The importance of the logistics and transport sector is unquestionable. It represents 8% of Spanish GDP, a not insignificant figure considering that by 2018 it is estimated to move around 11 billion euros and encompass around 800,000 jobs. However, despite its relevance, the logistics and transport sector has always had a profile that we could consider "low" and it has not been until now, with the e-commerce boom, that it has truly become a topic of conversation.
Currently, e-commerce exceeds 7.3 billion euros, 23% more than the previous year according to the CNMC. This growth will drive the logistics and transport sector, which will grow by 2.1% (according to data from the Hays Labor Market Guide 2018), implying the need for more professionals with increasingly specialized profiles. As a result, logistics and transport will be the sectors that create the most employment in 2018 in Spain. Along the same lines, the most demanded professional profile in 2018, according to the Adecco Group, will be that of order picker.
To answer the questions that this change in the logistics industry may have generated, SIL Barcelona, the Leading Logistics, Transport, Intralogistics and Supply Chain Fair in Southern Europe will focus its Annual Congress on "Logistics and Industry 4.0, a necessary connection". The objective will be to analyze how these actors should face changes in production processes, make their chains more efficient and integrate them to effectively meet the habits of the current consumer.
SIL Barcelona will take place from June 5 to 7 and will celebrate its 20 years of serving the logistics sector. SIL was created in 1998 as a Congress and, given the demand for a showcase that brought together all sectors of the logistics industry, it became a fair the following year, a fair that has evolved hand in hand with the sector and has been faithful to its annual appointment throughout all these years. Today, it is the leading fair in the sector in Southern Europe and brings together more than 600 participating companies from more than 50 countries. At the SIL Congress, which last year brought together more than 3,000 attendees, more than 200 internationally renowned speakers will present a hundred success stories in 18 different sessions.
SIL 2018 will feature Valencia as the invited Autonomous Community.