To mark four decades of bringing supply chain professionals from around the world together to network and share knowledge in supply chain management, SAPICS says that its 40th annual conference in June will be a milestone event.
In addition to an exceptional line up of presenters, the leading supply chain association has announced that delegates will stand a chance to win a car. Mmmmm! Why not a truck asks FleetWatch?
“In honour of the conference’s anniversary and to celebrate 40 years of promoting supply chain excellence and professionalism, long-time supporter of SAPICS and conference Gold Sponsor, Imperial Logistics is generously offering 2018 delegates the opportunity to enter a competition to win a Renault Kwid,” says SAPICS president Mungo Park.
“This year’s conference will, as usual, be packed with inspiring ideas, networking opportunities and world class presentations,” he says. “The 2017 event attracted 850 delegates and we are aiming to grow this number in 2018. This year’s exhibition will feature more than 30 exhibitors showcasing the industry’s latest products and technologies.
The eminent and sought-after local and international speakers that SAPICS has lined up for 2018 include business leaders, entrepreneurs, authors, technology and logistics specialists, to name a few. They will share success stories from Africa and around the world, as well as lessons learnt, best practice and cutting-edge technologies and trends.
Topics on the agenda include humanitarian logistics, Demand Driven Materials Requirement Planning (DDMRP), public healthcare logistics and corruption in supply chain management. Technology gurus will address the latest developments around blockchain in supply chains, digital logistics and the internet of supply chains.
Netherlands-based Arjeh van Oijen is recognised as a global expert in blockchain. In his SAPICS Conference presentation, he will address the key aspects of blockchain technology, the value of blockchain for supply chains and considerations for implementing and applying blockchain technology.
“Dealing with corruption in business when the rules just don’t seem to work” is the title of the presentation by Rob Reiche, director of Inclusivity Human Capital Services.
Speakers Thomas Gaal and Lars Magnusson will discuss how the Internet of Things is immersing supply chains, with emerging digital technologies such as semantic web, linked data and blockchain offering better, faster, and cheaper data exchange than legacy technologies like EDI. Gaal leads supply chain innovation and the digitalisation office at Radio Frequency Systems in Germany.
Presenter Brad Anderson is a distribution specialist with Fortna in the USA, and he will urge SAPICS delegates to rethink their business cases in view of today’s lower labour rates, the rise of ecommerce and rising transportation costs. His SAPICS presentation will cover the huge advances in technology, lower costs, and the opportunity to use automation to drive additional revenue and competitive advantage.
Leading social media law expert Emma Sadleir, who specialises in educating and advising individuals and business on the reputational risks of social media, is also on the speaker line-up for this year’s SAPICS Conference.
SAPICS 2018 will be held at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town. For further information, or to register for the 2018 SAPICS Conference, call 011 023 6701 or email info@sapics.org.za. Up-to the-minute information is also posted on the SAPICS conference website: https://conference.sapics.org