Transportation
Article | April 26, 2023
Enhance professional skills and knowledge in supply chain management by attending top industry events. Gain insights from thought leaders, connect with peers, and stay ahead of the competition.
Supply chain and logistics professionals face various challenges in improving supply chain efficiency and overcoming obstacles. The industry is complex and highly competitive, with external forces making it more challenging. Supply chain and logistics conferences help to address these challenges and promote a healthy international supply chain. In addition, the events will offer a comprehensive platform for professionals to understand the latest innovations & technologies and learn about digital transformation within the supply chain. Discover the latest insights, innovations, trends and more at the top 15 supply chain events to be held between May and December in 2023.
1. Swiss Supply Chain & Logistics Conference 2023
May 31- June 1, 2023 | Zurich (Switzerland)
The Swiss Supply Chain & Logistics Conference is a comprehensive platform uniting global stakeholders within the industry. The event focuses on presenting cutting-edge innovations and technologies, addressing industry challenges, and promoting environmentally friendly solutions. By fostering networking opportunities, the conference aims to facilitate business collaborations among participants. Attendees representing various stakeholders in the value network can expect to gain insights into creating agile, resilient, and sustainable supply chains while optimizing logistics operations. Esteemed speakers will discuss critical topics such as supply chain digitization, demand forecasting, and sustainable transportation practices, which directly impact businesses' bottom lines.
2. ASCM Connect 2023: Europe
June 27-28, 2023 | Belgium (Europe)
ASCM is set to host ASCM CONNECT 2023: Europe, a highly anticipated conference in Brussels. The event promises an extensive range of educational sessions covering the latest trends and developments in the supply chain field. Supply chain professionals attending the conference will allow them to connect with peers, gain insights from industry leaders, and explore advancements in the area. In addition, keynote speakers will share their corporate transformation journey, sustainability in the supply chain, resilience while disruptions, and their views on topics related to the digital supply chain. This event offers a platform for networking and knowledge sharing that can positively impact the growth and success of supply chain businesses.
3. Annual European Supply Chain Management Strategies Summit
November 7-8, 2023 | Munich (Germany)
The European Supply Chain Management Strategies Summit is a premier event that provides a unique platform for senior leadership to explore case studies and solutions in the supply chain industry in Europe and globally. This conference focuses on essential methods to enhance supply chain management. Attendees will gain insights into improving logistics and inventory management, implementing and optimizing IoT and new technologies, fostering collaboration and transparency with suppliers, and mitigating key and emerging risks. In addition, the summit offers an opportunity for supply chain businesses to contribute to the conversation and improve management practices.
4. Empack: The Future of Packaging Technology
November 29-30, 2023 | Madrid (Spain)
The upcoming 15th edition of Empack Madrid, scheduled at IFEMA, is focused on the future of packaging technology and promises to offer a transformative experience for professionals in the logistics and packaging sector. This innovation-driven event is a hub for networking, knowledge sharing, and business opportunities. Attendees will learn the latest advancements and updates that will optimize their supply chain operations within a few hours. Empack caters explicitly to designers, packaging managers, marketing professionals, product developers, sustainability advocates, and industrial packaging, labelling, printing, weighing, palletizing, and robotics experts. Additionally, the event features a key session with Jose Luis Gallego, a prominent naturalist, environmental disseminator, and writer, who will share valuable insights.
5. Future Supply Chain
November 28 - 29, 2023 | Torrey Pines (California)
The Logistics & Supply Chain Summit is designed to bring together supply chain and logistics professionals and key industry solution providers. The event provides a platform for engaging in one-to-one business meetings, participating in interactive seminars, and building valuable professional networks with the range of industry experts, including keynote speakers such as Clare Bottle (Chief Executive of UKWA), Richard Lim (Chief Executive Officer of Retail Economics), Jon Brewin (Business Development Manager of AutoStore System), and Jonathan Ogg (Senior Solution Architect of sofco Limited). The seminars and discussions at the summit cover a range of topics, including emerging technologies, innovative logistics solutions, and sustainable supply chain practices.
