Supply chain professionals, business owners, solution providers, government representatives and associations from the Food & Beverage, Healthcare, Rail, Retail and Transport & Logistics industries gathered for GS1 Australia’s Supply Chain Week 2017 (SCW 2017).
Now in its 6th year, close to 900 people registered to attend the event across two weeks from Tuesday 5th September through to Thursday 14th September 2017 in both Melbourne and Sydney.
The event delivered an interactive learning experience for supply chain professionals and business owners to explore the role GS1 standards can play to drive business efficiencies and reduce costs while meeting today’s supply chain challenges.
Marcel Sieira, Head of Customer Engagement & Business Development at GS1 Australia said, “This year’s program showcased a fantastic opportunity for industries to come together to shape supply chain solutions and understand the benefits of continuing to implement GS1 standards in the digital landscape of today.”
The event kicked off in Sydney and continued in Melbourne where delegates heard valuable insights across different industries from high profile speakers from the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC), Coles, Johnson & Johnson, ACT Health, Australian Logistics Council, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade APEC Branch, Liberty OneSteel, Australasian Railway Association (ARA), Telstra, Google, Alibaba Group, Myer, Woolworths and many others.
“It was one of the best conferences I’ve been to and should be on the radar for every Supply Chain Manager who is leading their company into the brave new digital future”, said Dr Laurie Bonney, Associate Professor of Value Chain Innovation, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania.
The Transport & Logistics Day addressed delegates about the need for end-to-end visibility in the supply chain, blockchain and GS1 EPCIS, the latest industry response to the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, supply chain improvements in the AP region, and a glimpse into the future technology in the supply chain.
Focus on transforming healthcare through value chain improvements using digital technology to enable traceability, efficiency and better patient care were key agenda items for the Healthcare Day while the Retail Day was geared towards the importance of inventory visibility for true, end-to-end omni-channel effectiveness.
The Food & Beverage Day delivered the latest insights about food safety and brand protection regarding product recall and anti-counterfeiting, and how the GS1 system can enable the delivery of real-time information to consumers to support their highly mobile, digital lifestyles.
The Rail Day provided the platform for industry experts to come together to share insights about the call to action to adopt GS1 standards for the identification and marking (barcoding and/or tagging) of parts and components to reduce costs, improve safety and reliability.
Delegates also had the opportunity to network with sponsors of the event including Stibo Systems, MessageXchange, SICK, Checkpoint, DSI, Pacific Commerce and Matthews.
“We are really pleased with the attendance level at this year’s event which is testament to the commitment of GS1 Australia members to keep informed about the latest initiatives and developments pertaining to GS1 standards and services,” said Richard Jones, Head of Marketing & Training Solutions at GS1 Australia.