The Scottish Conference, Exhibition and Dinner: 16 October 2002

The 2002 Scottish Conference, Exhibition was held on Wednesday 16 October 2002 at the Inchyra Grange Hotel near Falkirk and was the most successful event yet, with the exhibition being fully booked and delegates from all over Scotland attending the Conference.

The conference was opened by the Scottish Region Chairman, Simon Hindshaw, welcoming delegates and the Conference Chairman, Graham Miller, Senior Projects Manager, Scottish courage Ltd. then outlined the theme of the Conference in his Introduction and Conference Overview. The keynote address was given by Professor Alan Waller, the Chairman of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, who spoke on "Accelerating the Change - A Vision For Scotland".

The morning plenary session began with Mr. Jim Steer the Managing Director (Strategic Planning), Strategic Rail Authority speaking on "Delivering the New Vision for Rail" in which he outlined the difficulties over the last few years and highlighted the SRA's future vision for rail. He covered such topics as future investment, costs, fares policy and looked at the SRA's Route Map to 2004.

Following the coffee break that allowed delegates to view the exhibition, the conference split into two streams, one for those interested in Transport and the other for those in Logistics. Delegates attending the Transport Stream heard Alan Duff of the Babtie Group present a paper on the "Transport Delivery Report", followed by Sid Bulloch's presentation on the "Dundee Smartcard Project. The final paper in the morning session was given by Dr. Eduard Tulp of JourneyPlan on "10 Years of Travel information in the Netherlands".

Meanwhile, those on the Logistics Stream heard Colin Neill of Diageo present a paper on "Collaboration - Sharing the Benfits" followed by Dr. Robert Thomson of the Supply Chain Management Group talk on "Strategic Relationships & Location Decision Criteria. The final paper of the morning in this stream was given by Tony Brett, Head of Logistics, RMC Recruitment who presented a paper entitled "Promoting Logistics as a Career".

Following an excellent lunch, delegates again has an opportunity to view the exhibition and talk to the exhibitors who provided information on the latest products and equipment for transport and logistics. The afternoon sessions began with a plenary session addressed by Charles Gray, Unipart Group Sales and Marketing Director who spoke on "Customers as Partners in World Class Logistics". During his presentation he looked at partnerships and what it means for companies and their customers.

The Conference then split into the two Streams with the transport stream hearing from Lisa Buchanan, Principal Consultant, Steer Davies Gleave on "Encouraging Travel Behaviour Change" followed by David Leeder, Managing Director UK Bus, First UK Bus Division who spoke on "Transforming Travel - First's Programme of Culture Change". The logistics stream heard from Joe Thurley, Trade Development Manager, Sainsbury's plc who spoke on "Regional Sourcing, A Real Alternative?" and Jonathan Grimmett, Account Director, & David Innes, General Manager, TDG plc who spoke on "Automation in the Supply Chain Using Autostore - How TDG and Nestlé got it Together."

Both Streams of delegates then recombined for a stimulating Forum on "Making the Vision Reality" chaired by Graham Miller with Professor Waller, David Leeder, Charles Grey and Dr. Eduard Tulp who answered many questions from the floor. The conference was then closed by the chairman after a brief summary of the day's events.

In the evening the Annual Dinner was held and this was attended by record numbers. The after dinner speakers were Graham Ewer, Chief Executive of the Institute of Logistics and Transport and John McKelvie, the guest speaker.

The Scottish Region would like to thank all those who worked so hard to make the Conference a success, in particular the Conference Sub-committee, the Headquarters staff of the Institute, the various sponsors and speakers and finally, the staff at the Inchyra Grange Hotel who helped make the day a success.

Report by John Fender.