Green logistics and carbon foot-printing, along with the increasingly complex question of security in the supply chain will be central themes at next year's Multimodal 2008, a new conference event embracing the full range of freight, transport, logistics and supply chain management (SCM) sectors.
The event will take place over three days at Birmingham's NEC in the UK from 22nd to 24th April 2008 and be held alongside an Exhibition, which will help both service providers and product suppliers to the industry promote in the UK market. The first day of the Conference will be devoted to security in the logistics chain and the second will focus on green logistics. The third day will be devoted to collaborative initiatives in the logistics industry and will give shippers insight into current and future market conditions.
The programme for the Green Logistics element of the Conference on the second day has been announced. It consists of an unrivalled line-up of expert speakers from the academic and industrial spheres. Such a prestigious group of authorities in the logistics field has rarely been assembled; their qualifications to discuss the topics, so crucial to modern supply chain operation are irrefutable and their contribution to the debate will be significant.
The Conference programme is being designed and co-ordinated by Garry Mansell, of Trade Extensions, the on-line negotiation and procurement service company, which is also sponsoring the Conference. Mansell, who headed-up the shipping department of The Mars Group and has served as Chairman of both the European and British Shippers Councils, is the President of Trade Extensions. "We are aiming to present viewpoints on each topic from both the academic and industrial / governmental sectors in a series of short but meaty presentations", explains Mansell. "Green logistics is a highly topical and sometimes controversial subject, and I believe our speakers will provide some very stimulating insights in this field."
The Chairman for the day will be David Quarmby CBE, was previously Chair of the Strategic Rail Authority and of the Docklands Light Railway. He is a former Logistics Director and Joint Managing Director of Sainsbury's. The keynote address will be by James Hookham, Deputy Chief Executive of the Freight Transport Association
The crucial environmental question of how to measure the carbon footprint of supply chains will be addressed by two speakers, Ian Barnes of Boots plc and Professor Alan McKinnon, who is Professor of Logistics and Director of the Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University.
Professor McKinnon is one of the foremost authorities on supply chain management in the UK and the chief driver of the Green Logistics research initiative. This project, undertaken by a consortium of six UK universities with established centres of transport and logistics research excellence, is exploring the sustainability of logistics systems and supply chains. The initiative is in response to the UK Government's Sustainable Distribution strategy document. At Multimodal 2008, Professor McKinnon will be presenting the exciting initial findings of this group for the first time.
Mansell concludes, "Multimodal will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to hear up-to-theminute thinking on the crucial issue of environmental sustainability in our sector through the ground-breaking research of the Green Logistics Project. Delegates will also have a rare chance to share a forum with a wealth of freight shippers and transport planners such as Boots plc and Transport for London."
A number of speakers have been confirmed for the first and third days of the Conference and these elements of the Multimodal 2008 programme will be announced shortly.
The list of industry participants in Multimodal 2008, both exhibitors and sponsors is growing daily, and can be reviewed http://www.multimodal.org.uk/
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