WSL FORUM is held periodically in odd-numbered years, alternating with the Polish Logistics Congress “Logistics,” organized by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing. Both events are international in nature. The Congress focuses on best practices in logistics, while the WSL FORUM discusses logistical problems in scientific research.
The conference is aimed primarily at representatives of the scientific community involved in broadly understood logistics, but also at practitioners interested in cooperating with research centers to find solutions to specific logistical problems. The program of this year’s meeting was divided into 14 thematic sections, including: transport, new technologies in logistics, supply chains, logistics strategies, inventory and warehousing, safety and risk, production logistics, enterprise logistics, city and port logistics, value and efficiency in logistics, and scientific research in logistics. The event was inaugurated by the Rector of the College of Logistics, Prof. Andrzej Korzeniowski. The host of the Conference expressed his satisfaction that this scientific meeting had taken on the character of an international forum, where the results of the latest research work are presented and new ideas and concepts are discussed in such an intensively developing field of knowledge as modern logistics.
The first speaker was Prof. Marek Ciesielski from the Poznań University of Economics and Business. In his presentation, he proved that supply chains are a type of economic network, although both terms are still defined differently in Poland. Next, Prof. Valery Sergeyevich Lukinsky from the St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics presented the stages of evolution of modern logistics cost models. In his lecture, he analyzed the interrelationships between TLC and EOQ models.
Prof. Bernd Hentschel spoke about the issue of “Green Logistics,” i.e., eco-friendly shaping of processes within logistics chains. The professor noted that in a situation of widespread globalization, no enterprise will avoid facing this challenge.
The importance of a logistics operator in shaping institutional customer service was presented by Prof. Jan Długosz from the College of Logistics. The speaker noted that logistics operators, thanks to creativity and the implementation of new technologies, not only expand the scope of their services but also undertake new functions, achieving new effects and performing new roles.
Prof. Halina Szulce explained to the Conference participants the importance of marketing activities in logistics companies. She drew attention to survey research which showed that companies in the TSL industry attach little importance to analyzing the effects of marketing activities, considering them of little use in everyday management pragmatics. She also warned that such a belief could in the future result in these companies losing their favorable market position.
Meanwhile, Dr. Barbara Pytko from the Gdynia Maritime University conducted an analysis of various aspects of threats occurring in the logistics process related to the handling of hazardous materials, mainly in containers, in the area of seaports.
The Conference was attended by professors from leading Polish and foreign educational centers in the field of logistics and transport, including: Prof. Danuta Kisperska-Moroń from the University of Economics in Katowice, Prof. Mariusz Jedliński from the University of Szczecin, Prof. Piotr Grudkowski from the Gdańsk University of Technology, Prof. Bernard Rzeczyński from the University of Security in Poznań, Dr. Andrzej Wojciechowski from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Prof. Bernd Hentschel from BERLINOXX, Dr. Frank Himpel from Hochschule Anhalt, Dipl.-Ing. Jülling Thorsten from Aircargo Berliner Flughäfen, Prof. Frank Himpel from Hochschule Anhalt, Prof. Herbert Sonntag from Technische Hochschule Wildau, as well as Prof. Valery Sergeyevich Lukinsky and Prof. Evgeny Konstantinovich Korovyakovsky from the St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics.
Media patronage over the Conference was provided by, among others: the “Logistyka” magazine and the logistyka.net.pl portal.
The co-organizers of the Conference were: the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing and the Polish Logistics Association.