6. Deutsche Bank's 2023 Transportation Conference
August 15-16, 2023 | New York City (United States)
Deutsche Bank presents the highly anticipated 2023 Transportation Conference, an event that offers market-leading insights into the global transportation industry. The conference caters to logistics industry professionals with a comprehensive program, including one-on-one and group meetings, engaging fireside chats, and intimate small company dinners for networking. Renowned industry experts, including esteemed key speakers, will share their extensive knowledge and expertise on various logistics and transportation topics. Discussions will cover market dynamics, emerging trends, regulatory developments, and lucrative investment opportunities. The conference provides an invaluable platform for supply chain businesses to gain critical market intelligence, establish strategic partnerships, and capitalize on vast opportunities in the industry.
7. International Conference on Transportation and Development (ICTD 2023)
June 14, 2023 | Austin (Texas)
ASCE's Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI) has organized the co-located ICTD 2023 and Pavements 2023 conferences in partnership with TxDOT. The collaboration brings together global leaders in transportation, development, and pavements, offering an exceptional networking and knowledge-sharing platform for supply chain businesses. Professionals and researchers worldwide will convene to explore topics such as transportation strategies, cutting-edge technologies, infrastructure solutions, and pavement best practices. In addition, the influential key speakers, including Marc D. Williams, Carlos Braceras, Marie Dominguez, Butch Eley, Roger M. Millar Jr., Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, Lorie Tudor, and Eileen M. Velez Vega, will share industry-related insights and experiences.
8. Supply Chain Risk and Resilience Forum 2023
May 30 - June 1, 2023 | Berlin (Germany)
The Resilient Supply Chain Summit brings together 35+ experts to discuss new strategies and approaches to manage supply chain risks and build resilience in future crises. The conference provides deep-dive assessments of categories, supplier portfolios, and processes to surface potential issues, better understand risk exposure and vulnerabilities across the supply chain, and identify winning strategies for current and future challenges. Join the summit to gain insights from industry experts and improve your supply chain ecosystem.
9. Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo
June 5-7, 2023 | Barcelona (Spain)
In today's changing world, supply chains have become more crucial than ever, given their ability to navigate disruptions and manage risk while maximizing returns. Supply chain leaders can deliver profitably in times of uncertainty by leveraging their credibility, confidence, and commitment. Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo 2023 will explore big ideas and provide actionable insights to help supply chain leaders develop agile and resilient strategies, mitigate risk, respond to disruptions, pursue digital initiatives that drive growth, develop talent for the future, and prioritize technology investments.
10. Supply Chain USA 2023
June 13-14, 2023 | Chicago (United States)
Supply chain professionals, mark your calendars for the upcoming event in Chicago, where 900 executives from the supply chain ecosystem will convene to address the pressing need for resilient, customer-centric, ESG-compliant, cost-effective, and data-driven supply chains. The event is an opportunity to exchange insights, innovative solutions and best practices with industry heavyweights, leading technology providers, forward-thinking logistics organizations, Fortune 500 retailers and manufacturers, and government officials. In addition, the event will help the participants understand how to overcome the glaring weaknesses prevalent in fragmented, siloed, inflexible, and inefficient supply chains and emerge with the right strategies for a successful future.
11. 6th Edition Supply Chain Innovation Summit
June 15-16, 2023 | Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Supply chain management is undergoing a digital revolution that renders old fundamentals obsolete. As a result, companies must rethink and redesign their strategies to stay ahead of the new trends. The Supply Chain Digitalization Summit 2023 will provide an in-depth exploration of the latest advances and techniques in supply chain technology and innovation. Experts will cover every modern supply chain management aspect, from planning and strategy to risk management and customer focus. Gain insights from industry leaders that will help in transforming supply chain operations.
12. The Future of Supply Chain 2023
June 21-22, 2023 | Cleveland (Ohio)
The Future of Supply Chain will bring together executives, academics, and experts to share their knowledge, experience, and vision for the future of supply chain management. The event will feature captivating discussions and fast-paced demonstrations of emerging technologies that will shape the industry's future. In addition, attendees will have a chance to explore interactive sponsor kiosks and network with like-minded professionals. This year's conference will feature special topics such as the circular economy, blockchain, and last-mile delivery.
