SITL Logistics Solutions 2013 to highlight supply chain collaboration

SITL Logistics Solutions will bring together transport and logistics specialists from 26 to 28 March 2013 in Paris Nord Villepinte, near Paris (France). The trade show’s theme will be Working together to win over the markets of today, with conferences and award ceremonies focusing on a range of themes including real estate, the maritime industry, rail freight and innovation.

Alain Bagnaud is the Managing Director of the Transport, Tourism & Communication Division at Reed Expositions France, which organises SITL Logistics Solutions. Alain Bagnaud explains, "The current, complex economic, social and environmental transformations require new approaches and solutions within logistics organisations. The changes encourage collaboration between the links in the logistics chain in order to optimise both competitiveness and operational flexibility."

SITL Logistics Solutions 2013, the trade show for the transport and logistics industry, will take place in Hall 3 of the Parc des Expositions centre in Paris Nord Villepinte, north of the French capital, from 26 to 28 March 2013. The trade fair’s theme will be Working together to win over the markets of today.

This theme reflects the convergence of interest between the various supply-chain players, including manufacturers, retailers, transport-and-logistics providers, local communities and public-sector bodies. The strong representation of such players at the 30^th SITL Logistics Solutions confirms the event’s position as a unifying force within the sector.

The Industrial & Logistics Real Estate Show and the Maritime Days will both be new additions to SITL. The Industrial & Logistics Real Estate Show will present a conference programme completely focused on industrial property. Maritime Days is made up of a set of conferences focused on the maritime industry.

Alain Bagnaud explains, "Conceived along the same principles as the European Rail Freight Days, Maritime Days aims to encourage dialogue between shippers and the maritime world, defining expectations for, trends in, and benefits of maritime transport. This new event has been created with the help of Eurogroup Consulting, in partnership with the AUTF [Association des Utilisateurs de Transport de Fret, i.e. the French Association for Freight-Transport Users] and the French Maritime Cluster of Excellence.”

For the first time, representatives of the International Logistics Expertise Centre (ILEC) and Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), which are both well known for initiatives in the field of shared services and collaboration, will take part in SITL’s debates.

During SITL 2013, various studies and their conclusions will be unveiled: Eurogroup Consulting will present its 2013 Barometer during the European Rail Freight Days conferences, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will exclusively reveal the results of its Global Supply Chain Trends 2013 annual study.

For several years, PwC has also been involved in SITL’s International Transport Logistics Forum. The Forum’s subjects for 2013 have been chosen with the assistance of a dozen supply-chain, transport-and-logistics directors from the manufacturing industry and the retail sector, together with representatives of other professional organisations and associations.

The Innovation Awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 26 March at the end of SITL’s inaugural conference and will be followed by a cocktail party. There will be five innovation prizes awarded to SITL exhibitors. Additionally, there will be an award for an exhibitor from Eco Transport & Logistics, the exhibition for environmental technologies in transport and logistics, and two awards for Intralogistics Paris, the new trade show for handling equipment in manufacturing and distribution.

Based on previous years’ success, the E-commerce & Cross-Channel, Security-Safety, and Forecasting-Planning Pavilions will now be at the heart of SITL. The SME Club will also play a central part: as requested by manufacturers and distributors, it will group together SMEs and very small businesses in transport and logistics together with the sector’s leaders and transport groups.

Additionally, SITL 2013 will provide spaces dedicated to Transport & Logistics Services, Logistics Sites and Information Technologies & Systems, offering information on all these topics.

SITL 2013 will take place in conjunction with the first Intralogistics Paris trade event as well as Eco Transport & Logistics, together with the RFID Show, a trade fair of reference for radio-frequency identification. SITL 2013 will, therefore, offer a comprehensive range of events in transport, logistics and handling.

“SITL 2013 is a joint organisation responding to the proximity and convergence between handling and logistics, which can be seen not only in France but in Europe and globally, in the USA, or indeed in emerging markets such as Brazil, India and Mexico,” explains Alain Bagnaud.