Multimodal 25 has come and gone for another year.
At the shipping industry’s flagship event, held in Birmingham (17-19 June), the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade held a series of live events, including a Customs Corner Live, panel discussions on sustainability and digital trade, and a fireside chat on how apprenticeships can help your business.
The Daily Update spoke to panellists and speakers who participated to find out their what they learned from the event.
Anna Doherty, customs practice director, Chartered Institute
“At Multimodal, we learned about the importance of knowledge sharing. Attending conferences and the types of sessions we ran are a part of keeping updated. While the principles remain the same, the challenges traders face are constantly evolving.
“We had plenty of insightful questions from the audience that helped to shape the conversation around trade and customs.
“I always find I’m learning as much from the attendees and their questions as I’m from sharing: every question asked means that I share the answer the next time I’m speaking about the problem both with industry and government.
“There are lots of digital tools that can help businesses operate and be compliant, but the need for understanding of the core principles cannot be underestimated.”
Steve Horrell, Chartered Institute, apprenticeship success manager
“One of the key takeaways for me is that, almost without exception, employers were claiming that they found recruitment of staff difficult. We still heard that people 'fell into logistics/international trade' rather than actively pursuing it as a career from an early age. This hasn’t changed since last year’s multimodal.
“However, somewhat paradoxically, I also spoke with people who were not employed within the sector, wanted to be but couldn’t find an easy route into working in international trade.
“There’s also still a lot of myths about what apprenticeships are and aren’t: once these misconceptions start getting cleared up, I think we’ll see much better take-up.
“The development of a career pathway is another thing I see as incredibly important. At Multimodal, we found there is still a massive need and desire for professionalisation of the industry; something that will benefit both employers and employees.”
Jamie Barugh, JAB Global Supply Chain Consultancy, founder
“Multimodal was a fantastic event and a great opportunity to connect with leading organisations across the global trade sector. One clear highlight from our panel was the quality of the questions. It was clear to see that they showed just how aware the audience is that we are entering a new era of digital technology.
“A key point that was made by the entire panel is that AI should be seen as an enabler, not a replacement. These tools are here to support decision making, not to fully automate complex customs functions. AI isn’t submitting entries to HMRC just yet.
“I’d also like to give a shout-out to Anna Doherty. Her presentation on ‘The three customs pillars needed for compliant trade’ was one of the most insightful I’ve ever seen. Her depth of knowledge on customs is outstanding.
“Yet again, another excellent day of presentations and insights delivered by the Chartered Institute.”
Will Barns-Graham, Chartered Institute, executive editor
“We had really stimulating discussions on a variety of different topics affecting international supply chains, including digitalisation, sustainability and the EU's Digital Product Passport initiative. Just from the questions we received from the audience, there is clearly a lot of interest in these issues in the sector.
"Judging by the back-and-forth between the panellists, it also struck me how interconnected sustainability and digitalisation issues are in trade.
“A key talking point was that there needs to be trust established throughout the supply chain. A major part of building this trust is ensuring that all the data and information being provided by partners is verifiable and correct.
“On a personal level, I’d like to give a big thank you to Anna Doherty, Steve Horrell and Ilona Kawka, as well as our guest panellists Ewelina Pieckowska, Jamie Barugh and Gavin Johnson. Their insights and expertise were a joy to witness.”
Ilona Kawka, senior digital trade and customs consultant, Chartered Institute
“It was my first Multimodal and I enjoyed the experience!
“It was great to catch up with some familiar faces, as well as meet new people and businesses that are building their position in the market. Hearing the expertise on offer was also really interesting.
“One trend I spotted was on AI. We are seeing more and more traders adopting AI, using it to address pain-points faced across the supply chain. The Chartered Institute's own Dokit solution was one such example of
“We had some interesting conversations on the stand and during the sessions, including some of the solutions we offer to address problems facing many businesses across the supply chain. Our Dokit app, which provides end-to-end supply chain visibility and control for traders, is one such example."
Anyone interested in signing up for a demo of the Dokit app can find out more, here.
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