13. Digital Supply Chain Transformation 2023
October 3-4, 2023 | Biltmore (Miami)
The Digital Supply Chain Transformation Assembly is an exclusive gathering of industry experts, thought leaders, and visionaries at the forefront of digital transformation in the supply chain industry. The event provides an opportunity to learn from what the field's experienced and innovative minds share about the experiences for navigating the challenges of the digital era. Through interactive discussions, hands-on workshops, and insightful keynote speeches, attendees will gain practical insights and strategies for transforming their supply chains, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing customer experience.
14. Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit 2023
November 29-30, 2023 | Phoenix (Arizona)
The Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit 2023 is the right platform for supply chain planning leaders to learn about new strategies, insights and frameworks to tackle the challenges of network complexity, demand volatility, and supply disruptions. The event allows heads of Supply Chain Planning, S&OP, integrated business planning, demand planning and supply/inventory planning to connect and share their future vision. At the summit, attendees will gain actionable insights and drive resiliency to achieve sustainable business outcomes. Join now and shape the future of supply chain planning.
15. Supply Chain & Logistics Transformation Summit 2023
November 29- December 1, 2023 | Phoenix (Arizona)
The Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chain Summit will bring supply chain and logistics leaders to address the topics and learn from peers and industry experts how to accelerate digital adoption, transform the supply chain with new technologies, and build the leadership, team skills, and capabilities needed for long-term success. This summit will help professionals to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing supply chain management landscape. In addition, it will gain valuable insights into the latest trends, strategies and best practices for building resilient and sustainable supply chains that can withstand disruptions and meet the demands of a rapidly-changing world.
Conclusion
Professionals in the supply chain and logistics industry face challenges in improving efficiency and overcoming obstacles due to high competition, making it crucial to stay informed about the latest industry developments and best practices to succeed.
Attending the top supply chain conferences can provide an opportunity to address challenges, learn about the latest innovations & technologies, and maintain adequate supply chain operations. In addition, attending the events and conferences for supply chain opens up better possibilities for supply chain and logistics professionals to network, gain valuable insights, engage in peer-to-peer discussions and access resources.
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Warehousing and Distribution
Article | June 16, 2023
A sector which has been heavily disrupted in the last years is the mobility sector. Following decades of "car being king", we have reached a saturation and mentality shift. People want to be more healthy and more ecological (sustainable) and also avoid losing precious time in traffic jams. As a result a whole eco-system of companies has been created to find solutions for this.
This article tries to provide an overview of the trends in this market, with a focus on the Belgian market.
First of all when looking at mobility and the offers on the market it is important to make a distinction between private and professional displacements. This last category can additionally be split up between the daily commute and professional displacements during working hours.
When looking at private mobility (the so-called B2C market), the car remains an important pilar. Especially for families with (young) children it remains difficult to do everything without a car. Obviously, there is a trend to be more sustainable, which is reflected in more sales of hybrid and electric vehicles, more usage of (e)bikes and (e)steps and an increasing usage of shared mobility options (like shared bikes, steps or cars).
Statistics from China, which is already the furthest in the post-Covid era, show that most mobility options have lost terrain (compared to pre-Covid), with the exception of the car and bike. The car, although still not very sustainable, is still the most flexible and has the least chance for contamination. Especially the flexibility will become more important as office hours also become more flexible. Additionally due to the increased home working, in some cities traffic jams have considerably reduced, making room again for more people to switch back from public transport to their car.
Additionally there is the bike. This is a very flexible, individual, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation that many have discovered during the crisis. Furthermore with ebikes becoming more and more common, bigger distances can be covered without needing to be in excellent physical shape.
The professional mobility (i.e. B2B(2C) market) is however even more in evolution, as governments provide all kinds of fiscal incentives to change the mobility habits of employees and employers. Furthermore employers want to offer more flexibility (in working hours, in working location and in mobility options) and less administrative burden to their employees, allow them to profit from those fiscal incentives (resulting in an increased buying power) and become more sustainable.
As a result a variety of new offers to be more flexible and optimally profit of those extra-legal advantages has come to the market. This makes it very complex for an employer to find his way in this tangle.
