KARACHI, May 8: For a country like Pakistan, the annual loss of four per cent of the GDP due to poor communication networks and insufficient storage facilities is a cause of concern that needs immediate attention, opined participants at the ‘Supply Chain Conference 2012’ on Tuesday.
Organised by the Supply Chain Association of Pakistan (SCAP) and Terrabiz, the theme for this year’s two-day conference centres on ‘Improving Business Produc-tivity through Excellence in End to End Supply Chain Management’.
Featuring experts from over 20 organisations and some 250 delegates in attendance, the conference aims to shed light on value-addition in manufacturing, efficient logistic systems and maximizing ROI through IT enabled supply chain.
After an introductory address by Hamza Wasi Hashmi, Mr Qaysar Alam, president SCAP and VP Supply Chain Unilever Pak, gave a detailed speech on ‘Overview of Supply Chain Management and Challenges ahead’.
On the occasion, Khalid N. Awan, Co-founder and Chairman TCS gave a detailed presentation on ‘Improving business productivity through excellence in end to end supply chain management’.
However, the most interesting parts of the presentation were those where he shared anecdotes about the growth of TCS from a small time operation to a country-wide network.
Furthermore, another piece of information shared by him was about how Mehboob-ul-Haq, the finance minister in General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime took a major step to get the clearance of cheques expedited from three weeks to three days, leading to massive change in the way business transactions were conducted.
For a lot of delegated in the under 35 age bracket, this piece of information was something new and had a lot of them talking about the progressive policies of the 80s.
Before the start of the formal sessions, Umair Jaliawala, Chief Turning Officer Torque conducted ‘The Art of Networking session for supply chain professionals’. The interactive activity had the attendees step out and introduce themselves to one another and created quite the buzz.