SITL confirms its transformation and strengthens its position as a strategic meeting point for the industry

 

 

Apr 14: At a time when geopolitical tensions, rising energy costs and new regulatory constraints are all converging, transport and logistics are more than ever proving to be key drivers of competitiveness, business continuity and industrial sovereignty. The Strait of Hormuz, like other critical transit routes, is a reminder of just how vulnerable supply chain fluidity remains to global disruption. 

 

Against this backdrop, SITL 2026, held from 31 March to 2 April 2026 at Paris Nord Villepinte, brought together more than 27,000 professionals — a slight increase on 2025 — along with 585 exhibitors, 28% of them new, 80 conferences and workshops, and a stronger international presence, with 27% of exhibitors coming from outside France (versus 22% in 2025). 

A total of 3,478 business meetings also took place, up on 2025, confirming the success of the transformation undertaken over the past three years. The show now brings together, in one place, strategic debate, innovation, practical solutions and leading industry players, as illustrated this year by hosting CILOG and SELOA for the first time. 

 

« Attendance is rising, the exhibitor offering is expanding, and business meetings are also increasing; SITL is clearly meeting a strong need among professionals for an event capable of bringing together, over three days, feedback from the field and useful reference points in an unstable environment. » 

Jean-Charles Gillet, Director of SITL. 

 

CILOG AND SELOA: TWO FIRSTS THAT TAKE SITL TO A NEW LEVEL 

 

This year, the show’s central theme, “New territories to conquer”, took on a very tangible meaning. It provided a way to address issues of very different kinds — geopolitical, energy-related, technological, industrial and human — and to show how they translate very directly into the day-to-day decisions made by transport and logistics professionals. 

 

For the first time, SITL hosted CILOG (the Interministerial Logistics Committee), a forum for dialogue between public authorities and private-sector stakeholders on the national logistics strategy. In an industry directly exposed to rising costs, fragile flows and energy pressures, holding the committee within the show gave a new dimension to the discussions. It helped place logistics back at the heart of economic and industrial decision-making. 

 

The show also hosted SELOA (the Seminar on Outsourcing Operational Logistics for the Armed Forces) for the first time, focusing on defence logistics, force projection and cooperation between the armed forces and private operators. In a high-intensity context, this session highlighted the growing role of logistics in operational preparedness, strategic mobility and national resilience. 

 

SITL therefore brought together, at the same time and in the same place, two major first-time events that say a great deal about the position the sector now holds in public policy. 

 

STRONG INSTITUTIONAL AND INDUSTRY MOBILISATION 

 

This edition was marked by the presence of Philippe Tabarot, Minister for Transport, who came to open the show during the ribbon-cutting ceremony and delivered a speech reaffirming the central role of transport and logistics activities. Sébastien Martin, Minister Delegate for Industry, was by his side to underline the sector’s growing importance in today’s industrial landscape. 

 

The opening round table, “New territories to conquer”, which brought together Anne-Marie Idrac (President of France Logistique), Dimitri Serafimoff (President of CLECAT) and Sébastien Jean (Associate Director of IFRI), also set the tone for an edition shaped by resilience and competitiveness. 

 

On 2 April 2026, the Seminar on Outsourcing Operational Logistics for the Armed Forces (SELOA) joined SITL for the first time.

 

Organised by the Centre for Operational Support and Transport Coordination (CSOA), this 4th edition, held under the theme “High intensity, high mobility”, illustrated the ambition behind an event that has become strategic for both military stakeholders and major private supply chain operators.

This unprecedented partnership between SELOA and SITL reflects closer ties between the armed forces and a key ecosystem, at a time when resilience, deployment and operational logistics issues are becoming more central than ever.

The programme included:

SELOA 2026 was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Stanislas de Chargères du Breuil and Commissary General Olivier Marcotte, co-hosted with PFAT, and closed by General Pierre-Yves Rondeau.

True to its role as a hub for the wider ecosystem, the show brought together the leading organisations representing the main branches of transport and logistics — Union TLF, AUTF, OTRE, FNTR, AVERE, France Supply Chain, ADEME, DGITM, DGE, CGF, AFT, AFTRAL, GNTC and EVOLIS — all present to share analysis, proposals, partnerships and concrete initiatives. 

Several of them also used the event to formalise new partnerships and agreements, as illustrated by those signed by Union TLF with the Paris Police Prefecture and the National Guard, and by AUTF with ADEME.

