Next Institute holds 3rd Colombo Supply Chain Forum

The first copy of the supply chain magazine ‘Chain’ being presented to State Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne

The panel of experts and Deputy Minister addressing industry issues

Organised by the Next Institute of Supply Chain Management (NISCM) along with a host of industry sponsors, the third Colombo Supply Chain Forum (CSCF) themed ‘Capability building for 2020’ was held recently at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo.
The forum brought together a large number of industry leaders and personnel for two active days of debate, interaction, networking and thought leadership.
The keynote speaker at the opening ceremony was State Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne. 
Addressing the gathering he said, “Sri Lanka should be transformed to a maritime logistic hub that would bring an influx of investors open to international operations. Outlining a roadmap for success he touched on several areas of relevance for managing supply chains in the future.
He stated that our companies need to seek revenue growth through more efficient ways to sell into international markets and to improve supply chain performance through more accurate visibility and processors. This will entail in adopting new best practices, philosophies, methods and processes and managing information flows to make technology work in meeting the customers’ increasingly diverse requirements, whilst being agile, lean and by properly aligning and staffing the supply chain.
Elevating the staff members’ supply chain management skills and knowledge he said is a priority where top leadership should not only focus on strategy but also on transactional ability of their staff who need to attain strong communication and relationship management skills, both internally and externally and the ability to think strategically and focus on value creation. He added that establishing appropriate levels of control and minimizing risk was also an essential component to consider. Organisations need to integrate risk-mitigation methodologies into including and identifying all the risk elements, determining the probability of the risk event occurring and prioritizing risks for monitoring and prevention. Companies need to focus seriously on developing processors that will also reduce emissions. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion on the main theme of the forum. The panellists comprised of Kingfisher PLC Head of Operations Europe Suren Sonalingam, International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA) USA Asia CEO Ejazur Rahaman, Coats PLC UK Global Digital Director Hizmy Hassen along with Wickramaratne. The session was moderated by Next Campus Managing Director Dusty Alahakoon. 
Topics of discussion ranged from influential case studies and best practice discussions on how advanced technologies can create new levels of transparency, responsiveness and effectiveness in order to transform supply chain around customer needs. They also touched upon understanding big data and how digital supply networks are pushing supply chain management to new levels of efficiency. Featuring real-life examples of leadership and employee engagement on a global scale improving business performance via the supply chain, the industry experts shared experiences and success stories on leadership strategies, cultural excellence and talent development.
The NISCM also launched ‘Chain’, a quarterly magazine for supply chain professionals. This magazine is meant to be a repository of supply chain-related information, spanning from real-world business case studies to technical topics that have a direct or indirect impact on effective supply chain management. The first issue was handed over to Wickramaratne by Hassen, a key speaker at the forum.
Coupled with keynote speeches, corporate case studies and workshops, the next two days saw a host of exciting speakers tackling a range of relevant industry topics devoted to knowledge sharing and best practices. These comprised of achieving excellence in supply chains, the Triple A concept, sustainability in supply chain, demand planning, strategic sourcing, future of logistics, innovation as an enabler for supply chain efficiency, risk management in supply chain and outsourcing strategies for logistics and distribution. 
Alongside the foreign speakers, the session was facilitated by a team of industry experts that included John Keells Transportation Group President Romesh David, WILAT SL Chairperson Gayani De Alwis, Lankem Ceylon PLC Production and Logistics Director Rajeeve Goonatilake, Logiwiz (Pvt.) Ltd Director Chintaka De Zoysa and Innovation Quotient Founder Ahmed Irfan.