With high levels of knowledge being exchanged at each of the four the packed conference theatres, and high levels of engagement across the exhibition floor, the event at Rotterdam Ahoy is attracting interest from businesses and individuals from across all aspects of the ports and terminals sector.
Among highlights of Day One of the three-day event, DP World’s Regional CIO and Head of IT – Europe, Que Tran, used the opening plenary conference session to discuss how the industry can work together to achieve a zero-emission supply chain. In particular, he pointed to initiatives that not only achieve a more sustainable status, but one which is optimised to the advantage of all. Whilst driven by automation and technology – including digitisation of hitherto manual or mechanical processes – Mr Tran believes that true sustainability can only be achieved by focusing on solutions that are at the same time smart and secure.
He took to the stage soon after Hanna Stelzel, Head of Port and Supply Chain Performance at Port of Rotterdam, who kicked off the discussion about sustainability by describing how a ‘green and digital corridor’ has been established between Rotterdam and Singapore as part of her organisations efforts to eliminate carbon not only from its local operations. “We are at the beginning of a long journey, and the future requires a lot of effort from all of us,” she said, before explaining that to become carbon-neutral we had to remain open to collaboration, show courage in taking bold decisions, and be curious about how technology can be embraced to also improve business performance.
The four theatres each focussed on specific areas – technology, business improvement, sustainability and digitisation – with visitors enjoying presentations encompassing market outlooks, innovative digital solutions, understanding automation, and energy transition across the supply chain. Of particular note was a presentation by Alex Duca, Head of Automation Engineering at Maersk, who discussed how the industry can accelerate towards greater efficiency by better adapting to current market conditions. He was joined on stage by Lamia Kerdjoudj, who as Secretary-General of Feport discussed how its resilient membership has – and is continuing to have – made great strides to remain optimised and competitive in a world where perma-crises now seem the norm.
With two more days of TOC Europe left to run, visitors to Rotterdam Ahoy on Wednesday can expect more deep dives into the key issues affecting the ports and terminals industry worldwide from a significant line-up of industry experts.
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