'Ideas in Practice' Supply Chain Summit 2022

'Ideas in Practice' Supply Chain Summit 2022

Realising the value of digitalisation

The sixth annual Supply Chain Summit, hosted by Leeds University Business School in partnership with Squire Patton Boggs, addresses the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation of UK supply chains.

World events in recent times have led us all to experience difficulties sourcing products that we routinely took for granted – less than full shelves in supermarkets, lack of chips (that’s the electronic variety) leading to shortages of new cars or domestic products are daily experiences for us and the phrase “supply chain problems” is a common problem highlighted in the media. Management leaders have a new term for this; our supply chains today are described as brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible (BANI – a new acronym highlighting a real world immediate problem). Global supply chains are disrupted by significant labour shortage, part shortage, inflation and new technologies. What can be done about this? Well, to be resilient, managers from all sorts of companies now realise that they need real-time accurate information about their supply chain through digitalisation.

This summit invites experts from large and small enterprises to push forward the agenda on how digitalisation can help organisations to respond to such challenges.

Our target participants include:

Industry representatives from manufacturing, construction, fintech, medtech, engineering and automotive industries

Policymakers at a local and national level

Professional services

The programme includes keynote and guest speakers, a panel and Q&A session, followed by a networking lunch.

Please note that ticket sales for this event have now closed. If you would like to attend and haven't been able to sign up in time, please contact Grace Carter directly: G.M.Bird@leeds.ac.uk.

Event Programme:

09:30: Registration

10:00: Welcome and introduction

Karen French, Partner at Squire Patton Boggs

Dr Kathryn Watson, Faculty Research Impact Manager at Leeds University Business School

10:10: Opening address by Chee Wong, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Leeds University Business School - Realising value from supply chain digitalisation: challenges and opportunities

10:30: Keynote 1 – Caroline Gorski, CEO, R² Factory at Rolls-Royce - Understanding the complexity of global supply chains

11:00: Keynote 2 - Sherin Mathew, Founder and CEO, Chief AI Strategist and Data/AI expert at AI Tech UK - AI and ethics

11:30: Coffee break

11:45: Panel discussion: Building UK industry and supply chain strength through greater digitalisation of SMEs

Chaired by David Loseby, Procurement and supply chain specialist; Professor of Research Impact in Supply Chain Management at Leeds University Business School

- Chee Wong, Professor of Supply Chain Management

- Jon Chesman, Senior Associate, Squire Patton Boggs

- Dr Jyoti Mishra, Associate Professor in Information Management

- Jenny Powell, Founder and CEO, Calathea Supply Chain

- Jen Robson, Head of Economic Growth and Business Resilience Policy, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

- Tony Walsh, Non-Executive Director, NIC Services Group; Senior Advisor, LHH - part of the Adecco Group

12:30: David Loseby - Digital Transformations: It’s a people thing...

12:50 Event roundup: Chee Wong, Leeds University Business School

13:00 Networking lunch

14:00 Event close

The Supply Chain Summit is organised by Leeds University Business School in collaboration with Squire Patton Boggs.

Speaker Profiles:

Dr Chee Yew Wong

Professor of Supply Chain Management, Leeds University Business School

Dr Chee Yew Wong has been a professor of supply chain management at Leeds University Business School since 2012. He is the founding director of the Centre for Operations and Supply Chain Research at Leeds University Business school. Professor Wong has over ten years of experience working in supply chain management, digitalisation and big data projects in engineering, fast-moving consumers goods, retail, plastic, furniture, beverage, and logistics sectors. His research examines how supply chain partners share and use information and adopt digital technology and data analytics to improve decisions. He specialises in making sense of data in the supply chain to gain intelligent insights. Professor Wong has completed three knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) projects related to supply chain management and digitalisation.

Caroline Gorski

CEO, R² Factory at Rolls-Royce

Caroline has worked at the transformational edge of emerging digital technologies for more than 25 years, leading businesses’ strategic response to technology and executing on organisational changes, new market developments and new business model launches.

Following senior roles at Telefonica, Sodexo, O2 and the Digital Catapult, Caroline led Rolls-Royce's R2 Data Labs for five years, delivering £400m of value back into the Group. During the pandemic, she pioneered the Emergent Alliance, which convened over 50 corporates, individuals, NGOs and governments for the first time to leverage expertise, data and resources to aid societal recovery.

Now leading the R2 Factory founding team, Caroline drives the company’s strategic vision to create 'a safe space to do hard things' by blending unique experience, cutting-edge capability, thought leadership and new ways of working to create new opportunities and business models.

Sherin Mathew

Founder and CEO, AI Ethicist and Futurist, Chief Tech and AI Officer, AI Tech UK

Sherin Mathew is an AI Leader and Ethicist, Founder and Serial Entrepreneur, with a deep-rooted passion for AI Strategy and Intellectual Privacy.

As a former IBM AI Lead at Global Business Services UK, Sherin’s specialism is transforming businesses into cognitive enterprises.

Sherin is the CEO & Founder of AI Tech UK, delivering the National AI Strategy and leading the development of an Open AI Ethics Compliance Platform with global partners and institutes. He is also the Chief AI advisor for ambitious SMEs and DeepTech Startups looking to scale with cutting-edge solutions.

Sherin's mission is to "Disrupt the AI Disruption", and is an untiring advocate for the creative, innovative, and ethical elements of intelligent technologies. As an accomplished public speaker, AI ethicist and evangelist, Sherin promotes thought-provoking ideas, shares his technical knowledge, and advises on best practices.

