Logistics
And , the best is yet to come . The recently announced IELA Academy will be highly beneficial for the senior strata and set to become a game changer for talent enhancement in our industry .
Regional challenges The world is one but very diverse for our exhibition industry and major global organisers are operating simultaneously in different continents – each region having its own distinct challenges .
Most of these challenges at the macro level are the same across the board for the industry , the logistics sector being no different . Let ’ s dwell into some of the main ones .
The most common , and prominent , are the differing laws and practices of the land . Handling at ports / airports , custom processes , etc . differ across the many countries our global customers are operating in . At the end of the day , our customer looks for the same service in each destination – thus the challenge for us to overcome the hurdles to ensure the end result is same .
Sustainability and zero carbon targets are now a must for our industry . Here also , as in the case of operations , our customers expect the same levels of results for all the countries they operate in . This is still a huge challenge in many developing countries . The additional costs can be exorbitant , which many among us cannot bear but , nevertheless , have no choice .
Differing social and religious practices in countries become challenges on occasion . Religious holidays are the most common obstacle where some countries close down more than others in those days . We ’ ve all experienced this when receiving critical late shipments and nothing can move .
IELA has done a phenomenal job in addressing the above challenges by sharing relevant information
Ravinder Sethi
Guido Fornelli
about countries through its various platforms and programmes .
The IELA Customs Manual gives its members every relevant information about the processes around the world , so we ’ re prepared in advance of the challenges .
And our one-to-one interaction with members from around the world at our Winter Seminar , Operations Summit , Congress and Partnering Event gives us first hand insight of the sustainability and socio / cultural practices around the world . Here also , we have information in advance to address the impending challenges .
Guido Fornelli , MD Expotrans , Italy :
Today , almost two years after the end of pandemic , most of the focus of the exhibition industry is related on the human resources factor both for suppliers , organisers and the venues , at least here in Italy .
Attracting new people and talent in an industry that is still largely based on a face to face experiences , and which has working hours that are often overtime ( for example during weekends ), is the great challenge of our industry , particularly in the logistics and forwarding area . This has a direct impact on Health & Safety issues : having a higher turnover or having to rebuild the staff with young and unskilled manpower requires a very high level of training on the risks related to our job .
The setting-up and dismantling time of an exhibition and the ever-increasing overlap of events whereby the setting-up of one overlaps with the dismantling of the previous one , make the safety picture at the exhibition ground even more complex than in previous years .
In terms of sustainability , here in Italy the investments of the small and large venues is progressing even if the bar in terms of requests to suppliers has not been raised significantly . We expect more pressure to modernise the equipment fleets by replacing diesel / gas elements with electric ones ; still the blocking factor is that the venues must ensure first a larger energy supply ( obviously coming from green sources ). Indeed , they are investing in that right now .
Garcia Newell , member of the Industry Partners working group at UFI , and regional BD director for DSV Solutions Ltd , an IELA founding member :
It is really important to raise the profile of exhibition logistics within the events industry , because
20 Issue 2 2024