Airships are being described as the next “game-changer” in transportation, much as the steam railway and ISO sea container were in earlier times. The specific game changer that is expected to generate broad acceptance is the military airship, as several projects of the US Army are set to deliver the largest airships since the giant Zeppelins of the 1930s. Once these airships take to the air, the doubts about the reliability of the vehicles will be put aside, and commercial interests will take a serious look.

At WESTAC’s Semi-Annual Meeting October 18 & 19 in Calgary, supply chain leaders from all sectors came together to discuss whether the system is Up to the Challenge – Building Capacity to Meet Demand.

About 150 people met in Winnipeg for the annual Fields on Wheels conference on September 30 to hear the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders in the grain handling and transportation system and discuss the implications of the new wheat marketing regime. Legislation was introduced subsequently in the House of Commons on October 18, 2011.

The 6th Annual Canada Maritime Conference presented a panel on Key Performance Indicators Across the Supply Chain. There is an acknowledged and growing need for good data in the form of service quality parameters and measurable performance standards.

The Annual Meeting held April 5 and 6 in Winnipeg brought together industry experts to discuss commodity outlooks for Western Canada.

At the 11th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in early March in Long Beach, CA, some 1700 delegates gathered to hear the state of container shipping and trade. Tan Hua Joo, Executive Consultant with Alphaliner, delivered an interesting presentation on the outlook for trans-Pacific container ship capacity.

WESTAC and the Global Institute of Logistics were pleased to welcome nearly 100 senior delegates to participate in Transportation Summit 2011: Best Practices Shaping Global Logistics. The Summit explored best practices and benchmarking in cargo supply chains from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia based on a series of thought panels. Two workshops were held on the Service Guarantee (Marca De Garantia) and the development and use of Container Terminal Quality Indicators.