Obviously, every company is unique, with multiple axes determining which mobility options are possible and best suited for the company:
The location of the company, i.e. Is the company situated in a city with a lot of mobility difficulties (traffic jams)? Is the company situated near public transport options? Is the company situated in a city where a lot of shared mobility options are available? Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? Which kind of parking facilities does the company have? Does the company have multiple offices geographically spread over the country?
The type of work done at the company, i.e. Does the work require physical presence at a specific location (i.e. time- and location-dependent work)? Is remote work possible? Does the work require a lot of displacements to customers (and/or partners, suppliers…) during working hours?
The type of employees working at the firm, i.e. Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? What is the age distribution of the employees within the company (e.g. lot of young people, lot of employees with children…)? How strong is the war for talent for the desired employees, forcing the employer to offer a lot of extra advantages to attract people?
The size of the company, i.e. a bigger company has the means to setup more complex mobility plans/options, as they often have dedicated people within HR specialized in these setups.
This makes it difficult to define a "one-solution-that-fits-all" approach, but rather a more tailored approach is required, with some degree of customization per customer.
Some examples:
Promoting commuting by bike via bike leasing and a bike allowance is mainly interesting for companies with employees not living too far away from the company and not requiring doing customer or other professional displacements during working hours. Additionally it depends on the profile of the employees and the safety of the trajectory between the home of the employees and the office. Note that 54% of Belgian employees does not want to use a bike to come to work, with the main reason people finding it too dangerous. At the other hand a similar percentage of employees indicates they would be very interested in options like bike leasing and bike allowances.
Shared mobility options are of course only interesting in the bigger cities, where those options are also strongly available. As a result incorporating those options in a mobility plan does not make much sense when the employer is situated in a location where those options are (almost) not available.
The same applies for "multi-modal transportation" (and the associated multi-modal route planners), which are also only interesting in the larger cities where multiple mobility options are readily available. Furthermore a company introducing this multi-modal mobility concept should be able to put a whole change management trajectory in place, as it requires discovering new mobility options and changing existing commute habits (for most employees the commute is a routine activity, which they do in "auto-pilot")
Setting up a Cafeteria plan or Mobility budget can be quite complex, making the costs and effort, especially for smaller firms, not always outweigh the benefits. New digital solutions can provide a (partial) solution to this, but they typically do not take away the uncertainties for employers to deal with something they do not fully understand.
Electric cars are still difficult for people doing large distances on a regular basis, due to their limited action radius and the too low number of charging stations (especially in the South of Belgium). On the other hand for companies where employees come to the office the whole day and that have the required space to setup charging stations, this can be a very interesting option both fiscally and ecologically.
Collective organized transport is typically only economically viable for large companies, for which a large number of employees are coming from the same region. Platforms exist to manage this cross-employers, but this raises a number of other concerns and reduces the added-value.
Options like "no-mobility" (i.e. home working) and "less-mobility" (flex-offices / co-working places) depend on the work culture and the type of work to be done. For some companies the shift to homeworking during the Covid-confinements was already a serious stretch, which will take years to get fully absorbed. Introducing new concepts like "flex-offices" (co-working places) is probably a bridge too far, especially as there is still a lot of unclarity of who will be paying (and what the fiscal implications are) for the office space (employee paying out of his mobility budget or employer paying) and even more for the added-services like drinks, snacks, catering…
…
In general employers have a big interest to do something around mobility, but when having to deal with all complexity (fiscal and operational concerns like policies, load administration…), many employers drop out. Employers fear especially all exceptions, as they often represent hidden costs and lot of extra effort. E.g. what happens if an employee leaves the company? What if someone is fired? What about the liability in case of accidents/theft/vandalism? What will be the exact total cost for me as an employer? How do I need to manage VAT? What is the exact value of benefit of all kind for the employee? Which proofs do I need to collect for the tax authorities? Does it fit with the agreements made in the collective labor agreement of the joint committee?…
These questions mainly originate from the existing unclarities in the fiscal regime, which is due to the fact that many HR managers are not yet acquainted with these new offers, the fact that new mobility offers are created continuously (making it impossible for the government to stay up-to-date) and the continuous change in regulation (e.g. "Mobility Budget", "Company Car Legislation"…).
