Industry speakers discuss the future of supply chain management
Conference Panel left to right: Phil Whiteoak (NOVUS), Richard Gibson (Yusen), Andy Kaye (BiS Henderson), Tom Roberts (Cummins)
Fri, 13 May 2016 14:15:00 BST
Experts attended the student-led conference ‘back to the future’ in a week-long series of events to celebrate European Supply Chain Day
◄ Andy Kaye, NOVUS Chair and CEO BiS Henderson addresses the conference
A STUDENT-LED conference exploring the future of supply chain management was the grand-finale of a week-long series of events held at the University of Huddersfield to celebrate European Supply Chain Day.
Third year students from the NOVUS scheme organised a conference with expert industry speakers from Arla, BiS Henderson, CEVA, Cummins, DB Cargo, PZ Cussons, XPO Logistics and Yusen Logistics. Here they discussed past and future innovation in the supply chain in a 'back to the future' themed event.
After a series of presentations the conference culminated in a lively ‘Question Time’ style panel debate featuring NOVUS Chair Andy Kaye, Phil Whiteoak, Richard Gibson and Tom Roberts, with students quizzing the panel over their predictions for the future of the industry. The University of Huddersfield’s Dr Nick Hubbard acting as panel chair.
“It was fantastic to see the NOVUS students taking the lead,” said Andy Kaye, NOVUS Chair. “Seeing their hunger to find out about the latest thinking and to contribute their own ideas was just brilliant,” he added.
► Student Conference Organisers: Zivile Valaityte and Mirek Raba 
The organising committee of the conference was led by Mirek Raba who is currently on placement with PZ Cussons. Mirek was delighted with how the conference went and said the day’s events proved to be a great opportunity for the students to discuss innovation and to network with industry professionals.
The conference followed an exciting week at the University, with first year students in Belgium visiting logistics operations, a work experience fair at the Arla dairy in Leeds, a trip to the Howdens Joinery manufacturing site and mentoring visits from Smiths News, Wincanton and Morrisons.
David Leach, NOVUS Programme Director at the University of Huddersfield said: “We would like to thank all our visitors, students and staff for making our celebrations this week such a great success.”
- NOVUS is an award-winning University of Huddersfield degree programme, backed by increasing numbers of major companies and which guarantees employment to its graduates. Included in the scheme are two industry backed supply chain degree courses that guarantee graduate employment and are designed to attract and develop the next generation of supply chain talent.