 

 

A “DAYS” PROGRAMME FOR GREATER CLARITY 

 

One of the defining features of the 2026 edition was the structuring of content around themed Days. SITL therefore redesigned its editorial programme around clear thematic threads — European, Green, Logistic, Multimodal, Resilience & Risk and Maritime — designed to provide a clear reading of the issues, challenges and solutions shaping the sector. 

 

MÉTAMORPHOSE CENTER: AN EXPERIENTIAL HUB COMING INTO ITS OWN 

 

At the heart of the show, the Métamorphose Center is increasingly establishing itself, edition after edition, as a platform for inspiration, demonstration and action. Conferences, Tech’xplorations, Smart Solutions Tours, SITL Co-Lab, the Innovation Festival, the Solutions Desk and collaborative formats were all brought together there with the same objective: moving visitors from observation to use, from insight to implementation. 

Organised in partnership with BearingPoint, the Co-LAB sessions added a further dimension to this set-up, with small-group collaborative sessions focused on two structuring questions: logistics frugality as a new performance framework, and the growing role of agentic AI and robots in operations. Designed as spaces for exchanging ideas and co-constructing solutions, they helped bring out concrete courses of action and shared implementation conditions. 

 

 

The Métamorphose Center clearly embodied SITL’s ambition to move decisively beyond a simple showcase model and become a place where innovation is tested, compared and discussed as closely as possible to operational needs. The collaborative and immersive formats highlighted the value of an approach based not only on displaying solutions, but also on putting them into context and supporting their adoption.

The 2026 edition reflected the vitality of innovation across the sector, through the partnership with SprintProject for the Innovation Awards by SITL and the Start-up Contest by SITL.

The Innovation Awards by SITL recognised:

These winners, and more broadly the entries submitted to the competitions, highlighted innovation that is above all practical and operational, designed to reconcile logistics performance with the environmental transition. Logistics real estate is undergoing profound change, with sites that are increasingly shared, mixed-use and reversible; buildings themselves are becoming technological assets — multifunctional, sometimes energy-producing, and designed to support new charging solutions.

 

On the ground, innovation is also showing that people remain central, especially in the last mile, provided they are better equipped and training is strengthened. In warehouses, automation is advancing rapidly, but in a model that is more hybrid than fully substitutive. Finally, the biggest acceleration is coming from digital technology and data: interoperability, cybersecurity, real-time visibility and reliable forecasting are becoming structuring issues, while AI is gaining ground in TMS, document reading, video analysis, decision support and the automation of time-consuming tasks.

 

The Start-up Contest by SITL also reached a new milestone. Open for the first time to both exhibiting and non-exhibiting start-ups, it recognised Storm and OuiDrop, confirming the growing maturity of young companies and their ability to address some of the sector’s core challenges.

 

 

The 2026 edition gave greater visibility to humanitarian logistics issues through the show’s dedicated area. The presence of the CMA CGM Foundation around the PharmaBox, alongside organisations such as Aviation Sans Frontières, Bioport and the Agence du Don en Nature, served as a reminder that logistics can also be a driver of solidarity, resource pooling and collective efficiency.

For its part, the Campus continued its role as a space dedicated to employment, recruitment and training. This remains an important feature of the show, in a sector where attractiveness and skills-related challenges remain major issues. Throughout the event, France Travail and AFT helped bring this area to life by supporting candidates, recruiters and visitors with career guidance, job discovery and networking opportunities.

 

 

The ecosystem mobilised on a large scale, in all its diversity. The participation of decision-makers from transport, logistics, supply chain, institutions and leading shippers provided the clearest demonstration of this. Through conferences, speaking slots, immersive formats and exhibition areas, SITL brought the entire value chain into dialogue.

Among the companies present or represented throughout the show and its content were ORANGE, AMAZON, GEODIS, CEMEX, ESSITY, CEVA LOGISTICS, AXA CLIMATE, SNCF RÉSEAU, ARCELORMITTAL, DAHER, CHRONOPOST, RENAULT TRUCKS and EDF, along with many other major players.

 

“The sector is under pressure, but it is also highly resilient. The real issue today is no longer paralysis in the face of crises, but the ability to keep delivering, keep producing, make decisions quickly and turn constraints into levers for action. SITL is precisely the place where these issues are tested against reality, where the focus is less on concepts and more on solutions, feedback from the field and decisions that need to be made immediately.”  Jean-Charles Gillet, Director of SITL.