Not Just Another Boring Conference! A Stylish Logistical Joyride
POSITIV 1/2022 ǀ 31
BUSINESS
Dear Mr Bazala, this is going to be
the fifth Logistics Ride conference. What
vision inspired this event and what are
your expectations for this year?
The conference was organised due to
requests made by graduates and employees
of the Logistics Academy. The source of
these requests was a desire to meet with
others involved in the field of logistics and
share recent developments, trends and
modern solutions. It is a sovereign and
professional event, however, we would
also like to encourage logistics experts in
their work by showcasing that logistics is
a difficult yet wonderful field. In fact, that
is why we agreed on the name ‘Logistics
Ride’, as the event is meant to educate
but also entertain and encourage. The
conference is held once every two years,
and, in light of the COVID pandemic,
my main hopes for this year are that
LOGISTICS RIDE 2022 will be held at all
and that we will be able to meet in larger
numbers.
Who is the conference meant to be for?
The event is aimed at logistic experts,
that is to say, at everyone who works in
distribution, warehousing, purchasing,
customer service, production planning,
etc. Of course, this also includes the
management of companies looking to
further expand their logistics. If I had to list
the types of companies that the conference
is designed for, I would say production
and trade companies, logistics providers
and suppliers of logistics focused
information technologies. Our speakers
also represent these four sectors.
What topics can attendees look forward to?
Considering the recent enormous
increase in demand for qualified logistics
experts and various logistical solutions
that are resistant to crisis situations,
the most intriguing topic will most likely be
the durability of supply chains. Other big
topics include Industry 4.0, robotization
and automation. Robots will be covered
by multiple presenters as we have tried to
select projects and solutions that are truly
inspirational. We also end the conference
with a topic that is more all-encompassing,
has a wide reach, is very interesting and,
of course, is connected with logistics. In
the past we had a logistics expert from
Doctors Without Borders talk about
the distribution of drinking water and
medicine in desert regions. We also had
Richard Konkolský, an icon in the world
of yachts, talk about the logistics of sea
voyaging. This year we will be covering the
logistics of crisis situations, specifically, we
will be talking about the tornado in South
Moravia.
The conference’s organiser is the
Logistics Academy. Could you tell
us something about its mission and
activities?
The Logistics Academy was built on two
main pillars. The first one is the area
of consulting and projects, which is
something we began doing in cooperation
with the Netherlands, and the second
pillar is university education, more
specifically VŠB-TUO and TU Košice. The
academy’s conception was overseen by
Professor Lenort, Professor Malindžák
and Associate Professor Macurová.
Professor Lenort is currently head of the
Department of Logistics at ŠKODA AUTO
University in Mladá Boleslav. In line with
the aforementioned pillars the academy
was built upon, our mission is also twofold.
First is the education of future logistics
experts, where we learn from practice and
focus on active logistics experts. Second
is staff certification. We offer courses that
grant post-nominal titles such as MLog
(Logistics Manager) or ALog (Logistics
Auditor). Due to the fact that our list of
graduates has gotten fairly long after all
these years, hosting a conference came
to mind as a good way to push the field
of logistics further ahead. All information
regarding the conference, as well as ticket
sales, can be found at www.logisticsride.cz
Mr Bazala, thank you for the interview.
Not Just Another Boring
Conference! A Stylish
Logiscal Joyride
Logiscs is what keeps the global economy turning and requires
real experts for its proper applicaon. Graduates of the Logiscs
Academy are among these experts. The academy’s concepon
in 2008 was overseen by Ing. Jaroslav Bazala, Ph.D, ALog., who
now serves as its president. We talked to him not only about
the goals and acvies of the academy, but also about the
presgious event held by the academy every two years
and this year it is, once again, going to be quite a ride.