This lack of maturity in the industry puts a break on the adoption and this maturation might take years to unfold. E.g. meal vouchers took 40 years to arrive to a market penetration of 50%, while this is a much simpler HR product than most mobility options. Until this maturity level is reached, resulting in more well-known, better integrated, more frictionless and cheaper offers, the traditional company mobility options of reimbursing public transport subscriptions and salary cars will remain mostly used. Those are still most widely known by HR managers, are fiscally still very interesting and fit well the needs and desires of most employees.
This last argument is important, as no mobility option will become mainstream unless employees are happy with it. This means the mobility option should not only give a solution for "Professional displacements" but also for the "Private displacements" (in evenings, weekend, holidays…), often with the whole family.
Nonetheless we see the market is maturing and transforming, as millions of euros of VC money are invested in promising new start-ups. Almost all of those start-ups are not profitable yet but given the market potential a few of them could grow out to become unicorns. Today’s students are more acquainted and open for these new mobility services, so likely some of them will become mainstream in the next decade.
Today a whole eco-system of young start-ups and existing incumbent players are offering mobility services, like
Car leasing companies: Alphabet, ALD Automotive, ING Lease, KBC Autolease, LeasePlan, ARVAL…
Car rental companies: Sixt, Avis, Dockx, Hertz, Rent a car…
Car sharing companies (in the form of cars that can be easily used for individual trips up to platforms facilitating sharing your private car or co-driving): Cambio, Poppy, Partago, Zipcar, Cozywheels, Getaround, Dégage, Share Now, Stapp.in, Tapazz, BlaBlaCar, Klaxit, TooGethr, Carpool (Mpact)…
Taxi services: Uber, Wave-a-Cab, Taxi.eu, Heetch, Bolt, Free Now, Allocab…
Bike leasing companies: Ctec, O2O, Joulebikes, KBC-Fietsleasing, B2Bike, Cyclis, Lease-a-bike, Cyclobility, Cycle Valley…
(e)bike, (e)step and scooter sharing & renting: Lime, Dott, Bird, Felyx, Scooty, Villo!, Billy Bike, Mobit, Blue Bike, Swapfiets, Spinlister…
Fuel card and Electric charging card issuing companies: Network Fuel Card, Modalizy, Fleetpass, Belgian Fuel Card (BFC), XXImo, EDI (Electric by D’Ieteren), New Motion, Plugsurfing, Blue Corner, Luminus, EVBOX, Cenergy, Eneco, Dats24, EV-Point,…
Parking companies (either companies providing public parkings or platforms to share individual and company parkings): Yellowbrick, Indigo, QPark, BeMobile, BePark, Pasha, ParkOffice…
Companies helping to define mobility plan and manage setup of policies and mobility plans/budgets: Social Secretariats (SD Worx, Partena, Securex, Acerta, Liantis…), Payflip, Mbrella, MaestroMobile (Espaces-Mobilités)…
MaaS (Mobility as a Service) players: Modalizy, Skipr, Optimile, Olympus, Be-Mobile, MyMove, Vaigo (Eurides), Moveasy…
(Inter-modal) Route planners: Google Maps, Coyote, Waze, Mappy, Jeasy, Skipr, Stoomlink…
Co-working place companies (either companies providing co-working places or platforms allowing to reserve spaces over multiple co-working places): Bar d’Office, Workero, Cowallonia, Burogest, Regus, Welkin, Meraki, Frame 21, Fosbury & Sons, Start it, Coffice, Spaces, House of Innovation, Ampla House, WeWork, Betacowork, Startbloc, SilverSquare…
Expense management solutions for local and international (mobility) expenses: Rydoo, XXImo, MobileXpense, N2F, Certify, SAP Concur, Travel Perk, Trippeo, SpenDesk, Splendid, Declaree, SRXP, Dicom, WebExpenses, Notilus, Expensify, ExpensePath, Abacus, ExpensePoint…
It will be interesting to see which of those companies will still be around in 10 years (i.e. which of the start-up have sufficient funding to bridge the long-time gap to profitability) and to which form they have evolved. Clearly regular pivoting will be required as this market is in full evolution.
