13:00
Arrival at Spark
Not a hotel conference room but a design studio in an industrial monument from 1947. Coffee, first conversations and an immediate sense that things get made here.
INEX 2026 · an event by UC Group
What happens when you put 120 supply chain decision makers together for an afternoon in a design studio?
Seven working sessions, a keynote by Quooker and drinks at Spark in Rotterdam. This is the answer.
INEX 2026 at a glance
INEX stands for Innovation & Experience Event, the annual supply chain event by UC Group. The 8th edition took place on 1 October 2026, from 1 pm to 6 pm, at Spark Design & Innovation in Rotterdam. 120 decision makers from supply chain and production joined seven 50-minute working sessions with Slimstock, Freightender, Hardis Supply Chain, Dematic, Zencargo, Elemica and VionA, and a keynote by Michiel van Veen, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Quooker. INEX 2027 will return, with a limited number of places. Date and location will follow.
120decision makers in the room
7working sessions by knowledge partners
1keynote by Quooker
8th edition, the first at Spark
Innovation & Experience 2026 on film
What INEX is, and what is on visitors' minds. Each video lasts one minute, in Dutch.
1:00
INEX 2026 in one minute
Seven working sessions, a Quooker keynote and 120 supply chain decision makers in the Spark studio, in one minute. In Dutch.
0:58
What is your biggest supply chain challenge?
Three answers from visitors: act earlier, all information in one place, and one version of the truth for sales and operations. In Dutch.
One afternoon, from 13:00 to 18:00
From arrival to drinks, in four moments.
13:45
Seven working sessions, two rounds
Each knowledge partner tackled one bottleneck in 50 minutes, with a small group of peers at the table.
Inventory & forecasting
Slimstock
Too much stock of the wrong items, too little of the right ones.
You worked on your own inventory standards: how to link demand forecasting and service levels without letting your working capital get out of hand.
Slimstock helps more than 1,700 companies worldwide with inventory optimisation and supply chain planning. With the AI driven platform Slim4, retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers forecast demand and reduce inventory costs and waste.
Slimstock
Transport procurement
Freightender
Retendering takes weeks and rarely delivers what it promised.
You took away an approach for setting up a transport tender that does produce comparable bids, across all modes of transport.
Freightender is a cloud platform for transport procurement. Shippers and logistics service providers use it to run transport tenders and spot requests for all modes of transport, keeping control of rates and carrier agreements.
Freightender
Order management
Hardis Supply Chain
Your order fulfilment runs like a well oiled machine, yet your customer experiences something completely different.
You stepped into an interactive role play as the customer, the webshop and the warehouse. You saw how a lack of real-time insight and communication leads to an incomplete order and a disappointed customer, and how WMS and OMS together create better collaboration and reliable fulfilment.
Hardis Supply Chain helps organisations improve their logistics processes with software for warehouse and order management, including Hardis WMS and Hardis OMS.
Hardis Supply Chain
Warehouse automation
Dematic
The warehouse is full, staff are impossible to find and expanding takes two years.
You worked out which step in automation suits your volume, and which investment you should hold off on for now.
Dematic designs and builds automated warehouses and distribution centres, from conveyor systems and shuttles to the software that controls them. The company is part of KION Group.
Dematic
Supply chain visibility
Zencargo
You only find out a shipment is late when the customer calls.
Working in groups, you tackled a real disruption that Zencargo customers went through this year, first with the information you would normally have had, then with AI driven insights alongside it.
Zencargo is a digital freight forwarder. Shippers use it to manage their ocean freight, air freight and road transport, with real time insight into shipments, costs and lead times.
Zencargo
Supply chain integration
Elemica
You spot the disruption straight away, yet nobody knows who should step in.
You worked on the step from signal to decision: who steps in, on what basis and within what time frame. You took away a way to turn visibility into interventions that prevent damage, instead of explaining it afterwards.
Elemica connects manufacturers, suppliers and logistics partners in one digital supply chain network. Orders, invoices and shipments are exchanged in real time, without retyping them by hand.
Elemica
AI & automation
VionA
You have run plenty of AI experiments, yet not a single one makes it into production.
A board level conversation about ambition, structure, processes and technology, not a product demo. You went home with a sharper view of where the biggest opportunities lie in your organisation.
VionA automates administrative and repetitive processes with AI and automation, in systems such as Exact, Visma and Salesforce. This saves companies time and money on work that is still done by hand.
VionA16:00
Keynote: Michiel van Veen, Quooker
The story behind the distribution centre in Ridderkerk: scaling up without handing over control of your supply chain.
17:00
Networking drinks
At the bar until 18:00, with people who make the same decisions as you.
Michiel van Veen
Chief Supply Chain Officer, Quooker
All photos from 1 October
Over seventy moments from the afternoon. Click a photo to view it large.
Next year, then?
Missed it this year, but working in supply chain at a retailer, manufacturer, wholesaler or logistics service provider? Then you are very welcome at INEX 2027. Join the list and be the first to hear the date, the venue and the knowledge partners.
Become a knowledge partner in 2027
- Your own 50 minute working session on your area of expertise
- At the table with 120 screened decision makers from supply chain and production, just like this year
- Visibility in the campaign beforehand and in the look back afterwards
We are looking for partners who tackle a concrete bottleneck, not a sales pitch.
Frequently asked questions about INEX
What is INEX?
INEX stands for Innovation & Experience Event, the annual supply chain event by UC Group. INEX 2026 was the eighth edition and the first at Spark Design & Innovation in Rotterdam.
When and where was INEX 2026?
On Thursday 1 October 2026 from 1 pm to 6 pm, at Spark Design & Innovation, Benjamin Franklinstraat 515 in Rotterdam.
Who were the knowledge partners and speakers?
Seven knowledge partners each ran a 50 minute working session: Slimstock, Freightender, Hardis Supply Chain, Dematic, Zencargo, Elemica and VionA. The keynote was given by Michiel van Veen, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Quooker, about the distribution centre in Ridderkerk.
Which topics were covered?
Inventory and forecasting, transport procurement, order management, warehouse automation, supply chain visibility, supply chain integration, and AI and automation. Each session tackled one concrete bottleneck with a small group of peers at the table. Visitors joined two sessions, one per round.
Who is INEX for?
For supply chain professionals and decision makers at retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and logistics service providers. That way you sit at the table with people facing the same choices as you.
Will there be an INEX 2027?
Yes. We will announce the date, the venue and the knowledge partners later. Join the interest list on this page and you will be the first to hear.
How do I become a knowledge partner for INEX 2027?
As a knowledge partner you run your own 50 minute working session on your area of expertise, with supply chain and production decision makers at the table. You are visible in the campaign beforehand and in the recap afterwards. We are looking for partners who tackle a concrete bottleneck, not a sales pitch. Sign up using the form on this page.
Thanks to the 2026 knowledge partners
With thanks to Spark Design & Innovation for hosting us.
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Looking back
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About {partner}
What you took away
The challenge
1 October · Spark Rotterdam
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