The fourth edition of the international conference on logistics and supply chain of chemicals and petrochemicals will be held at Ramada Powai Hotel & Convention Centre, on 7th September, 2018.
India hosts a variety of chemical manufacturing industries including petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, agro chemicals and so on. By now India has a strong base of chemical industry, and the present government’s effort to ease the process of doing business has ushered in an era full of emerging opportunities. Thus, helping India in achieving its goals to become world’s third largest economy by 2030.
Also, India’s proximity to other fast growing markets is a great opportunity for the country to transform into the global chemical manufacturing hub. However, India has to design robust supply chains to timely, safely and economically deliver their products. As far as the shipment, transportation and storage of chemicals are concerned, India has to overcoming multiple hurdles. India also needs to deploy updated technologies to monitor and manage the entire chemical supply chain. With this backdrop, Indus Exposium Pvt Ltd and Alliance Business Media are organising the 4th International Conference & Exhibition, CHEMLOG 2018.
Current Indian scenario
Explaining the current state of the Indian chemical supply chain, Rupark Sarswat, Conference Chairman and MD & CEO of CRODA India said, “I think, there are several challenges, which are like a hand brake applied – not only on the chemical or the manufacturing industry but also on driving development of the nation as a whole.”
“We just do not have adequate infrastructure that is required to support the industry. While we see increased investments, the infrastructure has not been able to keep pace and we are impacted by poor roads, an inefficient railway network and poor port infrastructure. This therefore leads to increased costs, reduced efficiencies, poor reliability as well as safety and environmental issues. Our ecosystem in general has also been slow in adopting new technologies such as use of IT and automation,” he added further.
As mitigation of these challenges, it is absolutely essential for the healthy growth of the Indian chemical industry, which is highly capable yet vastly fragmented; CHEMLOG 2018 has been designed to set up a knowledge driven business platform to create opportunities for sharing views and ideas, global best practices and helping in developing a flawless and enabling vision for the future, which is possible only through an integrated effort from the industry.
Need for comprehensive vision
Stressing on the need for developing a clear and all round vision for the future supply chain, Sarswat said, “The quality and efficiency of supply chain has a cascading impact not only on the manufacturing industry but also on all the economic activities. It is therefore crucial to help us achieve – what we have set out to achieve in terms of the nation’s development and success. If done well it has the potential to be a big enabler to the success of ‘Make in India’, employment generation and driving development. At the same time, if the challenges that I described earlier, are allowed to increase, we are looking at a big hand brake on the India growth story as we then deal with high costs, poor efficiencies, poor responsiveness and reliability and therefore poor competitiveness.”
He further added, “In my view it needs to start with a blue print of where we want to be keeping in mind the future demand, the sustainability challenges as well as opportunities. It then needs to be supported by an enabling policy frame work. The key challenge is to make sure – that the several ministries and agencies that are involved are aligned and cohesive policy and implementation are ensured. This needs to cover several important areas like: infrastructure, good use of technology, optimised use of existing resources, creating a skilled manpower base, improvement in design and standards, sustainability challenges, safety issues, potential use of water ways, involvement of stakeholders and regulatory framework. We therefore, need to take into account and address the key areas in an approach that is long-term as well as balanced.”
Focus of CHEMLOG 2018
The fourth edition of CHEMLOG is all set to address the emerging issues related to transportation and storage of chemicals and petrochemicals – that involves high cost and risk for producers and logistics service providers. It will also include knowledge sharing on other important factors like: safety, security, health and environmental compliance.
Recollecting the impact that the earlier editions of CHEMLOG created among the logistics & supply chain professionals, Sarswat said, “I am connected to CHEMLOG for the third time, and I think it is an excellent platform to give some focused attention to the issues faced by the industry, particularly by the chemical industry.”
Keeping the trait of assembling the industry renowned experts, CHEMLOG 2018 will present adroit field personnel including: Ajay Singh, Head , SCM, Aquapharm Chemicals; Alok Gautam, Country Leader, Logistics, DOW; Ankur Singh, Head – Strategy & BD, Chemicals, DCM Shriram; Captain Sanjay Sharma, Chief Ports Officer, Maharashtra Maritime Board; Dhritiman Chakraborty, Head India, Distribution, Merck Life Sciences; Dr Preeti Jain, Lead, Government Relations & Business development, SABIC; Himanshu Nautiyal, President, Business Excellence & Sustainability, Aditya Birla Chemicals; Jai Khurana, SVP, ADANI Ports & SEZ; Mahendra Shelke, Head Logistics and Supply Chain (BU ALL), LANXESS India; Mehernosh Patel, Head—Logistics, Covestro; Mritunjay Chaubey, Global VP, Environment & Sustainability, UPL; Nilesh Jha, Senior Director Purchasing, Huntsman; Pavithran M Kallada, Managing Director, BDP International-India; Pradeep Tewari, Head Petchem Logistics, Reliance Industries; Prakash Wagh, Country Transport Safety Advisor, Clariant; Prasad V Joglekar, SVP- Supply Chain, Jubiliant; Radharamanan Panicker, Managing Director, DGM India; Siddharth Paradkar, General Manager, Stolt Nielsen; Udayan Thite, Global Response Head, Dorf Ketal Chemicals; and Zubin Poonawalla, Independent Consultant, SCM.
What is waiting for you?
Highlighting the special attraction of CHEMLOG 2018, Sarswat said, “The conference has a comprehensive agenda covering a range of important topics in the area of Supply Chain. It is an opportunity to hear from leaders and experts in the field, which I am myself looking forward to. We can look forward to gaining some insights on what is happening in the industry, what are the big trends and what the future is going to be. It will be good to hear about what strategies are being adopted to gain competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment. In addition, there would be some good discussions on key challenges, opportunities, use of technology, sustainability and best practices. ”