Importance of supply chain resilience highlighted at Armagh Conference

Pictured (L-R) are Melanie Dawson, Board Member, Invest Northern Ireland; Professor Richard Wilding OBE; Louise Skeath, CEO, SDG Construction Technology Ltd; Niall Casey, Director of Skills & Competitiveness, Invest Northern Ireland.

Over 250 local businesses are attending a Supply Chain Conference: Navigating Now, Shaping Tomorrow in the Armagh City Hotel today at which they will get expert insights into how to manage their supply chains more effectively.

Organised by Invest Northern Ireland, the conference aims to help businesses navigate current supply chain challenges and will highlight the vital role that a resilient supply chain plays in improving productivity and competitiveness. The conference is headlined by Damian Hughes and Richard Wilding OBE. Both are professors with extensive experience in high performance management who will talk about the importance of strong leadership, creating competitive advantage and future trends for supply chains.

Melanie Dawson, Invest NI board member and productivity champion, said: “Businesses are facing a range of challenges including cost pressures and skills availability and need to look at how to harness best practice to get the most value out of their supply chain.

“Today’s conference will give local companies the opportunity to hear from international experts but also to learn from the experience of their peers who have successfully improved their supply chains and who have generously agreed to share their stories today. Invest NI is already successfully supporting companies from across Northern Ireland to build resilience and improve their competitiveness through its supply chain support.

“The Invest NI Supply Chain Solutions programme is open for applications to help businesses improve their supply chain resilience and competitiveness. We hope that many of today’s attendees will be inspired to apply and I would encourage local businesses to sign up to reap the benefits that come from creating a robust and future-proofed supply chain.”

The conference will also feature a number of panel discussions and industry case studies presented by local businesses that will showcase what they have learnt and implemented on the themes of sustainability, digitisation and supply chain improvements. 

During the conference, Louise Skeath, CEO of Armagh based SDG Construction Technology Ltd, is sharing her insights on how her company improved its supply chain with Invest NI support. Louise said: “It’s great to be part of this Supply Chain conference and to have the opportunity to share our story of how we improved our supply chain with the support of Invest NI. This support has had a major impact on our business, helping us to drive improvements in our supply chain processes. That has been key to the success of our business growth plans to date and helped us to ultimately drive productivity across the business.”

The conference’s mix of expert speakers, local businesses sharing their experiences and networking opportunities makes it an invaluable event for Northern Ireland companies looking to improve their competitive advantage by increasing their productivity, profitability and sustainability.

Niall Casey, Invest NI’s Director, Skills and Competitiveness, adds: “Today’s conference is a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, promote collaboration, and create a supportive environment for industry networking and knowledge sharing.

“As the Minister for the Economy recently highlighted in his Economic Vision, productivity is a fundamental driver of overall living standards and economic success. We can improve our productivity by using dual market access to grow our exports and attract highly productive investment. Additionally, dual market access allows companies here to reassess their supply chains and maximise the potential benefits further.”

Professor Richard Wilding OBE, one of the world’s leading supply chain experts, is a keynote speaker at the conference. Highlighting the importance of supply chain resilience, he said: “One of the biggest risks to an organisation is its supply chain.  Competition is no longer between individual companies but between the supply chains they are part of.  By ensuring supply chain resilience an organisation can maintain competitive advantage for a sustainable future. Northern Ireland is critical in both local and global supply chains, and it is great to have the opportunity to present to so many companies.”