NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE AND TRADESHOW CIRCUIT roadtrip
the allure of Wal-Mart
THERE’S NO DENYING WAL-MART’S PULL AMONG SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGERS.
Last year, when a Wal-Mart executive spoke at a session of the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals’ annual global conference, attendees packed the aisles and
spilled out into the hallway.
The world’s largest retailer will be even more visible at this year’s conference, which
is slated for Sept. 20–23 in Chicago. CSCMP has announced that Gary Maxwell, the
company’s senior vice president of global supply chain, will deliver the conference’s
opening keynote address.
The conference, whose theme is “Ideas, Tools, Results,” will also include more than
200 professional education sessions as well as networking events and site tours. For
more information, visit CSCMP’s Web site, http://cscmp.org.
May 2–6
The Material Handling Equipment
Distributors Association’s Annual
Convention & Exhibitors’ Showcase in Palm Desert, Calif., includes
sessions on customer service, economic trends, and negotiations. For
information, visit www.mheda.org.
hold on to what you’ve got
There’s no doubt about it; finding new customers is getting tougher and tougher in these dismal
economic times. That’s all the more reason to make sure you hold on to the ones you’ve already
got. And it means the aftermarket will be more important than ever.
Service parts and aftermarket logistics for high-tech manufacturing and related industries will
be the focus of the Interlog Summer 2009 event in San Diego. Event organizers say the show is
designed to provide attendees with actionable strategies to increase their profit margins and
improve customer and product support.
Scheduled for June 15–17, the conference will feature presentations, workshops, and panel
discussions that address issues like how to turn aftermarket operations into a cost-containment
center, how to evaluate a service parts logistics model to determine the true cost of product support, and how to better manage the repair and returns process. The event includes presentations
by more than 30 executives from original equipment manufacturers like Cisco Systems, Fujitsu,
Abbott Laboratories, and Sony Electronics.
Attendees can also register for a pre-conference Reverse Logistics Optimization Summit. This
event focuses on return and exchange processes, repair/refurbishment programs, warranty
management solutions, and the reselling or disposal of parts. For more information, visit
www.wbresearch.com/interlogsmr/.
May 3–5
Cargo Network Services’ Partnership Conference 2009, to be held
in Carlsbad, Calif., will focus on how
to improve service across the entire
U.S. air-cargo logistics chain. For
information, visit www.cnsc.net.
May 5–7
Topics on the agenda for
Transplace’s 2009 Shipper Symposium include surviving in a tough
economy, evolving transportation
strategies, and career planning in
challenging times. The event takes
place in Dallas. For information, visit
symposium.transplace.com.
in it for the long haul
The choice is yours: You can either use the current recession as an opportunity to browbeat your third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) into giving you the lowest possible
rates, or you can work with them to create mutual value and survive the downturn together. Needless to say, the latter will almost certainly prove to be the more sustainable option.
Those who take the long-term view may want to attend eyefortransport’s seventh
annual 3PL Summit, which will be dedicated to best practices for strengthening the
provider-client relationship. The conference will bring together CEOs and senior managers from leading 3PLs—such as Ryder System, Maersk Logistics, and Transplace—
and logistics executives from multinational shippers like Home Depot, Kimberly-Clark, Pfizer, and ConocoPhillips. Panels of shippers and providers will address pricing pressures, risk management, and the economic outlook for the next 18 months.
The conference, which also includes a full slate of workshops, runs from June 22–24
in Atlanta. For more information, visit http://events.eyefortransport.com/3pl.
May 11–14
At RedShift:2009, RedPrairie and its
partners will demonstrate new retail
and supply chain applications and
technology, host training sessions,
and present case studies on best
practices. The event takes place in
San Antonio, Texas. For information,
visit www.redprairie.com/redshift.
May 13–15
Executives from companies like
Lego, Siemens AG, Ceva, and Maersk
Logistics will present case studies
demonstrating how they turned supply chain barriers into competitive
advantages at the Council of Supply
Chain Management Professionals’
Europe 2009 Conference in
Copenhagen, Denmark. For information, visit cscmp.org.