The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Vaudreuil-Soulanges (CCIVS) organized the second edition of its Colloque sur les transports et la logistique on February 22 and 23, under the theme "Designing the supply chain of the future". Held in Sainte Marthe, the event attracted over 80 speakers, panellists and partners. 
 
After a successful first edition in form and substance, this second edition is a continuation of the previous one, but also a response to the growing challenges faced by companies operating in the transport sector, and the questioning of operators as to future prospects and ways of improving supply chains. 
 
"Current trends are revealing a shift in habits, and the sector must deal with the imperatives of the global economic context and the pressure exerted on supply chains to support economic recovery in an inflationary context. The ups and downs of the transport sector reveal the importance of modernizing and maintaining strong, resilient transport and logistics infrastructures and networks," declares Mathieu Miljours, Managing Director of the CCIVS.  

Through this event, the CCIVS once again reiterates the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region's pivotal position as a logistics hub within the country's economic ecosystem, and attributes the success of this symposium to the strong mobilization of its partners and the region's public and private operators, as well as the strong involvement of its members.
 
This year's symposium was divided into three main sessions, the first of which focused on the impact of technology on the analysis and decision-making process, through three conferences:As an introduction, participants attended a presentation by Madame Chloé St- Amand, Managing Director of Camo Route, who made a sectoral diagnosis of the workforce, and at the same time proposed effective and coherent strategies to address it and take the lead from best practice in terms of human resources management.The program also covered the role of Distributed Ledger Technology, commonly known as blockchain, in optimizing supply chain management methods. Érik Valiquette, CEO of the Canadian Blockchain Supply Chain Association, spoke at length on this subject. 

This was followed by a presentation by Sylvain Gagné, Head of Information Systems Security at CYSCA Technologies, who spoke of the importance of cybersecurity in protecting supply chains that are more exposed than ever in the digital age. 

The second part of the symposium addressed the sector's challenges through two panels and a conference. The topics covered were as follows: 

The panel on logistics and distribution center automation, moderated by Jacques Mayotte of Avalon CSC, with contributions from Anne Vezina, Assistant Distribution Center Manager at Ikea, Stéphanie Genest, Senior Manager at Deloitte, and Michel Robert, President and CEO of Groupe Robert. 

The panel on the implementation and integration of green hydrogen in road transport featured Ms. Catherine Gosselin, hydrogen and alternative energies expert at Harnois énergies, and Messrs. Marc-André Caza, General Sales Manager - Road Market at Cummins and Friedrich Dehem-Lemelin, President and CEO of Hydrolux, and was led by Mr. Victor Poudelet, Vice-President of Operations at Propulsion Québec. 

The conference on fleet management, presented by Anthony Mainville, President and Founder of AttriX, focused on the digitalization of transport in the era of digitization and energy transition.

Thirdly, participants were able to explore with our speakers the various avenues for improving productivity through two conferences: 

Diego Ramirez Cardona, Professor of Construction Engineering at the École de Technologie Supérieure, described the context exacerbated by the volatility of raw material costs and the commitment of oil operators to re-evaluate their activities in favor of low-carbon products, namely hydrogen.Mr. Louis-David Dugal, Foresight Coordinator, Direction de l'aménagement et de la mobilité durable, Ministère des transports et de la mobilité durable, concluded the symposium program by addressing the vital impact of territorial planning in supporting the growing needs of the supply chain.