Over the last 25 years, GLP was known for its innovative lighting technology in the touring, theatrical, and studio markets. During the pandemic however, GLP president Mark Ravenhill’s 10 Out Of 10 YouTube interviews with live event figures has helped to foster community and inspire people in the industry. Ravenhill talked to Live Design about the impact of the pandemic on the business, what designers and producers need to be aware of as they start work again, and why the reopening has been like jumping into a moving Ferrari headed around the Nürburgring.
Live Design: How is business compared with pre-pandemic levels?
Mark Ravenhill: As health authority mandates have started to get more relaxed, we have started to see a significant upturn in our business. We are seeing it in a number of locations around the world, but certainly North America is furthest forward. We are still far from our pre-pandemic levels but as far as live music and concerts are concerned, we are seeing many of the smaller venue tours (up to 3,000-ish capacity ) getting going. The arena size shows are getting lined up, but not many are out yet although it was wonderful to see the pictures of packed Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas last week as Garth Brooks kicked off his tour. So, ask me again in eight months, and I should have a very different answer for you.
LD: Are the events you are working using huge rigs or are you seeing some caution in expenditure in case cancellations start happening again?
MR: As far as I can see, nobody is using any caution in regard to possible cancellations. I think it has been shown through test events and from those current events that have already started selling tickets that the general public can’t wait to get out to see their favorite performer and to be entertained.
LD: Have you had any inventory issues with shortages of equipment/parts?
MR: I could just say “yes,” but the more information people have the better.
We are very much a global company with offices and factories all over the world. We have been able to ensure our survival through constant communication —for example, when it started to hit in China, we changed our financial setup in the US almost immediately to ensure that we would be built for survival, and it worked.
When it became obvious that this was going to last for a while—and we could know that by seeing what was happening at our other locations as things spread —we knew we would have a number of challenges. They would be logistical, financial, manpower related and supply-chain related. A recurring theme was, ‘Well if it ends in August, what do we need to be making? What will people want to buy and in what quantity?’ The one thing we did have was time and so we invested heavily in using that to communicate globally and frequently, sharing knowledge about developments and changes so that we could make the best decisions. Some areas of our business remained robust throughout the pandemic, like the television market in LA where we are based.
Now, we have had to contend with much larger markets than ours buying up limited inventory of parts which consequently has driven prices up. Everyone is familiar with the fact that they can’t buy a new car as the chips that control them aren’t available. But the same thing is happening with moving lights etc. We invested as much as we could in what we suspected the market would want but as things come back to life far faster than we imagined, we are starting to see lead times on some items increase. Just the other day, we were quoted 48 weeks lead time on an item. That makes forecasting product demand a bit more challenging!
LD: Are you experiencing shipping issues?
MR: I thought that I knew quite a bit about global logistics, but I can tell you that in that last 16 months, I have learnt more than I ever wanted to know. How long have you got?
Two main things happened in the beginning —airplanes stopped flying and people at home started shopping. The first drove the freight issues and the second drove the commodity issues.
Moving freight by ocean container ships: The first problem is not so much getting a container, but getting it to your door. There are only so many trucks that can carry containers and they were already busy, and you can’t just magic more container trucks and qualified drivers. The ports only have a certain amount of capacity too— through their cranes and the amount of space they have, and ships can now carry absolutely full loads, so they do. Trucks are bringing containers into port as fast as they can (and taking the incoming containers out)— but they still get bottle-necked by the amount of container trucks that are available. And all this time there are outbreaks, restrictions, and other inconveniences of a global pandemic that just slow everything down and the whole system turns to treacle. For example, in late May there was the Covid outbreak at the Yantian terminal in Shanghai, the third largest shipping terminal in the world that normally handles 13 million, 20 foot containers per year. It was forced to close for six days.
Planes have to reconfigure to run cargo instead of passengers so there is little increase in air cargo available and also a huge increase in people ordering things on Amazon as they work from home.
Because of all this, prices are skyrocketing. Right now, we are paying about four times as much as we used to to get a container from pickup to destination.
And as things return to normal, Apple, for example, will ship all the gadgets announced in September around the world in anticipation of demand and Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc have already contracted shipping space for the holiday season so that will only increase the pressure. I always thought that the global freight system was very robust, but the pandemic has highlighted just how fragile and delicate it actually is.
On the positive side, the train that runs from China to Europe didn’t have any problems and started to increase capacity. Most of the deliveries from our main factory to our office in Germany go via train now.
GLP was gearing up for a bumper 2020 when the pandemic hit, so we were well stocked with product and have continued to keep things topped up during the course of the last 16 months. But the slow start that we were all expecting has not happened and instead it’s been like jumping into a moving Ferrari headed around the Nürburgring.
I am encouraging everyone to talk to their vendors and be open about needs and expectations. With communication, we can plan as we work to shore up our supplies of products, parts and accessories. Unless others do the same, they are likely to face disappointment.
LD: Which parts of your business are returning to normal and which are still lagging?
MR: For us, concert touring is leading the charge and television continues to come back at a strong rate, too. Exhibitions are still just getting going and we look forward to the theatre market getting fully reopened again in the not-too distant future.
LD: Are you finding one particular product, or type of product, is in demand?
MR: I’m happy to say that there are a couple of our fixtures that have had a strong demand as things have started up again. One in particular is the impression FR10 Bar which we launched at LDI 2019 and designers were excited to get using as their shows launched in 2020. Well, now those shows are finally happening, the demand has come back which we are all extremely grateful!