For two days, Poznań was filled with logistics enthusiasts – a field that brings together people who want to improve all the processes happening around us. Faster transport, lower costs, easier shopping or learning – this interests everyone, and today, with the use of the Internet, almost everything can be improved. For this reason, the theme of the Forum was “E-logistics strategies and global supply chain management”. The invitation from the College of Logistics and the Poznań University of Technology was accepted by ten universities from the furthest corners of the country and many companies.
The first day of the Young Logisticians Forum was opened by the Rector of the College of Logistics, Prof. Andrzej Korzeniowski. Participants had the opportunity to listen to interesting lectures. Dr. Marcin Kraska began by showing the possibilities of the electronic economy. Immediately after him, Dawid Doliński, MA, presented the NEDLOG program – “Modern Education for Logistics”. It turned out that learning via the Internet is already widely available. The College of Logistics, together with partners from many European countries, is finishing the development of a set of logistics courses that will be used in the education process. WSL students will soon be able to pass some subjects via the Internet.
Things really heated up when Zygmunt Kopacz, a student at the Poznań University of Technology, took the stage at the Forum. Presenting one of the most interesting papers on the application of electronic signatures, he transported the participants to a world where all documents can be signed and sent electronically. Invoices via the Internet, replacing PIN numbers with an individual chip card, online settlements with offices without queues – “achieving this is just a matter of time,” he said, while also noting certain difficulties. This opened a heated discussion, led by Wojciech Pelc from the Poznań City Hall, who did not believe in the imminent success of these innovations. It got intense in the beautiful auditorium of the IT Center of the Poznań University of Technology, because that is where the first day of the Forum took place.
After these emotions, the participants learned how to save time and money and gain easy access to data. Dominika Kufel and Tomasz Barczyk from InForum Business Intelligence presented an integrated business analytics system. Interesting logistics tools were also presented by representatives of the Process Improvement Club and representatives of the Icon Consulting company.
Natalia Edwarczyk and Hubert Tomala from the Poznań University of Technology presented “intelligent systems” that are used in supply chains. It turned out that they can also be used to search for information on the Internet. These systems are smarter than standard internet search engines. Thanks to them, we can instantly find, for example, websites about cars, and not all those that contain the word “car”.
When the participants’ heads were already full of optimistic logistics news, representatives of the Poznań City Hall presented logistics investments that have already been completed and will be implemented soon. The students were surprised by the fact that there is already a computer system that allows you to easily find, for example, individual graves at the Junikowo cemetery in Poznań.
However, man does not live by science alone. Representatives of the Promag company announced a competition for Forum participants, in which the main prize is a paid monthly internship at the company.
The second day of the Forum took place at the headquarters of the College of Logistics. Students learned many inventory management methods, including those that shift responsibility to “others”. An interesting feature was the presented management methods in which there is an exchange of data between competing companies. Practice shows that their application brings great benefits. However, entrepreneurs are skeptical about cooperating with their competition.
– The Young Logisticians Forum is undoubtedly a unique conference on a national scale, which we will continue annually. Students prove that they are hungry for logistics knowledge and are capable of handling the organization of such a large event – says Wojciech Zalewski, WSL press spokesperson.
Over 100 people participated in the Young Logisticians Forum conference. The Poznań University of Technology and the College of Logistics were visited by students from: the Maritime University of Szczecin, the Agricultural University of Szczecin, the University of Szczecin, the Technical University of Szczecin, the Cracow University of Technology, the Wrocław University of Technology, the Academy of Economics in Katowice, and the University of Bielsko-Biała. There were also representatives of companies supporting the organization of the forum – PROMAG S.A., Raben Group, InForum Business Intelligence, ICON Consulting Group, Odratrans, and the Logistics Education Center.