Over 9000 visitors attended the show, with a third coming from the shipping, retail and manufacturing sectors
The next generation of logistics leaders took to the stage to discuss the industry’s potential to attract and retain new talent in the industry, on the last day of Multimodal 2019.
The panel talked about how the recruiters in the industry should do more to take advantage of the potential for people outside the industry to become specialists.
Speaking on the panel of her experience joining the industry, Jenny Karim, Supply Planner, Tarmac Cement and Lime said: “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do in the supply chain because the logistics industry is so broad, people don’t understand there is a wealth of opportunity, and I am still learning.”
More than 60 speakers took part in the seminar programme that covered topics from Brexit and Blockchain, to battling food waste.
Over 9000 visitors attended the show which took place at the Birmingham NEC, from 16-18 June 2019.
“Multimodal 2019 was the ideal space for building networks and growing businesses, with shippers, retailers, and manufacturers making up a third of visitors, and exhibitors are already signing up to Multimodal 2020,” said Rob Jervis, Logistics Portfolio Director, Clarion Events.
“I would like to thank all our speakers who came from a range of backgrounds, both inside and outside logistics, for sparking debate and providing insights into the biggest issues affecting the industry today.”
The Multimodal Awards on the first night of the show was hosted by Steve Davis, snooker legend and 680 guests attended the event.
As part of the awards ceremony, a charity auction for the naming rights of an Eddie Stobart Scania tractor unit was held, raising £1,750 for the transport charity, Transaid.
Overview of the discussions at Multimodal 2019
Terminals more efficient from automation
Digitalisation is driving up terminal efficiency, the Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Network Express (ONE), Jeremy Nixon, has told an audience on the first day of Multimodal 2019.
Speaking at an event centred around the power of disruption at the supply chain solutions event on day one of the show, Mr Nixon said he tends to feel that digitalisation is “more of an evolutionary way of developing things”.
“I think we’re seeing a lot of potentially-positive developments coming out of it,” he commented during the session, which additionally featured Transport Intelligence Chief Executive John Manners Bell and Cargo iQ Executive Director Ariaen Zimmerman as speakers.
As regards specific new technologies, Mr Nixon remarked that although drones receive a lot of bad press, they are already being deployed to get to difficult-to-access parts of a ship.
As for blockchain, Nixon said that he “genuinely [believes]” it is coming to the world trading sphere.
Under the technology’s realm, every relevant stakeholder can be part of the same network environment, he noted, though he did acknowledge that much still remains to be done with this new digital development.
According to a presentation delivered by Mr Nixon during the session, digital transformation offers better inventory control, contribution to digital supply chain management and increased visibility as customer advantages, while operational improvements are service quality, cost-saving and work efficiency.
Areas of potential application for digital technologies include drones; robotics and process automation; and analytics and artificial intelligence.
Exploring the question of the implications for logistics operators of an industry automation route (at large), Mr Manners Bell said: “It is interesting what that future will look like,” adding that he believes that in the next decade, there will be “transformation”.
Meanwhile, the Internet of Things was a topic discussed by Mr Zimmerman, during the session.
Blockchain lauded at supply chain exhibition
A mere estimated 0.4 per cent of the logistics sector uses blockchain — and yet the technology’s potential is huge, if the thoughts of a panel of experts on the second day of Multimodal 2019 are anything to go by.
During a session questioning whether blockchain in the supply chain constitutes a disruptor or the new normal at the supply chain event in Birmingham in the UK, the panel talked up the system, as well as the opportunities it offers.
Panel contributor Lars Kastrup, who serves as Global Head of Products for Maersk’s blockchain platform TradeLens, said that blockchain will constitute a new way for different governments to communicate.
Discussing TradeLens, he said its mission was digitisation of the supply chain.
“Global trade is highly inefficient and burdened by paper-based processes,” his presentation during the session argued.
There was similar sentiment from Rene Bruijne, General Manager of Digital Consignment note firm TransFollow, who likened how data is currently being handled to the game Chinese whispers.
According to his slides, data-sharing “removes the Chinese data whisper”.
The manager believed the planet is heading towards a world of platforms, with the digital consignment note the “backbone”.
Meanwhile, Mike Holdsworth, Transportation Sector Development Director for satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat, talked about the amount of “nonsense” in existence concerning the ledger technology. Blockchain, he argued, allows for the exact location of damage.
Panel chair Daniel MacGregor, the co-founder of digitised supply chain-enabler Nexxiot AG, felt that what blockchain does is “intrinsically valuable for business”. He noted the rapid pace of global change and argued that the economy is moving towards an outcome-based model.
Environmental advantage of blockchain was another topic discussed over the course of the event. The panel also looked at how personnel can be brought on board with regard to the development.
Calls for enhanced visibility for food waste improvement
Panellists have called for greater visibility in the cool chain when it comes to curbing food waste during a session on the second day of Multimodal 2019.
In the cool chain panel on food waste at the Birmingham event, hunger and food waste charity FareShare’s food head, Jo Dyson, said she thought that the most effective means of decreasing the amount of food waste is “to improve visibility and communication end to end so that people can see where the inefficiencies are occurring and then work to overcome the barriers”.
Agreeing with the FareShare boss, Shane Brennan, the chief executive of the Food Storage & Distribution Federation, said: “It’s about actually understanding and recognising where … inefficiencies are [getting inside] the system and [being] able as companies to provide that visibility”.
Ms Dyson also claimed: “I think there’s much, much more to do, but I think with technology, we’re seeing better visibility and more collaboration.”
While the session was underway, Chair Alex von Stempel described supply chain waste as “one of the biggest problems that we are all facing”, while Ms Dyson said that it is “a function of inefficiency in our supply chain”.
David Woodall, Head of Air Freight Sales at Kerry Logistics, talked about the responsibility for improving food waste in air freight and drew on seafood during the session.
However, responsibility outside of the supply chain for food waste-reduction was also discussed during the panel. In the UK alone, about 8m tonnes of food is wasted after the manufacturing stage. It is estimated that 60 per cent of this could have been avoided, and this has a value per year of around £16bn.
Multimodal 2020 marks the 13th edition of the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland’s premier freight, transport, logistics, and supply chain management event. Multimodal 2019 was attended by over 9,000 visitors, a third of whom were from the retail, manufacturing and shipping sectors.
