Features
30 mai 18

2018 Global Fleet Conference Day 1: why you shouldn't have missed it

Rome was not built in a day, and neither is the road to an efficient, harmonised and value-adding global fleet management. If there is anything that has emerged from yesterday's sessions, is that you need more than a policy and a strategy. A community spirit across the globe, fuelled by local best practices, intercultural understanding and personal contact is what puts wheels in motion.

Immediately grabbing the attention of the nearly 300 attendees from all over the world was Bruno Colmant from Bank De Groof Petercam. He highlighted the macro-economic factors that will determine the industry. "If I were a car manufacturer, I would take the necessary time to consider all possible future scenarios. The future is not linear. The scope of change will be larger than we think", he concluded.

As inspiring as ever was data-wizard Marc Odinius from Dataforce who spoke about the general market trends, the effects of changing from diesel to petrol and an imaginary world in which all cars are electric.

Jurgen Freitag from Siemens explained that without the people in the field buying in, you are nowhere. "We need to establish a global community, driven by collaboration. This means giving responsibility to countries, alignment of objectives, country visits, building up a global memory, establish cross-country projects and foster an online community.”

Talking about establishing TCO efficiency and data transparency on a global level was Peter Szelenyi, Global Fleet Category and Regional Travel Category Manager at healthcare company Novartis.

Is green fleet management an emission impossible? That's the topic Giorgio Elefante, Advisory Partner and Automotive Industry Leader for Italy, PwC, took on at this year's Global Fleet Conference in Rome. What followed was an OEM panel discussion on powertrain evolution.

Although fleets and cultures may vary, safety and sustainability are common goals across the globe. Steven Schoefs, Editor-in-chief of Global Fleet, had a discussion with Raz Peleg, CEE Sales Director, Mobileye and Eelco van de Wiel, Managing Director, fi insurance about safety management & insurance trends.

Amongst many highbrow presentations, Lukas Nel from Christian relief organisation World Vision International put things in perspective. "Getting food, water and medical supplies to remote areas in very rough conditions is a big challenge."

Safety and risk management in Africa and the Middle East is not to be taken lightly, explained Nikola Vuckovic, Manager EHSS & IFMS South East Europe region at Philip Morris International.

The content-rich first conference day ended with three expert sessions on three tantalising themes.Geotab talked about data management in telematics, whereas Sofico drew a picture on how IT systems need to become hybrid in response to the evolution towards CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electric). Omoove explained how its technological tools allow you to build your own vehicle sharing scheme.

Last but not least, the Palazzo Naiadi at Rome's bustling Piazza della Repubblica formed the elegant decor for a delightful walking dinner, giving the participants plenty of opportunity to network and share their thoughts.

Authored by: Dieter Quartier