David Loseby

Professor of Research Impact in Supply Chain Management, Leeds University Business School

A modern day pracademic that has spent over three decades in procurement and supply chain roles internationally across a diverse set of sectors from pharmaceuticals, banking, retail, manufacturing, and public sector (NHS & Westminster city Council) and more recently as the Group CPO for Rolls-Royce. He is also a visiting scholar at the University of East Anglia involved in Executive MBA and MSc programmes as well as his own active research portfolio in Behavioural Science.

David is also currently an NED for the Social Value Portal as well as an advisor on the TechX Net-Zero programme supporting new technology start-ups that are government grant funded.

He is currently advising several organisations as well as large consultancies across the intersection of digital transformation, behavioural science and ESG, spanning a wide range of clients and areas of thought leadership. Finally, he was recently appointed as the Chief Behavioural Science Officer for a collaboration software platform.

Jon Chesman,

Senior Associate, Squire Patton Boggs

Jon Chesman is a senior associate in the Restructuring & Insolvency Practice Group based in the Leeds office. Jon’s day to day job includes providing contentious and non-contentious insolvency advice to insolvency practitioners, companies and creditors. In addition, Jon advises corporate and SME clients on broad issues that impact their ongoing business viability including global supply chain, economic and political issues.

Jon is ranked as an Associate to Watch in Chambers UK 2022. Commentators say Jon is “a very thorough and methodical lawyer” and “an individual that never ceases to impress”.

Dr Jyoti Mishra

Associate Professor, University of Leeds

Dr Jyoti Mishra is an Associate Professor in Information Management. She has a Ph.D. in Management, an MSc in Mobile Computing, and B. Eng in Electronics Engineering. She is a Deputy Director of the AIMTech Research Centre and a member of COSCR Research Centre. Her research expertise is in investigating technology use in organisations. She has worked on several EU FP7 projects in the past which were focused on the use of artificial intelligence, and telecommunication. Her past project includes DEFRA-funded Smart Waste tracking where she investigated how technology could be used to track UK waste systems in real time. Currently, she is working on an STFC funded project to develop Blockchain enabled system for Beef Supply chains in the UK. She is involved in providing consultancy services to companies related to technology adoption. Dr Mishra has worked closely with the UK police forces to understand how mobile devices could be enhanced for better productivity.

Jenny Powell

Founder and CEO, Calathea Supply Chain

Jenny is a well-respected procurement and supply chain leader, with 25 years’ experience driving transformational change within both the public and private sectors. Founder and Managing Director of Calathea Supply Chain and named as one of the top 35 under 35s in the procurement industry and a name to watch for the future of Supply Chain ESG.

Passionate about delivering value-driven, lower risk and resilient supply chains, Jenny founded Calathea, a state-of-the-art supply chain sustainability platform that helps businesses tackle supply chain sustainability challenges, managing risk and taking suppliers on the journey to a sustainable future. Jenny brings the perspective of an SME business owner and an experienced supply chain leader.

Tony Walsh

Non-Executive Director, NIC Services Group; Senior Advisor, LHH - part of the Adecco Group

Tony Walsh is an experienced Director and Chair who helps organisations, companies and people fulfil their ambitions. Tony spent his entire 37-year career at Barclays Bank including Board level roles which gives him excellent business insight and experience of working with companies across all industries resulting in an excellent understanding of the strategic challenges and opportunities of UK companies. Tony’s core expertise is business growth, risk management, people development and coaching. Recently, Tony agreed Barclays innovative scale-up mentoring programme with Cambridge Judge Business School and worked with the Sunday Times on their flagship Fast Track 100 programme.

Tony has been a Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership for the last 5 years, chairing the Education and Skills Committee across the Region and is a Governor (Chair of Business & Management Committee) at Leeds Grammar School and until recently was on the Corporate Bank Executive Committee (Co-Head of UK Coverage) at Barclays 2013-2016 and Head of UK Mid Corporate, Barclays 2018-2020.

Jennifer Robson

Head of Economic Growth and Business Resilience Policy, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Jennifer has 14 years’ experience in international economic policy. She has a special interest in export as a mechanism for creating resilient, sustainable businesses that can leave a positive legacy. This interest extends to supply chains, particularly those that cross international borders.

Prior to joining West Yorkshire Combined Authority Jennifer lived and worked overseas in the Netherlands, Singapore, India, and Liberia. Jennifer held a range of roles for Government, The Chamber of Commerce, and private businesses.

Jennifer is also a champion for inclusivity and has a number of voluntary roles supporting women and girls and people with disabilities. Jennifer is neurodiverse.

She founded Routes and Branches Limited, a business which supported UK SMEs to export globally and supported overseas businesses to invest in the UK. Jennifer published her first book “Export. Thrive. Change the World.” in 2018.

Dr Kathryn Watson

Faculty Research Impact Manager, Leeds University Business School

Dr Kathryn Watson manages research impact and external engagement for Leeds University Business School. Her role includes supporting academic staff in achieving impact from their research, much of which relates to policy or corporate impact. She contributes to impact strategy and co-ordinates a range of activities relating to impact culture, policy and corporate engagement and training. She founded an event series called ‘Ideas in Practice’ which has facilitated academic-policy-corporate engagement for over six years. As a researcher, she has been the principal investigator on an ESRC grant ‘Raising the Ceiling on Corporate Diversity and Inclusion’, a collaboration with a large UK retailer. Subsequently, she has conducted research with a UK police force and is currently an investigator on a collaborative research project with National Highways addressing EDI in the supply chain.

Karen French

Partner and Project Leeds, Squire Patton Boggs

Karen French has more than 30 years’ experience as a commercial property lawyer. Her work involves a range of property-related areas, principally acting for corporate real estate clients across a breadth of types of occupation, including engineering, chemical distribution, food manufacturers, textile operators, call centres and electrical manufacturers.

Karen is also an active member of the Leeds University Business School Research International Advisory Board.