UK Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Centre – Symposium
Monday 7 October 2024
Loughborough University, Loughborough, England
On 17 June, Loughborough University announced an exciting new collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), creating the UK Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) Centre. As a part of the world-renowned MIT Global SCALE Network, the new Centre aims to become a major contributor to the development of supply chain research, knowledge and education.
At the heart of the UK SCALE Centre philosophy is a recognition of the inseparability of international supply chains and manufacturing. In recent years, manufacturers and logistics providers have faced major systemic shocks such as COVID-19, Brexit and the conflict in Ukraine. In our increasingly globalised world, the pace of change and disruption are only likely to accelerate, placing knowledge, expertise and preparedness at a premium.
Global supply chains in context
Hear from prominent speakers as they discuss the creation of the Centre and the current challenges and opportunities facing businesses on a regional, national and international level:
- Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University
- Sir John Peace, Chair of Midlands Engine
- Dr Chris Caplice, Executive Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
Envisioning the future of supply chains
Explore the influence and impact of four key themes for the development of future supply chains, as voices from across industry and academia examine the topics of:
- Digitalisation – Tim Lawrence, Director of Digital Supply Chain at Digital Catapult
- Productivity and Resilience – Dr Grant Charlesworth-Jones, D4Drivers
- Sustainability – Judith Richardson, Managing Principal and Head of Sustainability at Argon & Co
- People – Jo Pick, Chief People Officer at Wincanton Plc
Workshop – Co-creating the future
This is your opportunity to act as the voice of your business, contributing your valuable views and insights. You will be helping to create a hub of innovation that addresses the critical issues facing supply chains from sustainability to productivity and ethics.
Led by Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy, Jan Godsell, this collaborative, group-based workshop uses a novel scenario development approach to help you scope, visualise and explain your vision of the future.
Panel debate – How do we enable the future we want to see?
This panel session offers attendees the chance to pose the critical supply chain-related questions they will develop during the workshop. Panellists will share diverse viewpoints and expert opinions as they discuss how we can achieve a shared positive future.
Become part of a movement for change
Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with the UK SCALE Centre, joining the mailing list and becoming among the first to hear about the latest Centre developments.
You will also join fellow guests, speakers and UK SCALE Centre representatives at a complimentary drinks reception to build your network. The event will conclude with a 3-course meal, accompanied by a series of thought-provoking, supply chain-focused poems, hosted at the Burleigh Court Hotel.
Individual tickets are priced at £120 per person. Group bookings for a full table of 10 people are available at a reduced cost of £100 per person.
Don’t miss out on the chance to put your business at the forefront of supply chain development; secure your place whilst tickets last.
Speakers
Sir John Peace CVO, CStJ
Chair
Midlands Engine
Sir John Peace has enjoyed a long and distinguished business career at the highest levels of the technology, financial services and retail sectors. Formerly Chairman, Chief Executive and Founder of Experian plc, Chief Executive of GUS plc, Chairman of Standard Chartered plc, and Chairman of Burberry plc – all FTSE 100 companies.
He is committed to supporting the Midlands region as Chair of the Midlands Engine and Midlands Connect. These Government backed initiatives are aimed at driving economic growth throughout the Midlands region, creating new jobs, and generally helping people to live better lives.
Sir John served as the Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire for 12 years, until March 2024. He has a long-standing interest in education; he was Chairman of the Board of Governors of Nottingham Trent University for 10 years, and in 2017 became Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University. He was knighted in 2011 for services to business and the voluntary sector, and appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services as Lord Lieutenant. Sir John was also appointed Commander of the Order of St John in 2023.
Dr Chris Caplice
Executive Director
MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
Director of the MicroMasters Credential Program in Supply Chain Management
Dr Caplice serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) where he is responsible for the planning and management of the research, education, and corporate outreach programs for the Center. He created and currently serves as Director of the MITx MicroMaster’s Program in Supply Chain Management – the very first MicroMasters credential ever offered. Since its inception in 2015, more than 430,000 students from 196 different countries have participated in these online courses.
He is also the founder and co-director of the MIT FreightLab – a research initiative that focuses on improving the way freight transportation is designed, procured, and managed. His primary research is in all aspects of freight transportation to include combinatorial procurement auctions, robust planning, portfolio management, performance metrics, and infrastructure design.
