A group of senior Logistics Experts convened the IAC Conference at the Marriott in Sunderland opposite the promenade pictured top. There were 2 days of panels providing presentations followed by discussions Chaired by leading figures in Logistics Networking. This article is intended to provide insights into the major issues effecting logistics in the first world. In particular, the salient points were covered in the last panel chaired on the first day by Maxine Elkin from Automotive Logistics magazine. The first to the podium on the panel about the future of automotive logistics was Paul Dyer Director of automotive logistics, DHL Exel Supply Chain. Paul identified three areas that successful logistics companies must address to remain competitive into the next decade and beyond. Firstly Paul identified the Environment as the key issue. Changes in the legislation on the industry will drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Paul’s route plan to achieving this involves implementing standards that will introduce a minimum in terms of service regarding spare capacity. The carbon footprint of his business, DHL Exel Supply Chain, will drastically reduce through a combination of these minimum standards and new technology. In terms of new technology Paul Dyer introduced two recently implemented solutions as examples of CO2 reducing technology. The first is DHL’s trial of the Smith’s all electric van and the intake of new vehicles with a tear shape profile. The tear shape is a profile on the roof of the vehicle that provides both enhanced capacity and aerodynamic

 performance. To date DHL, through the use of these technologies, have eliminated two million truck miles with a concomitant reduction of nine thousand tonnes of CO2. Interestingly, DHL were the only presentation to put an exact figure on their CO2 reduction, whilst the others extolled the virtues of reducing emissions.

The remaining two parts to Paul Dyer’s route plan involved collaboration and partnerships. He envisages that the industry will  develop through collaborations between car makers and logistics networks. These collaborations should function across industries to better utilize capacity by serving multiple clients simultaneously for example in the aerospace as well as the automotive industries. The next presentation was by Jonty Cook, responsible for Jaguar and Land Rover Logistics. His review of the current state highlights the lack of logistics integration between companies and internally within them. Another major issue is the lack of synergy between the new car logistics market and the cycles of the retail industry. New car launches are shrouded in secrecy making logistics planning difficult to fit in with established retail cycles such as the Christmas rush. Jonty also gave examples of incompatible developments in logistics technology in the form of passive and active Radio Frequency Identification RFiD – a new technology that enables the wireless communication of stock parts, quantities and other critical parameters. Active