Thursday 10 April

11:30 – Debate: Digitalisation in the Supply Chain – Where Are We Now?

In this lively and interactive session, leading voices in procurement and maritime digitalisation will explore where the industry stands in its digital journey. Are we making meaningful progress? Or just scratching the surface?

Chaired by:

🔹 Peter Schellenberger, Director & Founder, Novamaxis Pte Ltd

Born German and multilingual, Peter has spent 35 years in Asia in executive positions.

The maritime part of his career started in Singapore when he managed two leading Ship Chandling companies before joining the VGroup to head Supply Chain and the Marcas Asia procurement pool, Maritime Service business in Asia development and the VGroup global agency portfolio.

In leading shipmanagement company OSM Peter set up smart maritime services company OSERV as Managing Director to create a digital e-procurement platform for fleet and third-party clients.

In the major shipmanagement company Thome he had a similar portfolio (VP Supply Chain and MD Vanir Marine), building a smart industry digital marketplace with outsourced service procurement functions and catering services.

Since April 2023 he set up Novamaxis Pte Ltd, running a supply chain and maritime consulting network specialised in digitalisation, sustainability, crewing and start up financing / nurture. Including own investments and board or ambassadorial positions. Based in Singapore but operating globally for both shipowners/managers and suppliers/service providers addressing industry problem statements with integrated solutions and hitting strategic growth areas.

Joining the panel:

🔹 Mikael Weis, CEO, Source2Sea A/S

Mikael Weis comes with a rare background from the maritime industry and digital sector. His career started at sea, firstly with the Royal Danish Navy and later in the merchant marine, where he, with a Master Mariners’ education, served at sea on tankers, ro/ro and passenger ships. Furthermore, he holds a Master of Laws, LL.M., from the University of Copenhagen. For nearly 25 years, he has worked within digital, both in operational and managerial capacities. He has always had a passion for the client side – building relationships, seeking input, and finding ways to mitigate operational gaps with the digital dimension. Mikael has a deep insight into the drivers which form the digital direction in the industry, the potential obstacles, and how to leverage today and tomorrow’s digital solutions.

🔹 Carsten Schmidt, VP, ProcureShip

Carsten is a business executive with extensive leadership experience spanning the IT and maritime industries. With a strong foundation in procurement and education from Maersk and Copenhagen Business School, he has spent the past 15 years driving commercial growth and forging strategic partnerships in our industry. Carsten’s career includes serving as EVP at ShipServ and currently as Vice President at Procureship. He also founded and led a digital marketing firm, delivering marketing and business intelligence services across Europe. Renowned for his expertise in international sales and business development, Carsten excels in managing large-scale teams and operations within multicultural environments.

🔹 Dominic Seiler, Sales and Marketing Director, MESPAS

Dominic is the Sales and Marketing Director at MESPAS, studied business administration at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. Following several years of experience in the IT industry, he joined MESPAS over 10 years ago and works closely with the team of highly experienced software engineers who have developed a unique cloud-based software for the maritime industry, based on secure e-banking principles.

🔹 Henning Wegner, Head of Procurement, Oldendorff Carriers

As Head of Procurement, Henning Wegner is responsible for ensuring that the department is equipped with the most efficient and intuitive software available. Knowing the market, steering development in the right direction and looking for new features are a few of his tasks. He believes that usability and a strong focus on customers' needs are essential for long-term cooperation between users and software providers. Digitalisation of processes and 'letting the software do the work for you' is already standard, but as they say: 'standing still means falling backwards'. Therefore, constantly evolving and taking new steps forward is a must. Henning has worked with several ERP system in his career, he strengthened his skills with a master’s degree in digital logistics and management in 2018 and is looking forward to interesting discussions at the IMPA.

📩 Submit a question for the panel today: https://tally.so/r/wz1Dek