The ALSC Europe 2024 Day 1 wrap-up offers a vibrant glimpse into the kickoff of the Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Europe conference in Bonn, Germany. Panels and workshops took place around the event’s central theme; exploring avenues across digitalisation, speed to market, cost efficiency, and sustainability.
As the sun set on the picturesque city of Bonn, the first day of the Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Europe 2024 conference drew to a close, leaving behind a trail of inspiration, innovation, and insightful conversations. This gathering of the brightest minds in the automotive logistics and supply chain industry explored this year’s theme, “Logistics as a Competitive Advantage.” Through a series of engaging discussions, networking sessions, and a captivating cocktail reception, the day was a testament to the power of collaboration and forward-thinking in shaping the future of mobility. Join us as we take a visual journey through the highlights and memorable moments of ALSC Europe 2024’s first day.
Day 1 kicked off with a panel discussion with leaders from top manufacturers about how they have used supply chain and logistics management to navigate disruptions. Bronder said that quickly getting familiar with critical situations and tackling them with calmness and precision is what is important to the company now.
”We had the benefit of having a big fleet…the situation is going to normalise over the next couple years, the challenge we now have is collectively not pushing this into another destructive cycle,” Enger mentioned.
In the second panel, the discussion centered around accelerating digital, automated, greener supply chains. “If you look at system landscapes, you see that they are composed of many systems. Interoperability then, is completely your responsibility, and this introduces brittleness and latency,” said Werner.
Sabine Isenbort, Iza Kalinkska, and Sónia Santos spoke at our first Empowering Women event at ALSC Europe and shared their personal and professional journeys in the automotive logistics sector to a room full of women and students. Kalinska from JLR highlighted the importance of taking chances: “If you are being pushed out of your comfort zone, you grow. As a leader, it’s important to create that pyschological space and provide a platform for the person to show what they are capable of.”
Following the panel, Automotive Logistics’ assistant editor Megan Kelly sat with Sabine Isenbort, Iza Kalinkska, and Sónia Santos for a Red Sofa interview to further talk about how women can shape the automotive sector and the shift in diversity. Stay tuned for the full interview on our website.
FOR MORE COVERAGE ON WOMEN IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN, CLICK HERE.
Hundreds of key experts converge to share insights, experiences, and forge valuable relationships during these critical and challenging times for the automotive logistics and supply chain community.
The theme, ’Logistics as a Competitive Advantage’ wasn’t just a topic of discussion; it was a call to arms, challenging attendees to rethink and innovate in areas like digitalisation, efficiency, and sustainability.
The adoption of digital technology has accelerated in the last five years to manage complexity, provide greater visibility and drive sustainable change. Four leading providers of that technology explained some of their most recent developments, including Alps Alpine, FedEx, FreightVerify and s2 data & algorithms at our Innovation Power Hour.
Priority Freight hosted the delegates for the first of their delicious networking lunches, where our over 400 delegates discussed latest trends in digitalisation, efficiency, and sustainability.
Following lunch, Automotive Logistics’ Richard Logan sat with some of the top officials from OEMs and providers to talk about supply chain stability. Martina Graser, director of material planning and logistics (MP&L) at Ford Europe, said “shipping was one of our major concerns right from the beginning [and] it is no secret that we were one of the first OEMs to charter vessels to secure the capacity where we required it.”
In this session, Étienne Jacob and Levent Yuksel spoke about the ‘win win’ opportunities available by collaborating in the supply chain. ”It’s an ecosystem, and we know the sustainability solution is not coming from one single part in the supply chain, it’s a global understanding and a global effort. We see that we have flows in the same region of the world [with JLR] and can work together to find a win win,” Jacob said.
In the final session of the first day, Jean-Marc Carlicchi spoke about planning a resilient supply chain and seeing the big picture, particularly after a few years of crisis for the industry. “’Never normal’ is the new normal, and this is something we have to live with,” he said. ”Knowing this, and adding that we still have to do global decarbonisation, we need to have more customer flexibility and stable industrial planning.”
Day 1 ended with a boat ride and gala dinner along the Rhine river where delegates enjoyed food, drinks and live music.
Stay tuned for more pictures, blog post articles, and videos from Bonn for day 2!
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