Timly Leads the International German Turnfest to Success
The Turnfest is the world’s largest competitive sports event, combining official competitions with open-to-all activities. Managing equipment borrowed from nearby schools is a true logistical challenge. By adopting Timly, the Turnfest teams transformed this challenge into a smooth process: each item is managed efficiently, from setup day to final equipment return.
Tatjana Lietz, responsible for Sports Equipment Logistics, explains how the Timly significantly simplified the inventory of sports equipment at the 2025 International German Turnfest.
International German Turnfest
Participants
80,000
Types of Sports
23 represented disciplines
Visited Schools
40
Assets
~5,000
Deployment Locations
47
The Challenge
Before Timly, equipment management during the Turnfest relied mostly on Excel, under high pressure, with limited visibility.
The previous system had several major issues:
- Logistical complexity: all equipment was borrowed from 40 different schools, creating a high risk of confusion at return time.
- No reliable overview: it was difficult to know where each item was, especially if it was used in multiple competitions on different days.
- Complex planning: the same item was sometimes needed for two closely scheduled events, with no centralized tool to check availability and assignments.
- Stress during returns: teams had to ensure each item returned to the correct school, with limited insight into initial and final conditions.
Main Goal
The main goal was clear: find a solution to inventory, track, plan, and return borrowed equipment efficiently, without mistakes or wasted time.
Other Objectives
- Accurately identify the school each piece of equipment came from and return it without errors.
- Distribute equipment across multiple locations (gyms, warehouses, competition venues) without losing track.
- Handle damage cases with proof of both the initial and final condition of equipment.
The Solution
Turnfest teams chose Timly to structure the entire equipment management process. Every item is tracked from initial borrowing to return to its original school.
„We visited over 40 schools, selected, labeled, and inventoried every device in Timly, and then collected them. Thanks to Timly, we know exactly which equipment comes from which school and its condition. If someone says, ‘This isn’t my mat,’ we can immediately check the barcode to confirm it’s the right one. And if a piece of equipment is ever damaged, we can precisely document the issue, take a photo, and plan where and when the item needs to be.“
– Tatjana Lietz, Sports Equipment Logistics
Key Features at a Glance
Key Features:
- Complete inventory: all school-borrowed equipment was inventoried in Timly with location, condition, photos, and more—all centralized in each item’s profile.
- Traceability: items were scanned in Timly when checked out, with location recorded at the moment of scanning, enabling precise tracking of which school borrowed each item and where it needed to go.
- Equipment identification: Timly QR codes were applied, and RFID cards were embedded in gymnastics mats.
- Assignment: each item was digitally assigned to a location or responsible person, clarifying accountability and simplifying searches.
- Equipment planning: Timly’s planning feature set exact locations for each item at every critical point of the competition, accounting for the needs of different events.
- Incident management: in case of damage, teams documented it immediately in Timly with before/after photos and location details.
The Results
Using Timly and its features brought unprecedented transparency to Turnfest logistics.
- Reduced stress for logistics teams: they now have a clear, real-time overview of every item’s location and schedule.
- Simplified inventory and returns: it’s easy to see which items need to go back to which school and verify that everything returned.
- Better competition coordination: planning ensures equipment is available when needed, avoiding double-booking or last-minute improvisation.
- Effective incident management: damages are documented centrally, with visual proof and geolocation.
- Fully mobile management: all done via the Timly app, with no manual re-entry or duplication.
Key Takeaways
- Inventory management solutions like Timly don’t just track equipment—they structure the entire organization around it.
- Centralizing data (e.g., origin school, condition, location, usage history) allows precise tracking, even across dozens of sites.
- Assignment, planning, and GPS features turn a logistical headache into a controlled, transparent process.
- Timly adapts identification technology (QR codes, RFID) to the type of equipment, even when safety or material constraints make standard solutions impractical.
- A mobile app like Timly enables real-time, on-the-ground management without burdening teams.
By orchestrating equipment management through Timly, the Turnfest could focus on what matters most: delivering a smooth, memorable sporting experience that lives up to its exceptional, world-class reputation.