The 16th ECSLA Cold Chain Logistics Conference & Trade Show will take place in Bruges/Belgium on February 25-27, 2013. Under the heading “The human factor in the cold store and distribution operation” the program is expected to bring together some 150 delegates from 20 European countries.
It is often said that “people” are the number one asset of a company. This is especially true in the cold storage and logistics industry, because it is very labour intensive. Surveys prove that labour costs can be 60% of the total operational costs, so a good reason to analyze the human factor in order to strengthen this core asset.
Can automation help the industry and how to balance the use of workers with the implementation of automation? Will it still be possible to attract skilled workers 5 or 10 years from now? How to keep workers motivated? And what is the role of the manager?
This latter topic will be addressed by Prof. Dr. Ir. Rene de Koster of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). According to him, managers definitely make a difference and the influence of for instance the operational managers on the performance of the cold store, warehouse or distribution center is not always sufficiently recognized. De Koster will share research results and make suggestions on how leadership can contribute to a better performance.
Relevant issues for the industry
During the conference there is also much attention for trends and developments that impact the industry. One such trend is e-logistics in the food sector. Steven Op de Beeck, Director Transport and External Warehouses with Delhaize Group (Belgium), will discuss how e-commerce of food products is expected to develop and the typical challenges for (particularly chilled and frozen) food. He will explain the Delhaize point of view and strategy, their logistic solutions and how professional 3PL warehouses and distribution companies can benefit from the trend.
This conference will offer suggestions, ideas and concrete answers at both the strategic and operational level and is a unique meeting place for the European cold storage industry. The event is organized in close cooperation with the Belgian cold storage association BVBVK-UPBIF and features plenary sessions, round table meetings, workshops and a trade show, nicely mixed with formal and informal social events.
More information is available via www.ecsla.eu
Record number of participants at Chillventa 2012
Chillventa 2012 ended after three successful days with a record number of 9151 companies from 43 countries, 28.4621 trade visitors and 200 congress participants. From 9–11 October, Nürnberg was the hub of the international refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump community for the third time. Chillventa Congressing started as usual the day before the exhibition with top speakers from all over the world and a first-class conference programme. The new Chairman of the Exhibition Committee was elected as scheduled on the third day of the exhibition.
“We are very satisfied with Chillventa 2012 and Chillventa Congressing 2012. The initial feedback from our exhibitors during the event was very good. They praised the high level of professional expertise and the quality of the visitors. The response of the visitors was just as positive. The new opening days of Tuesday to Thursday were well accepted,” says Richard Krowoza, Member of the Management Board of NürnbergMesse.
The excellent mood in the exhibition halls in 2012 could literally be felt. Thomas E. Watson, President of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), summed up Chillventa 2012 aptly: “You feel the positive energy in the exhibition halls.” This was not only reflected in the halls and on the stands, but was also noticeable in the key figures and internationality of the exhibition.
High degree of internationality
The high degree of internationality among the exhibitors and visitors in 2012 impressively confirms the importance of the event for the global refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump industry. So Chillventa more than lives up to its role as most important refrigeration exhibition with air conditioning and heat pumps.
The exhibiting companies came from 43 countries, which equates to an international share of 65 per cent. The main countries were Italy, China, Great Britain, Turkey, France, the USA and Spain. China, the USA, Turkey and Thailand presented an additional compact display of their products and services in their country pavilions.
56 per cent of the 28,462 visitors came from abroad. This is also an excellent figure, which is another rise over the previous event. “We felt we had significantly more international visitors on our stand this year than in the previous years. The internationality and quality of the visitors were very high and have noticeably increased again. Chillventa 2012 was a complete success for Danfoss and we’ll certainly be back again in 2014,” says Christine Bannert, Marketing Projects Manager, Global Marketing, Danfoss Refrigeration. This is also convincingly confirmed by the exhibitor survey: more than 88 per cent rated the professional expertise and qualifications of the visitors positively. Gert Kehle, General Manager of Ilkazell, emphasizes this again: “The international share of visitors has grown and the mood at the exhibition is very good. The professional expertise of the visitors was very high, which we are very pleased about. We thought the Cleanroom Forum in hall 1 attracted a good response.”
Very positive exhibitor feedback
Chillventa has established itself as leading exhibition. A majority of the exhibiting companies used the exhibition as a platform to present their new products to the sector. More than 83 per cent of the exhibitors presented innovative new products or improvements to the experts. Nine out of ten exhibitors confirmed during the exhibition that they will exhibit again in 2014. Klaus Stojentin, Managing Director, GEA Group: “We are extremely satisfied with Chillventa 2012. You can say the exhibition has been more than successful. We note definite growth in the number of international contacts and will certainly exhibit at Chillventa again in 2014.”
The reasons for this positive feedback are, for example: 92 per cent of the exhibitors made new business contacts at the exhibition and some 95 per cent of them reached their major target groups. Nine out of ten companies are very satisfied or satisfied with the number of visitors at Chillventa 2012. Gunther Gamst, Managing Director, Daikin Germany, sums up as follows: “A super exhibition! Chillventa was more international again in 2012; this means we as a purely German sales organization will involve our European company more heavily at Chillventa 2014. The visitors came to our stand with very firm questions and specific interest. We will certainly be there again in 2014, but with an even larger stand.” More than 90 per cent of the companies taking part in Chillventa rated the new opening days of the exhibition favourably.