DC Velocity - May 2009

roadtrip

ProMat comes to you

Even if the bitter winds off Lake Michigan kept you from attending the ProMat show in Chicago this past January, you don’t have to miss out on the seminars presented at the biennial material handling extravaganza. The Material Handling Industry of America is now offering all of the show’s educational sessions as webinars.

These webinars offer in-depth education on best practices, the latest equipment and technology innovations, and leading supply chain trends. Users can choose from almost 100 presentations on topics like inventory flow, supply chain visibility, data capture and information management, green initiatives, and that perennial favorite: cost-saving ideas. To view the sessions, go to www.ProMatShow.com and click on “ educational conferences.”

a conference of a different color

Go green! Build Blu (Ray)! Stay out of the red! While most conference planners organize their agendas around topics like “customer service” or “technology,” the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy has taken a more colorful approach.

The conference, whose theme is “Maximizing Home Entertainment Sales & Profits in Turbulent Times,” devotes a half day to each of the three topics. The green/sustainability sessions will focus on the environmental impact of the physical-media supply chain. The Blu-Ray sessions will look at how this new technology will affect the home entertainment supply chain. The “Focus on the Future” sessions will examine ways in which entertainment companies can use existing and emerging technologies to control costs and stay in the black.

The conference runs from June 23–24 in Los Angeles. For more information, visit http://entertainmentsupplychain.com.

time to rethink your strategy?

The current economic crisis has many rethinking what have long been considered immutable supply chain “truths.” Take the Dell model, for example. Just a few years back, Dell’s innovative make-to-order approach was touted as a model of ultra-efficient supply chain management. But then Dell’s fortunes turned south, forcing the company to retrench and rethink its strategy. At next month’s European Supply Chain and Logistics Summit, Mike Gray, supply chain director at Dell, will reveal how and why Dell is moving from a build-to-order to a build-to-stock strategy.

Gray’s presentation is just one of several conference sessions that will focus on strategy reassessment. Others will look at whether low-cost country sourcing is still viable and the case for retreating from globalization.