WORKSHOP 1 | Creating an Agile, Flexible and Effective Supply Chain in Today’s Uncertain World

Wednesday 29 May 2013 | 8:30am – 11:30am

In today’s competitive and increasingly volatile environment, companies leading the pack are those that are more responsive to their customers’ needs than their competitors: faster rates of innovation, bringing new products and services to the marketplace more quickly, and operating with shorter lead times and greater reliability. Effective supply chain management is recognised as having a significant impact on an organisation’s financial performance and the shareholder value of the business.

This workshop will examine the latest thinking in supply chain management, the development of responsive supply chain strategies, and how relevant concepts and tools can be applied within the organisational environment.

Topics covered include:

• Identifying a simple framework for developing the network and promoting network creation
• Developing techniques to successfully plan collaborative projects
• Analysing how to successfully ensure certainty of effective collaborations
• Creating awareness of the lean and agile supply chain concept and its objectives and benefits
• Playing an active role in delivering responsive supply chain strategies and how relevant concepts and tools can be applied within the organisational environment
• Understanding the value of investing in the capability to deal with risk/vulnerability and how this will impact on the success factors for the market or segment

Facilitator: Simon Coates, Director, Portland Group

Morning Tea will be served during session.

WORKSHOP 2 | Automating your distribution centre to reduce operational costs and provide faster, smarter and safer order picking

Wednesday 29 May 2013 | 11:45am – 2:45pm

Business today is facing what many are calling “The Universal Logistics Challenge”: using less inventory of more products, that are serviced more often and in smaller orders, to more delivery-points on a more regular basis…and by the way, do it faster and at a lower cost. Recent innovations in automation, which shall be presented during this workshop, are underpinning new solutions to this challenge. But it’s not just about the latest technologies – analysing warehouse layout and process flows for optimal performance can provide more immediate benefits specifically in areas such as:

• Order processing time
• Picking and order accuracy
• Storage configurations
• Safety and ergonomics

This workshop will also focus on navigating the complex distribution decision-making process:

• What are the right questions to ask?
• What are the fundamentals of Distribution Centre design?
• How does one sort out the myriad of options available?
• Evaluating the potential business gains against the cost to implement.

Facilitator: Pas Tomasiello, Group Sales Manager Integrated Systems, Dematic

Lunch will be served during session.

WORKSHOP 3 | Planning, Co-ordinating and Executing a Big Scale Program 

Wednesday 29 May 2013 | 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Product launches and peak retail seasons are a litmus test that will reveal the strengths – and more importantly, the weaknesses – of your supply chain and logistics processes and systems. Unprecedented demand volatility, increasing customer requirements and longer lead times place more importance on deciphering demand signals and respond accordingly. Learn how to construct a robust plan, ensure co-ordination and clockwork execution.

• Integrating Planning Processes
• Improving Forecast Accuracy
• Defining Planning Horizons
• Developing People and Right Behaviours
• Managing Performance
• Deploying process, data and tools to enable end to end business planning and execution

Facilitated by:
Anisa Makalic, Head of Supply Chain Development, Tip Top Australia & New Zealand
Nhung Mason, Senior Manager Retail Supply Chain, Accenture

Afternoon Tea will be served during session.