Business & Academic Partnership 2021, the 12th Supply Chain Management for Efficient Consumer Response (virtual) Conference, SCM 4 ECR, took place on 21-22 October 2021, in the historic city of Târgovişte – with the theme “Building supply and demand network resilience through digital transformation”. The Conference was chaired by Professor Virgil POPA Ph.D., Valahia University of Târgovişte, Romania, and co-hosted by Ruediger HAGEDORN, End-to-End (E2E) Value Chain Director, The Consumer Goods Forum CGF, Paris (the Global Network Serving Shopper & Consumer Needs), in collaboration with the Supporting Organizations: the Romanian-American University, the Czestochowa University of Technology (Poland), the War Studies Academy Poland (Faculty of Management and Command), the Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics (Russia), the Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University (UK), University of Zagreb (Croatia), and the last but not the least the Regis University (USA).
The Conference Host & Organizer Chairman Virgil POPA, the Conference Business Co-Chairman Ruediger HAGEDORN, and the Conference Academic Co-Chairman Theodor PURCĂREA delivered welcome addresses. Conference Presenter was Alina TĂBÎRCĂ.
The Conference was Co-Chaired by: Dr. Gerd WOLFRAM, CEO and Owner IoT Innovation & Consult, Partner Digital Connection (Cologne Area, Germany), The Founder RFID Implementation METRO Group, Head of the METRO Group Future Store Initiative, Author; Professor Costel NEGRICEA, Ph.D., Rector of the Romanian-American University, Honorary Member of the Board and Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee (Board of Directors – Comitetul Roman al Distributiei); Professor Michael BOURLAKIS, Ph.D., Director of Research for Cranfield School of Management, Group Head (Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management) and Director of Centre for Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Cranfield University; Professor Călin VEGHEȘ, Ph.D., Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania; Professor Olga KOL, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management of Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics; Associate Professor Borna ABRAMOVIC, Ph.D., Chair of Railway Transport Management, University of Zagreb; Associate Professor Marta STAROSTKA-PATYK, Ph.D., Hab., Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland; Col. Associate Prof. Tomasz JAŁOWIEC, Ph.D., Faculty of Management and Command, War Studies Academy, Poland, Assoc. Prof. Gökhan KIRBAÇ, Ph. D., Istanbul Kültür University, Turkey; Associate Prof. Ed LINDOO, Ph. D., Regis University, Denver, Colorado, USA; Academician Professor Grigore BELOSTECINIC Ph. D. Hab., The Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, Chișinău.
Great conference presentations were given on this special occasion by: Keynote Speaker Ruediger HAGEDORN – “DRS – Data Reference Sheet. Coupling Of Data Bases Made Easy”;
Keynote Speaker Dr. Gerd WOLFRAM – “Building Supply Chain Resilience through Digital Transformation”; Speaker: Professor Virgil POPA – “Empowering Employee, Shoppers, Consumers and Users of Supply Chain for Readiness in New Technologies”; Keynote Speaker: Professor Michael BOURLAKIS – “The Evolution of Food Supply Chain Resilience Through Digital Transformation”; Professor Costel NEGRICEA and Drd. Matei PURCĂREA – “The Alternative of Flipped Learning in Higher Education Enabled by the Development of Technologies and Innovation”; Associate Professor Borna ABRAMOVIC – “Supply Chain Management and Container Trains between China and European Union”; Matei PURCĂREA (Drd. Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy; Research Economist at the Romanian American University; Communication and PR Manager at the Romanian Distribution Committee) – “Building Supply Chain Resilience by Using Blockchain and other Disruptive
Technologies”; Associate Professor Ed LINDOO – “The Ripple Effect of COVID-19 on the
2021 Global Supply Chain”; Assistant Professor Gökhan KIRBAÇ – “Blockchain Technology for Supply Chain and Logistics: New Developments and Applications for Businesses”; Assoc. Prof. Paula BAJDOR and Vanesa Duran GRADOS (Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland) – “The Use of Information Systems in Maritime Transport and Harbours”; Professor Theodor PURCĂREA (Romanian-American University, Member of the Advisory Board of the Romanian Competition Council, President of the Romanian Distribution Committee) – “The Double Pressure of Improving Supply Chain Resilience, Agility, and Adaptability, and also of Faster Meeting Customer Service Requirements within the Accelerated E2E Digitization, Closely Integrating Supply Chain and Ecommerce”; Associate Prof. Marta STAROSTKA-PATYK – “Perspectives and Challenges of 4.0. Logistics”; Prof. Olga KOL and Associate Prof. Aleksandr DMITRIEV (St. Petersburg State University of Economics, Russia) – “The Main Directions of The Digitalization of Transport as a Business Ecosystem”; Col. Associate Prof. Tomasz JAŁOWIEC – “Contemporary Challenges for the Development of Military and Civilian Logistics Cooperation”; Associate Prof. Mihaela ȘTEȚ (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Centre of Baia Mare) – “Future in Logistics: Sustainable Supply Chains”.
The 2021 SCM 4 ECR Conference reconfirmed again the well-known passion, competence and perseverance of Professor Virgil POPA, Conference Founder and Chairman, the builder of this reputed brand – Supply Chain Management (SCM) for Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Conference, and Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the Supply Chain Management Journal, Valahia University of Târgoviște.
The Business & Academic Partnership 2021, the 12th Supply Chain Management for Efficient Consumer Response (virtual) Conference, added a new important layer to its significant data culture base. And data, as the globally recognized Keynote Speaker Ruediger Hagedorn reminded his audience, keeping the listeners engaged, is both foundational for automating online processes and the driving force behind any significant innovation. While approaching the CGF Data Reference Sheet (DRS), he underlined, for instance, how the companies of a sector agreeing on this same list (starting from the traditional data exchange within a supply chain business partnership) are connecting their two databases, comparing their data models and then jointly mapping them, the in real time connection of these two databases being speeded up and automated with the help of machine learning and other tools. In the same time there is a real need of better collaborating with and understanding the consumers (the new consumer behaviors and expectations impacted by COVID-19 pandemic), better gathering and using consumer feedback, considering the increasing omnichannel shopping, the rising digital penetration across all channels, the work from home etc.
Conference presentations and lively discussions also revealed other significant aspects, such as: facing supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic companies from all industries are more and more embracing digital capabilities and struggling to advance on the so-called by Gartner path toward supply chain autonomy (automation, augmentation, autonomy), E2E supply chain strategy development needing a disciplined collaboration framework; there is an obvious need to integrate advanced digital technologies across the value chain companies, E2E digitization, for example, ensuring a more agile, customer-focused organization, while a clear picture of the supply chain being ensured by a better E2E visibility, and the acceleration of E2E digitization helping solving enduring compromises between efficiency and resilience; an increased supply chain visibility and resiliency can be enabled by an Intelligent Execution Control Tower; a dynamic approach is involving real time E2E visibility and increased use of disruptive technologies, while quicker responses are involving scenario identification, analysis and review; agility remains key (production and logistics optimization; stock level and inventory management).
Both conference organizers and attendees confirmed their involvement in making this successful SCM 4 ECR event happen, to make this Business & Academic Partnership 2021 the best opportunity to think and make connections, share information, providing feedback, encouraging to reflect on the valuable presentations and lively discussions in order to build the partnership capacity to improve productivity while confirming the strong shared sense of purpose.