Welcome Address

On behalf of the SCLAA, I warmly welcome you all to the Australian Supply Chain & Logistics Awards (ASCLA), an event which has emerged as one of the most important occasions for the Supply Chain & Logistics Industry. We are delighted to be able to celebrate the highest of achievements and innovation in the industry.

For those of you that attended last year, I did say were gonna need a bigger boat, so we got one. The last time we held this event in Sydney was 2019, which seems so long ago. There are over 470 in this room tonight, from all sectors of Supply Chain & Logistics-Ports, because most of our freight starts and ends on a ship, road transport, rail freight transport, freight forwarders, importers and exporters,

The crisis faced by our industry was so widespread that we even managed to get the attention of main stream media, we were declared an essential service (who would have thought) and are all essential workers!!

But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention and the results of working under crisis, was innovation. The acceleration of technological solutions being embraced by industry led us to acknowledge and introduce the relatively new awards of Big Data, IT and Business Intelligence award and Robotics, Automation and Emerging Technology.

In the last few years, another focus was Resilience - it became a catch cry not only within our industry but globally. Risk mitigation was, and continues to be, at the forefront of decision making. The quick shift from Just in time to Just in case inventory managemnet, diversifying suppliers, customers, innovating new ways to manage the supply and movement of goods.

So where are we now? I get asked a lot- what is the industry outlook, what are the industry issues, what is or should be the industry’s focus?

Innovation: We are all in the same boat all going through the same pain currently with increased inflation due to increased costs. Cost management will be a key focus as distributors and retailers volumes are expected to fall further with reduced consumer spending.

What happens with low margins, high operating costs amid intense competition? Innovation. The key to success will be to do different. And to do that businesses need critical data to assist with decision making. Cash is no longer king, Data is.

Where you can combine Data with AI, the results are critical predictive data. This is your crystal ball that leads to practical applications.

But Innovation is a doing word-companies need to embed it into every day processes. Innovation needs to become a constant in your business, not a leap.

Another key focus of the industry is … Human Capital: People are and always have been, any companies largest off balance sheet asset.

There is a People shortage crisis-The retention and attraction of people to our industry remains critical. We not only need to increase the current workforce across all sectors, but we also need to attract a new workforce with the technical skills to manage the new technology.

Disruption is the new normal: I was reading an article that stated our industry can expect annual large disruptive events. This has certainly been the case in recent timesgeopolitical turmoil is causing ongoing disruptions in supply chain, a ship stuck in the Suez canal, natural disasters as well as man made ones. Disruption is not always a negative as it leads to opportunities for growth, out of the box thinking and of course, innovation..

And, lastly, but certainly not least, Corporate Social Responsibility. (CSR) -environmental sustainability, ethical practices, responsible economic activity, decarbonisation & emission reduction. This is at the forefront of governments, businesses and consumers minds.

The Federal Government’s most recent budget provided more than $4.5 billion in climate-related spending. This includes $20.9 million over five years to decarbonise transport and infrastructure.

The freight transport sector currently contributes to 46 per cent of emissions nationally, and transporting people and goods around Australia is predicted to be country’s largest source of emissions by 2030.

Earlier this year, the Australian government confirmed its intention to introduce climate reporting obligations to introduce climate reporting obligations for large Australian Corporations- from July 2024.

If you think this just applies to the big carbon emission produces-think again.

The reporting is expected to phased in with entities >100 employees, >$50 million revenue or $25 million in assets required to report from 2027.

But its not just government, the pressure is also coming from consumers, who are researching and being more selective with where they spend their money.

Its Associations such as the SCLAA that can assist industry with information on mitigating these challenges and at the forefront of promoting innovation.

About the SCLAA: We are Australia’s largest association for Supply Chain Professionals.

We are also the largest cross sector association in the industry and here tonight, we have the largest cross sector gathering in the industry - those that work directly in supply chain & logistics- shipping, ports, transport, warehousing, importers, exporters, freight forwarders, retailers-have I left anyone out?

And besides those that work in the industry, we have those that support the work of the industry-IT and software providers, automation specialists, Education and training institutions, legal, financial, industrial property and infrastructure specialists…. we connect the industry with corporations who have cutting edge technology to solve industry issues or create the solutions needed. We collaborate with Partners in the training, education and career development sectors, like Tafe NSW and Institute of transport & logistics at Sydney University to promote the industry and its many career pathways, to ensure we attract the talent required, develop the skills of professionals and with events like tonight, celebrate its achievements. We run a mentoring programme for those at any level of their career journey or assisting those that are looking to enter, move sideways in the industry.

SCLAA has Chapters in each state, including face to face networking events, seminars, webinars. We partner with the largest industry conference organisers including Akolade, CeMat, Forefront and Megatrans.

SCLAA provides the platforms and opportunities for industry and its professionals to gather, network and exchange ideas, Being part of our association, fills the basic need to be a part of something more, a tribe of like minded individuals, working to make change that lead to far reaching improvements for industry overall?

With respect to this year’s awards, a record number of submissions was received across all categories, demonstrating extraordinary innovation and ingenuity. Choosing Finalists from such a high calibre of Nominations, made it truly challenging and I would like to thank Nigel Edwards and the Judging committee for their expertise and tenacity in choosing the worthy recipients.

Of course, such an event would not be possible without the support and hard work of many.

Our ASCLA Committee for you, our ASCLA Sponsors, our Platinum National Partners: all our other National Partners and SCLAA Members for your continued support.

On behalf of the SCLAA Board, I would like to congratulate the Finalists and Award winners, and trust you will enjoy in celebrating their achievements and the evening ahead.