Logistics Reimagined:

Generative AI approaches, especially Large Language Models, have attracted large interest in the context of business process model discovery and modeling. In this context, the idea of conversational process modeling is to enable the creation of process models by domain experts in conversation with a chatbot. The tight involvement of the domain expert is expected to result in decreased modeling times and increased model quality, in particular, with respect to the validity of the models. This talk present the core concepts of conversational process modeling and how it can be applied in the logistics domain.

Moreover, the talk sheds light on how other AI methods such as process mining can be exploited in and benefit the logistics domain.

Prof. Dr.  Johannes Meuer,  Sustainability Strategy and Operations, Kühne Logistics University meets
Martin Jacobs, Director Business Development, Shipzero
Dr. Cristiano Façanha, Director of Road Freight Electrification, Smart Freight Centre
Ana Selina Haberbosch, CEO & Co-Founder, seedtrace

Facilitating the shift towards sustainable logistics and supply chains necessitates harmonizing financial resources with environmentally and socially responsible practices throughout the supply chain. This transformative journey presents a spectrum of financial opportunities and challenges, encompassing the emergence of novel services and business models, substantial initial investments, and apprehensions regarding financial performance intricacies, supply chain complexity, and transparency. Pursuing financing for sustainable logistics and supply chains often involves a combination of different strategies and a commitment to long-term, responsible business practices.

In this session, we aspire to convene a panel of two or three distinguished industry experts specializing in sustainable finance, logistics, and supply chain management. Together, we will explore financially viable pathways towards sustainable supply chains. The panel will scrutinize the nuanced distinctions in these pathways, contingent on variables such as the geographical location, scale, and operational scope of a company, as well as the unique characteristics of the industry and supply chain in question.

Prof. Dr. Sandra Transchel, Supply Chain and Operations Management, Kühne Logistics University meets
Sven Hennebach, Senior Manager, TOMRA Reuse

Reusable transport packaging in the business-to-business (B2B) context, such as pallets, boxes, or crates, and reusable beverage bottles in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector have been established alternatives to disposable packaging for many years, embedded in efficient logistics systems. In recent years, we have experienced an increase in innovative reusable packaging concepts in other areas such as gastronomy, the drugstore sector, and e-commerce. However, most of these concepts have difficulties in scaling for various reasons. Besides an insufficient awareness and acceptance of customers, there is a lack of existing infrastructure for the logistics and cleaning of reusable packaging, and it is excessively cost-intensive for a single company to invest in it.

In this session, together with experts from industry and associations in the reusable packaging sector, we will discuss how future reverse logistics systems for new reusable packaging systems can be designed in order to establish and scale reusable packaging sustainably in our society.

Friedel Sehlleier, Climate Center Kühne Foundation meets Timo Landener, Sustainability Management Swisslog

The climate crisis requires and drives a rapid transformation : reducing emissions to net zero and adapting to the impacts of a new climate reality are major tasks. Currently, transport is a heavy emitter, and, like all sectors, has to decarbonize rapidly. But transport and logistics has more to contribute: serving the needs of people, industry, and society is its reason for being. These needs will change fundamentally as we move towards a low-carbon and sustainable society.

The session discusses some of the structural changes in the economy to which transport will need to adapt and the capacities it will have to build so it can help enable and boost green, sustainable development at the global and at the local level. 

Prof. Dr. Kai Hoberg,  Supply Chain and Operations Strategy, Kühne Logistics University meets
Frank Vorrath, Vice President Supply Chain Services, Danfoss Climate Solutions

Work in supply chain is changing massively as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is seeing a more widespread adoption. As a result, logistics and supply chain planners need to learn on how to best leverage and interact with AI-based systems.

In this session, we aim to highlight the challenges and provide recommendation on how to best setup human-AI collaboration in supply chain management. We discuss use cases based on recent research and outline how new job roles can evolve in the future. 

Prof. Dr. Niels Van Quaquebeke, Leadership and Organizational Behavior, Kühne Logistics University 

Tearing down the romantic notion that leadership is the one human bastion that will never fall to artificial intelligence (AI), Niels takes the audience on a deep a dive into humans’ psychological needs at work and how AI can cater to them. The question then becomes not what role AI will play, but rather whether and if so which “leadership” roles will remain for us humans in that future.

Prof. Dr. Maria Besiou,Professor of Humanitarian Logistics, Dean of Research, Kühne Logistics University

meets

Sean Rafter, HELP Logistics, Kuehne Foundation

Stephen Cahill, UN World Food Programme, Representative and Country Director of Turkey

Cormac O'Sullivan, Kuehne+Nagel, Global Director Emergency and Relief

Typically, in case of a disaster, local authorities through their international disaster management organizations are the ones to respond to the population’s needs, but if the local capacity does not suffice, then humanitarian organizations (HOs) step in. Commercial companies may also participate in the disaster response by contributing through their skills and capacities. Following the disaster response phase, in most of the cases, the HOs stay in the area until the local private sector resumes operations.

But how does the local private logistics sector engage after the humanitarian crisis phase is over? Together with sector experts, in this session we explore how this engagement is currently happening and why along with how we can help the private logistics sector recover quicker and resume operations.

Prof. Dr. Henrik Leopold, Data Science and Business Intelligence, Kühne Logistics University meets Dr. Dietmar Guhe, Vice President Cloud IT & Infrastructure, Arvato Supply Chain Solutions

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasing role in logistics and supply chain management. Among others, AI can help increase efficiency, reduce worker shortage, predict the impact of supply chain disruptions, and improve sustainability.

In this session, we explore some of the key AI use cases that can revolutionize logistics and supply chain operations. Together with industry experts, we discuss how organizations can deal with the rapid developments and how to effectively benefit from AI in the coming years.

Prof. Dr. Felix Creutzig, Head of working group Land Use, Infrastructure and Transport, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)

The transport sector is a laggard in terms of GHG emission reduction. Here, we explore a global, national and urban perspective on plausible sets of approaches to reduce GHG emissions in transport, with focus on road transportation. For this, we will rely both on insights from the IPCC and from accompanying research studies. In a second part, we introduce novel machine learning techniques operating on big geospatial data to model low-carbon urban form possibilities. We explore the option to transfer this approach to logistics.