In addition to his work at MIT, Dr Caplice is currently the Chief Scientist for DAT Freight & Analytics, the largest truckload freight marketplace in North America with over $120 billion in market transactions.
Prior to joining MIT, Dr Caplice held senior management positions in supply chain consulting, product development, and professional services at several companies to include Logistics.com, SABRE, and PTCG.
Judith Richardson
Managing Principal and Head of Sustainability
Argon & Co.
Judith leads the sustainability practice at Argon & Co UK, working with clients to operationalise their sustainability strategies, turning long-term visions into tangible action that makes a difference
Argon & Co clients increasingly recognise how more environmentally and socially responsible business practices bring wider benefits, as well as reducing harms on the system that sustains them. Judith works with leaders of complex, global, multi-tiered supply chains to apply systems thinking to adopt a truly transformational mindset and embrace sustainability as a value creator. Her interests include the structural changes that are needed to realise the circular economy and embedding sustainability success across organisations incorporating data, systems, and people capabilities.
Her recent experience includes defining sustainability strategies with a European toy retailer; net zero and decarbonisation programmes in a global confectionery retailer, manufacturer, and distributor; sustainable products and packaging for a global pharmaceutical company, and a global petcare company; voice of the customer exercise for sustainability priorities in global petrochemicals; and supplier collaboration and engagement for a global packaging leader.
Tim Lawrence
Director of Digital Supply Chain
Digital Catapult
Tim Lawrence is Director of Digital Supply Chain at Digital Catapult, leading a £30m programme to build a Digital Supply Chain Hub. This hub aims to accelerate digital innovation in UK Supply Chains and is co-funded by Made Smarter Innovation and industry partners.
Tim has extensive experience in improving global supply chains, he has worked within the automotive, consumer goods, aerospace, defence, construction, life science and industrial sectors. His experience includes 25 years in supply chain consultancy, leading companies to deliver transformation in their business and operations. Tim focuses on strategy, operating model and organisational design, digital supply chain, restructuring and performance improvement. He has extensive global connections having worked across 16 different countries in Europe, US and Middle East advising over 50 different companies in that time.
An inspirational thought leader, Tim develops leading insights into global supply chain management, digital and manufacturing and is regularly quoted in the press and speaks on these topics at conference platforms across Europe.
Jo Pick
Chief People Officer
Wincanton
Jo joined Wincanton in 2019. As Chief People Officer she leads a team of over 340 HR professionals who support over 20,000 colleagues. Jo drives the development and retention of talent across the Wincanton Group. She also chairs the Wincanton social value steering committee, championing wellbeing, community, and diversity and inclusion.
Previously Jo worked as HR Director in both the food industry and healthcare at Greencore and Johnson & Johnson respectively. She has a strong commercial business partnering background, undertaking many transformational change initiatives including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
Jo is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Professor Jan Godsell
Dean of Loughborough Business School
Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy
Professor Jan Godsell is Dean of Loughborough Business School and a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy with a long and influential career, which has been split between both industry and academia.
Professor Godsell has advised government and industry on supply chain strategy, and its relationship to industrial and business strategy. She has served on numerous advisory boards and is currently a member of the Made Smarter Expert Panel and Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Advisory Group, alongside a role as Co-director of the ESRC funded InterAct Network.
Professor Yossi Sheffi
Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
Director of the MIT Supply Chain Management Program
Professor Yossi Sheffi serves as Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL). He is an expert in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management, which are the subjects he teaches and researches at MIT. He is the author of many scientific publications and nine books.
Under his leadership, MIT CTL launched many new educational, research, and industry/government outreach programs, leading to substantial growth. He founded the MITx MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management. He is the founder and Director of MIT's Master of Supply Chain Management degree. He also led the international expansion of MIT CTL by launching the Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) global network of academic centres of education and research. The network includes centres modeled after MIT CTL in Zaragoza, Spain; Bogota, Colombia; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Professor Nick Jennings
Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University
Professor Jennings is the Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University. He was previously the Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise at Imperial College London, the UK Government’s first Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security, and Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
Professor Jennings is an internationally recognised authority in the areas of AI, autonomous systems, cybersecurity and agent-based computing. His research focuses on developing AI systems for large-scale, open and dynamic environments. In particular, he is interested in how to endow individual autonomous agents with the ability to act and interact in flexible ways and with effectively engineering systems that contain both humans and software agents.