11:00 and a 10-minute buffer. The stage crew and the AV crew both need the lift to themselves and overlap by 30 minutes, so the AV crew moves to 08:40.
That push moves the caterer back and then the signage printer, which now ends after 11:00, so the lift is listed as a bottleneck. The exhibition builders have no start time entered, so they are not placed and are listed as unknown.
Use this yourself
Load-in slot sheet
Send a filled copy to the venue and ask for written confirmation of each slot.
| Resource | Delivery team | Exclusive? | Requested start | Duration | Proposed start | Venue confirmed (yes or no) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- One lift or dock, a handful of deliveries and a venue that already confirmed the windows.
- Deliveries are well spaced and nobody needs the resource to themselves.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Many suppliers share a lift or dock with narrow windows, and load-out follows soon after the event ends.
- Venue access rules, supplier timings and the programme all depend on each other and keep changing.
- Someone needs to agree the timetable with the venue in writing and brief each supplier on its slot.
Want the load-in coordinated with the venue?
A conference project lead can collect the delivery requests, agree the access windows and slots with the venue in writing, and brief each supplier on its time. Delivery teams and production stay with the suppliers you appoint, and the scope is agreed first.
Questions organisers ask
Can two deliveries share a lift at the same time?
Only when neither needs it to itself and the venue has not said one team at a time. The tool flags any overlap that involves an exclusive delivery.
Does the tool check if the lift can carry the load?
No. It holds no weights or ratings and does no engineering or safety check. Ask the venue to confirm those in writing.
Why was a delivery not placed?
Its start time, duration or resource is missing, so it is unknown. The tool lists it rather than guess a time.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.