Digitalisation and sustainability, key aspects of SIL 2019 and eDelivery Barcelona

• A total of 710 participating companies, 40% of which are multinational companies from 43 countries, 150 exclusive global innovations, more than 400 speakers and visitors from 68 countries, are the main figures emerging from SIL 2019 and eDelivery Barcelona.

• The Leading Fair for Logistics, Transport, Intralogistics and Supply Chain in Southern Europe, whose guest Autonomous Region this time is Aragon, will be held simultaneously with eDelivery Barcelona, the World Free Zones Conference and InTrade Summit BCN, which includes the ALACAT Congress, the AEO International Conference and the MedaLogistics Summit.

Barcelona, 12 June 2019. The 21^st edition of SIL 2019 SIL 2019 – the Leading Exhibition for Logistics, Transport, Intralogistics and Supply Chain in Southern Europe – and the third eDelivery Barcelona Expo & Congress – the eCommerce Delivery, Logistics and Last Mile International Exhibition – were presented to the media this morning by Pere Navarro, special State delegate in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) and president of SIL and Blanca Sorigué, general manager of the CFZB and SIL. Both fairs, organised by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, will take place from June 26 to 28 in Hall 8 at Fira de Barcelona, Montjuic. They will coincide with The World Free Zones’ Congress and InTrade Summit BCN, the World Summit on International Trade and Supply Chain, including the ALACAT Congress, the International Association of Authorized Economic Operators Conference (AEOs) and the MedaLogistics Summit.

Participation in the 21^st edition of the SIL and the third edition of eDelivery Barcelona looks healthy, with a 10% increase in participating companies compared to last year. So far, 710 companies from 43 countries have confirmed their participation, around 40% of which are multinationals. The SIL 2019, whose guest autonomous region is Aragón, will present 150 innovations from international exhibiting companies, there will be 180 private corporate events attended by visitors from 68 countries.

The sector accounts for eight per cent of Spanish GDP

During the presentation, Pere Navarro, special State delegate in the CZFB and president of the SIL, talked of the importance of the logistics and transport sector. “It represents eight per cent of Spanish GDP and is one of the five sectors that generate the largest number of jobs in Spain, whose turnover has grown by 5.6% over the last year”, he said. Navarro also stressed that “these figures show the great importance of the logistics sector, not only to Spain but to the global economy. Despite its importance, the logistics sector is still largely unknown to the public, so SIL 2019 will be a great opportunity to tell the world about the importance of the sector to talk about its significant role in today’s economy that is set to grow even further in years to come”.

As well as SIL 2019 and eDelivery Barcelona, several other significant international trade, transport, logistics and goods delivery events will take place simultaneously in Barcelona. Among these are the World Free Zone Congress and InTrade Summit BCN which include the ALACAT Congress – the largest congress of Latin American Cargo Agents and Operators, the International Association of Authorized Economic Operators Conference (AEOs) and the MedaLogistics Summit as well as the Americas’ Free Zones Association (AZFA) Summit.

“Together, they will have a considerable economic impact on the city, but above all, they will have very important knock-on effects because they will be an opportunity to establish relationships that will lead to new investments,” said the special State delegate in the CZFB and president of the SIL. The SIL Congresses, eDelivery Barcelona, The World Free Zones’ Congress and the InTrade Summit BCN will attract more than 400 international speakers, who will present more than 200 success stories with a total of 65 different conference sessions.

Business, contacts and knowledge, a formula for success

An innovative exhibition area, where all sectors of the supply chain will appear with the latest news and trends in the sector, a well-developed programme of networking activities and a prestigious congress featuring world-renowned speakers are the pillars of the success of both SIL 2019 and eDelivery Barcelona. “This year’s SIL will feature robots that collect, transport and deliver pallets and other heavy loads, sustainable trucks with all kinds of accessories to ensure worker safety, the latest in organic fuels for freight transport, and all kinds of software to achieve logistic excellence, among many other innovations, “ explained Blanca Sorigué, General Director of CZFB and SIL.

This year’s Networking programme also includes the Logistic Circle, which puts participating SIL companies in contact with industrial logistics and supply chain company managers, #The Retailer Club, which creates opportunities for participants in eDelivery Barcelona to make contact with directors, logistics managers and the main retailer deliveries and pure players. The International Networking Lunch will also take place, a meeting place for SIL participants and more than 1,000 decision makers from all over the world. To further encourage networking, the SIL organisation has created a new App that enables participants to contact conferences attendees, speakers and exhibiting companies using an internal messaging system. Likewise, the SIL has a “Match & Meet” tool for all participants, which enables them to register, contact and schedule meetings with companies that best fit their profile based on information entered when registering.

Digitalisation and sustainability

“Supply Chain and Industry 4.0: the new era of digitalization and sustainability” is the title of this year’s SIL Congress. Pere Navarro explained that “the two major issues facing the sector are sustainability and respect for the environment and the digital transformation that will allow it to adapt to the demands of new technologies and provide an efficient response to industry. Therefore, the SIL will also be an important moment to analyse these challenges, identify opportunities and threats, and to analyse success stories to help find solutions to the problems faced by professionals in their everyday work”.

The 3^rd edition of the eDelivery Barcelona Expo & Congress

Meanwhile, the third edition of eDelivery Barcelona Expo & Congress seeks to respond to the challenges facing the delivery sector. Five years ago, just 125,000 packages were distributed daily in Spain but that figure has increased to more than 1.25 million shipments, meaning that we need to find solutions to problems such as sustainability, environment and mobility. It is precisely on these aspects that the fair is focusing this year with an exhibition area devoted to startups – the eDelivery Startup Innovation Hub – showing disruptive proposals to solve these problems.

This year’s eDelivery Barcelona will be a top-level congress with more than 50 speakers presenting success stories featuring companies like Amazon, Chiquelle, Caprabo, Tendam, Accenture, Condis, Kraving Kitchens, SKFK, Mango and Fruugo. In this regard, Blanca Sorigué explained that “eDelivery Barcelona Congress will explore the future of deliveries in eCommerce as a determining factor in the level of satisfaction of the shopping experience, highly sensitive to all aspects that affect sustainability “. Sorigué added that “we will have sessions on innovation, the latest trends in deliveries, last mile and operations, cross-border trade, RetailTech, fulfilment, artificial intelligence and big data, autonomous vehicles, micro hubs, smart cities, sustainability, optimisation. It is going to be spectacular.”.