ProMat 2011: Here to pump you up
YOU CAN THINK OF MATERIAL HANDLING AND LOGISTICS
equipment as the muscles of your supply chain: lifting, moving,
wrapping, tracking, and holding your product safe. Which begs the
question: Are your supply chain muscles strong enough?
What better place to find out than the “City of the Big Shoulders”?
ProMat, the nation’s largest exhibition of material handling and
logistics equipment, systems, and technologies, returns to Chicago
from March 21–24. Sponsored by the Material
Handling Industry of America (MHIA), the show
is expected to attract more than 700 exhibitors to
McCormick Place South.
Exhibitors will showcase the following types of
technologies and services:
▪ Material handling equipment and systems,
▪ Packaging, containers, and shipping
equipment,
▪ Inventory management and controlling
technologies,
▪ Dock and warehouse equipment and
supplies,
▪ Consultants and distribution system
planners, and
▪ Automatic identification equipment and
systems.
NOT ALL BRAWN …
The event won’t be all lift trucks, conveyors, and
pallets, however. There will also be opportunities
for attendees to stretch their minds. In addition
to the exhibition, ProMat includes an educational conference.
The conference opens with a keynote address by Tom Ridge, the
first U.S. secretary of homeland security. In his address, “Fortune
Favors the Brave: The Net Gain of Supply Chain Security in a Risk-Based World,” Ridge will share his views on the risks facing global
supply chains, which include terrorism, natural disasters, supplier
issues, and geopolitical events like the revolution in Egypt. He will
discuss how to minimize the risks and build resiliency.
The following day, representatives from NASA and General Motors
will lead a session on next-generation robots. The presenters will
describe how they worked together to develop “Robonaut 2 (R2),” a
state-of-the-art dexterous humanoid robot that can perform simple,
repetitive, or dangerous tasks and can handle a wide range of tools
and interfaces.
The conference also features two educational tracks. Dan Boos of
Boos Consulting Services will lead a track titled “The people side of
the supply chain.” Topics include “How to capi-
talize on diversity in the workforce,” “Preparing
people for the workforce,” “What a peer learning
group can do for your career,” “My aspirations:
20-somethings sound off on what makes them
tick,” “What are you worth and why?” and
“Keeping top talent as the economy recovers.”
Speakers include DC
VELOCITY’S own Group
Editorial Director Mitch Mac
Donald, who will present the
results of our 2011 salary
survey.
