4 DC VELOCITY OCTOBER 2015 www.dcvelocity.com
inbound
There’s plenty to be said for today’s interconnected global economy, but there’s a
downside as well. That is, an unexpected
event in one corner of the globe can ripple through the world’s supply chain and
affect partners around the planet.
The best business leaders know how to
manage uncertainty and ride out these
inevitable storms, says Yossi Sheffi, director of the Center for Transportation and
Logistics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) and author of The
Resilient Enterprise.
That task has never been harder than in our interconnected
global economy, Sheffi argues in his latest book, The Power of
Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected. Using
case studies featuring companies that have survived disruptions,
Sheffi shows that modern vulnerabilities call for innovative
processes and for embedding corporate resilience and risk management in the very fabric of the corporation. As an example, he
cites the case of Intel—a company whose preparedness and risk
management program allowed it to weather the 2011 Japanese
tsunami.
To emerge from these challenges, companies must focus on
corporate responsibility, cybersecurity, long-term disruptions,
business continuity planning, emergency operations centers,
detection, and systemic disruptions, Sheffi says.
The National Industrial Transportation
League (NITL) will hold its annual conference and freight exhibition from Nov.
16–19 in New Orleans. In addition to the
exhibition, the show will feature four educational sessions, led by industry experts:
; The economy is moving again… but which
way and how fast? Providing a straightforward macroeconomic perspective on global
economic trends, Walter Kemmsies, chief
economist at Moffatt & Nichol, will share
his expertise in freight transportation and
infrastructure project analysis.
; Truck and rail: headwinds or tailwinds?
Led by analyst Larry Gross, president of
Gross Transportation Consulting and a
senior consultant and partner at FTR, this
session will explore the interplay of market
forces that shape carrier and customer perspectives on rail and truck freight markets.
; Transportation regulations today and
tomorrow. The chairman of the Surface
Transportation Board, Daniel R. Elliott
III, and chairman of the Federal Maritime
Commission, Mario Cordero, will lead a
candid discussion about transportation
regulation in the 21st century, sharing their
perspectives on law and precedent, the
deliberative process, their agencies’ core
values, and more.
; It’s a new day in global shipping—we
hope! The question on everybody’s mind
is whether 2016 will bring a reprieve from
the past year’s shipping industry challenges,
from port congestion and chassis shortages
to long truck turn times and protracted
labor contract disputes. IHS Maritime and
Trade Senior Director Peter Tirschwell will
lead a discussion on the topic with Port of
Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup,
Port of Virginia CEO and Executive Director
John Reinhart, and Curtis Whalen, executive director of the American Trucking
Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers
Conference.
For more information and to register,
visit www.nitl.org/annual.htm.
NITL conference and
freight exhibition rolls into
New Orleans
New book examines risk management
The British-Dutch consumer-goods company Unilever is this
year’s recipient of the prestigious Salzberg Medallion, awarded
annually by The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse
University to individuals and organizations for their contribu-
tions in transportation, logistics, and supply chain management.
Unilever earned the award for its performance in supply chain
sustainability, according to a statement from the Whitman School
and the H.H. Franklin Center for Supply Chain Management.
As a global corporation that distributes food, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products around the world, Unilever
has become a leader in supply chain sustainability thanks to its
philosophy that a healthy environment leads to a healthy business. Unilever has applied these values to its operations in 190
countries, setting a supply chain industry benchmark for initiatives such as zero-waste programs and sustainable sourcing,
school officials said.
Salzberg Medallion candidates are nominated each year by
former recipients and other distinguished practitioners in the
transportation and supply chain management professions.
Unilever receives Salzberg Medallion
