inbound
It’s just weeks away now. On Sept.
24, logistics professionals from all
over the world will gather in Atlanta
for CSCMP Edge, the new name for
the annual conference of the Council
of Supply Chain Management
Professionals (CSCMP).
More than 3,000 supply chain
leaders are expected to attend the
three-day event, which will offer
100-plus educational sessions and
over 25 hours of networking opportunities. Session topics include supply chain leadership, finance in supply chain, and order fulfillment and
customer service. Attendees can earn
CEUs (Continuing Education Units)
for each day they attend the show.
Keynote speakers include:
b Matthew Luhn from Pixar
Animation Studio, who will discuss
how big data can be used to help
craft compelling stories and enable
companies to make more meaning-
ful connections with customers,
b Mary “Missy” Cummings, a
professor at Duke University and
director of the school’s Humans and
Autonomy Laboratory, who will talk
about the future of artificial intelli-
gence (AI) in logistics, and
b Major MJ Hegar, former U.S.
Air National Guard pilot, who will
tell her harrowing tale of saving her
team from being captured by the
Taliban after their Medevac helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan.
In addition to sharing her own war
stories, Hegar will provide practical advice on leadership, diversity,
teamwork, and how to be a catalyst
for change.
Conference attendees will also
have the opportunity to visit the
Supply Chain Exchange exhibition,
where they can check out the latest
supply chain equipment, systems,
and technologies.
For more information or to register for the conference, go to cscmp.
org.
Close to the Edge
Visitors to wildlife sanctuaries or nature preserves can take along a handy
bird book or wildflower guide for help identifying the local flora and fauna.
But what if your interests run more to infrastructure and logistics? Where
do you turn for help identifying the colorful shipping containers you see
stacked up on ships, in intermodal yards, and on the docks?
The answer is The Container Guide, a 140-
page pocket-sized waterproof field guide to
shipping containers and the global companies
that own them. Authors Tim Hwang and
Craig Cannon published the bright orange
guidebook in 2015 after raising more than
$20,000 on the online crowdfunding platform
Kickstarter.
“The Container Guide, drawing inspiration from classic Audubon birding
guides, is a practical field guide to identifying containers and the corpora-
tions that own them,” the authors wrote in their Kickstarter pitch. “The
included photographs, logos, and container colors will help you quickly
identify the corporation behind almost any container you spot in the wild.
Each company’s corresponding entry provides rich historical background
and data on [its] revenue, trade routes, and habits.”
Can’t wait to get started? You can order the book on Amazon.com.
Finally! A field guide for container-spotters
Just hours after its 30-hour Prime Day promotional blitz ended, online retail
giant Amazon.com Inc. began hitting the media channels with its official
recap of the event. In an almost giddy account of the results of promotion,
which it termed “the biggest global shopping event in Amazon history,” the
e-tailer reported that sales on July 10/11 surpassed Black Friday and Cyber
Monday, and that more new members joined its Prime subscription service
on July 11 than on any other single day in Amazon history.
What that official recap left out, however, was an account of the hijinks
that took place behind the scenes. For instance, unless you were a close follower of the company’s “Amazon Fulfillment” Twitter feed, you probably
missed out on another highlight of Prime Day—the silly costumes worn by
warehouse workers to commemorate the event.
In one tweet from an Amazon facility in Ashburn, Va., a burly bearded
employee modeled the green tutu and sparkly fairy wings he had slipped
on over his neon yellow safety vest, before capping
off the fashionable ensemble with a bright blue wig.
Another tweet showed a young woman dressed as
Quailman, an imaginary superhero from the 1994
animated Nickelodeon TV series ”Doug.” Posed in
classic superhero fashion with fists on her hips, she
stood next to an enormous statue of Wonder Woman
made from the company’s familiar cardboard shipping boxes.
The Twitter feed showed no sign that Amazon
founder and CEO Jeff Bezos wore anything more creative than his customary business suit and open-collared shirt. Maybe next year …
A Prime opportunity for warehouse antics