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Supply Chain
Article | November 11, 2022
The complexity of today’s supply chain has resulted in a highly fragmented supply chain ecosystem. Whether it is a global pandemic or an ongoing war, streamlining the moving parts in the supply chain management system is an immense feat in the current climate. The resulting shortage of materials, disruption of transportation, and delays have complicated the supply chain even further. Add to it the expectation to minimize expenses, optimize inventory, and enable quality and customer expectations, and stakeholders at every level of the supply chain are inundated with challenges.
This is where using advanced analytics in supply chain can be a game changer for many manufacturers. It can help them gain a deeper insight into their operations and how the supply chain is moving.
How Supply Chain Analytics Enriches Supply Chain Management
A 360-degree view of the supply chain is crucial for supply chain leaders. A lack of insight can cause costly delays and avoidable disruptions. Obtaining complete visibility in supply chain management, on the other hand, can be difficult. The immense volume of data that many organizations have to deal with makes it difficult to gain proper insight.
Supply chain analytics tools help in gaining a better sense of the aggregated data from different parts of the supply chain, such as procurement, ERP in supply chain management, warehousing management, shipping and logistics management, and many more. The more accurate the data is, the simpler it is to use advanced supply chain management analytics to forecast, predict, and plan better in order to maximize the supply chain’s capabilities.
Optimizing the Supply Chain: 3 Ways to Do so with Analytics
With the range of analytics applications in supply chain in use today, manufacturers have the opportunity to completely transform how to view, manage and strategize. Here are five data analytics supply chain tools to consider in the pursuit of optimization.
Demand Forecasting
Inventory management is at the heart of supply chain optimization. Not calibrating the inventory stock based on demand and supply for bestselling products and those that don’t move fast can cause either an overstocking or understocking problem. Either way, forecasting the right balance is difficult to achieve, but data analytics can make it simpler. The lack of the right products in stock can heavily impact the bottom line. According to a survey by Logility, 36% of supply chain experts consider inventory optimization the primary reason for adopting analytics. An integrated mapping of retail sales, inventory levels, and the flow of goods will lead to accurate demand forecasting.
This data can empower organizations to:
Strategize sales promotions
Define product pricing
Maximize budgets
Predict accurate inventory levels
Inventory management has a cascading effect on the supply chain, and advanced demand forecasting has helped many organizations achieve an optimum level of inventory for the right products.
Predictive Warehousing Maintenance
Machine Learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been emerging technologies on the supply chain management landscape. By using a mix of these technologies, it is possible for manufacturers to deploy predictive maintenance in warehousing. Predictive maintenance is the process of assessing data generated from the past and in real-time to determine patterns and identify equipment failure and maintenance schedule before a breakdown occurs.
This helps manufacturers to:
Avoid heavy repair costs
Plan spare part supply
Slash downtime from equipment failure
Eliminate production delays
In addition to reducing production bottlenecks, predictive maintenance gives businesses the ability to manage their equipment and optimize their shelf-life.
Warehousing Efficiency
At the warehouse phase of the supply chain, analytics can help manage the supply chain in more than just one way. The warehouse workflow is just as crucial, as it facilitates a clear view of the condition of goods as well as the optimization of the warehouse space. In addition to warehouse space maximization, quality control is another challenge that warehousing management addresses.
Supply chain analytics can enhance warehousing efficiency by:
Ensuring the correct storage of goods based on their weight, fragility, and perishability
Aligning with resource management like equipment, vehicles
Identifying disruptions to storage before they occur
One of the advantages of supply chain analytics is getting a deep insight into the warehouse’s operation so manufacturers can identify gaps and take steps to make it more efficient.
Transportation Tracking
Real-time analytics of transportation and logistics is a crucial piece in the puzzle of supply chain management. For example, the data generated in relation to fuel consumption, weather conditions, and even traffic patterns can help organizations boost their logistics and carrier management.
It can help them to:
Schedule deliveries
Determine better routes
Evaluate current routes
Strategize their shipping schedule
To Wrap it Up
To put it simply, a deep insight into the supply chain, inventory management, and warehouse operations is a great way to ensure the supply chain is on track. Effective supply chain management software is an asset for an organization when it is able to leverage the insights and make well-informed strategies to further optimize the supply chain.
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