Port Forum at CeMAT addresses logistic chains

The international CeMAT Port Forum, which covers current challenges and developments in the port sector, returns at this year’s CeMAT intralogistics show in Hannover, Germany, and will be held in Hall 25 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 2 June. This year’s Port Forum is themed “Seaports as Opportunities for Logistics Chain Optimisation” and will feature speakers from government, port companies and port customers. Keynote topics this year include shippers’ rising expectations of the quality and punctuality of international and intermodal logistics chains and the growing capacity shortages in background infrastructure. Intralogistics topics will also be on the agenda. For their part, port operators are increasingly meeting these challenges through ongoing investment in modern handling, warehousing and IT technology.

The growing importance of IT in port logistics will make the new Logistics IT showcase a highlight of this year’s CeMAT. For example, the increasing use of eco-friendly modes of transport such as rail and inland shipping to link seaports with remote nodes requires sophisticated software and control systems for the efficient management and scheduling of operations across all the ports in the chain. Meanwhile, faced with new climate-protection challenges and regulatory requirements, operators of sea and inland ports have already taken the first steps to improve the environmental performance of their handling systems by investing in innovative, lower-emission propulsion and drive systems.

The CeMAT Port Forum will feature delegates from the transport ministry of Germany’s state of Lower Saxony, from the EU Parliament, and from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). The speaker list also includes representatives from Europe’s big sea ports and terminal operators, as well as from inland shipping companies and providers of inland transport logistics services. Commercial and industrial customers of these ports, terminals, and services will also use the Forum to communicate their requirements in terms of port efficiency. The CeMAT Port Forum programme will be rounded out with a series of discussion panels on options for port optimisation and anticipated future port development requirements. And when the Forum proceedings are over, the delegates will be able to meet up for informal dialogue over snacks and light refreshments at the Port Night – a networking event hosted by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport and Technology and the managing board of Deutsche Messe.