The Supply Chain Network has been running for four years. It was set up as a networking and learning opportunity for younger people working within the supply chain in retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers - we use the word 'young' loosely, ages ranging from 20s-50s - a beating pulse is the important factor!

The group numbers about 50 people, with 20 typically at any one meeting. We meet about every six weeks or so in a pub in central London. Networking normally starts from 6pm onwards with snacks at 6.30pm and the 'formal' presentation from 7pm, with more networking afterwards. We aim to have a mix of 'experts' and presentations from within the group. The environment is very informal. The objective is discussion rather than a formal presenter at the front, with presenters encouraged to bring issues as well as experience.

We are always looking for new members, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with Kirsten Tisdale - just put 'Supply Chain Network' in the comments box on the contact form that this link takes you to, as well as completing your contact details. We're also always looking for sponsors - a link to your company website could be here!

Next event - 26 Jan: Cathy Humphreys from INFORM GmbH will talk about Best Practice Demand Planning:

- An overview of how advanced decision support tools can enable higher quality decisions based on lower risks

- What does a best practice process for planning sales demand look like?

- How much could you improve customer service levels and reduce supply chain costs from better planning of resources, if you were to improve the forecast accuracy of your sales demand plan by even just a few percentage points?

Future dates for your diary: 2 Mar, 30 Mar, 27 April.

Companies that have attended recent events or are paid up for future ones include: 4C, Allport, Action Sustainability, Aricia, Atheon Consulting, Atisreal, BP, Chevron, Clare Bottle, Click On Logistics, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Courier Exchange, Covidien, Dairy Crest, Davies Turner, Delice de France, Dermal Labs, eLogistics, Entertainment UK, Epson, Expeditors, FKI Logistex, GAP, John Lewis Partnership, Logistics Planning, Lundesjö Consulting, MapMechanics, Marks & Spencer, Moves, Prolog, Publishers Group UK, Purchasing & Supply Chain, Royal Mail, Samskip, Selfridges, Shell Trading, Siemens, St John Supplies, Tesco Direct, Tetley, TKMaxx, Total Logistics, Transport Exchange, Unilever, Unipart, University of Bedford, University of Greenwich, Vanderlande, Vaultex, Wesupply and Woolworths.

One regular group member recently emailed "The sessions have been fantastic, I always come back to work with ideas". And one of our outside speakers said "Thanks again for letting me have the opportunity to present to what is an excellent group ...one of the best CILT groups I have come across".

Previous events have included the following topics. There are downloads for many of the more recent presentations, which are towards the bottom of the page:

• how to get buy-in on the logistics development agenda
• healthcare supply chains
• the impact of weather on demand
• returns and reverse logistics
• continuous professional development in the supply chain
• visit to Unipart at Cowley 
• discussion on whether retailers start seasons too early
• mobile phone supply chains
• the Bullwhip Effect
• the institute's Knowledge Centre
• disaster recovery after a warehouse fire
• sourcing from central and eastern Europe
• visit to Boden's mail order fulfilment centre
• demo of voice-picking
• piggyback meeting with London Region's Careers Event
• last 50 metres in the retail supply chain
• TfL's Freight Operator Recognition Scheme - download the presentation
• lean management - rolling it out and making it stick
• business continuity after Buncefield
• far east sourcing and an agile supply chain - download the presentation
• being famous for on-shelf availability - download the presentation
• integrated multi-channel retailing - download the presentation
• WMS selection and implementation - download the presentation
• human performance technology
• benchmarking - visit the institute's page on Logmark, the UK's only logistics benchmarking club
• home shopping and sustainability - download the presentation
• outsourcing logistics
• improving efficiencies through effective collaboration
• what will logistics look like in 5 years time
• next generation integrated retail - download the presentation
• freight exchanges
• maximising the impact of SLAs & KPIs - download the presentation
• logistics costs and cost-cutting - download the discussion write-up
• managing carbon footprints - download the presentation
• data mining the supply chain - follow the link for a short write-up of the event
• sustainable procurement - we hope to have a link to the presentation very soon