roadtrip
Jump start your year

Attendees of SMC3’s annual Jump Start conference will have a chance to start off the new year with some “supply chain straight talk” from top experts in the field.

As it does every year, SMC3 will bring together leading economists to discuss the outlook for the coming year and what it means for the supply chain. This year, technology leaders will also address topics such as how to get the most out of demand-driven supply chain technologies, how to build commercially viable supply chains for the virtual marketplace, and how to develop a mobility strategy. Other topics on the agenda include sustainability, multimodal transportation, packaging optimization, and best practices for procuring less-than-truckload services. The event will take place Jan. 21 through 23 in Atlanta. ( www.smc3jumpstart.com) ;

The ultimate supply chain dream is having all of the key players working together so well that it’s difficult to tell where one company stops and another begins. The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) will look at how to achieve this goal of “seamless integration” at its annual Retail Supply Chain Conference Feb. 17–20 in Orlando, Fla.

This year’s conference is divided into five tracks: international logistics and sourcing, transportation, distribution, multichannel, and inventory management. Topics range from lean management and dedicated fleet management to international container chassis supply models.

Every year, the conference attracts high-ranking executives from some of the country’s biggest-name retailers. This year is no exception. Laura Sen, CEO of BJ’s Wholesale, will be giving the keynote address. Other speakers include executives from Lowe’s, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and Sears. ( www.rila.org) ;

The seamless supply chain

Dealing with complexity

There’s no doubt about it, your job is not getting any easier. SKU proliferation, increasing customer demands, and high labor costs have all contributed to making distribution center management more and more complex.

While Georgia Tech’s Executive Education course “Engineering the Warehouse” will not make your life simpler, it will give you tools for managing that complexity. Participants will learn how to apply engineering and economic analysis to make such decisions as the best place to store a product, the best place to pick a product, and the cheapest and fastest way to get each product into the customer’s hands.

This class will also address such topics as best practices in order picking, warehouse analytics, issues and trends in automation, and benchmarking warehouse performance.