Over 150 people participated in the 5th Logistics Practitioners Forum, which took place in Włocławek on the last weekend of May. This time, logistics managers discussed their strategies for building innovative supply chains.
According to Dr. Aleksandra Laskowska-Rutkowska from the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), about 1/3 of companies in Poland use integrated supply chain management strategies. However, the challenges of the modern world will force managers to additionally incorporate ecological aspects into these strategies. Innovative supply chains are about considering the entire process, not just individual elements. Andrzej Zawistowski, an expert in the field of procurement, convinced everyone that the best practice in logistics is good craftsmanship, and the uniqueness of a logistician defines innovation. Paweł Trębicki, director of Euro Pegaz Logistyka, encouraged those present to use crowdsourcing as the best source of innovation. Either way, we are doomed to live in the shadow of Frankenstein, that is, in the era of IT systems and networks, which is why it may soon happen that out of every zloty spent on IT technologies, only 30 percent will be spent on maintenance (currently 70 percent), argued Piotr Zacharek from HP Polska. However, the most revolutionary in his opinions was Kris Pauwels, Vice President of Development at ProLogis Poland, who stated that the best warehouse for a logistician is the lack of one. According to ProLogis, it will take three years to rent out all the empty warehouses in Poland. Because, as Piotr Polak, a logistics expert, argued, times force us not to talk about company profitability, but rather to consider how to increase the customer’s profitability. Great interest among the forum participants was aroused by the lecture of Prof. Piotr Płoszajski from SGH on the civilization of internet networks and their impact on the development of companies, pointing out that this is where the “jam” (the best opportunities) will be found tomorrow. At the same time, Prof. Płoszajski encouraged not to abandon the garage civilization, as it is from there that the world’s greatest brands originate.