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Celebrating supply chain's greatest innovators

CSCMP's Supply Chain Hall of Fame recognizes creative thinkers who have been at the forefront of our discipline, and looks toward those who will continue to shape it in the future.

Rick Blasgen
By Rick BlasgenOct 23, 2016
Rick Blasgen
Rick Blasgen is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
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In the 21st century, we tend to think of world-changing ideas as originating within the technology sector. Not a day goes by without some news about Apple, Google, or other tech giants. So it's easy to forget that the world has benefited from important ideas developed by great innovators in other fields—including supply chain management.

And that's why CSCMP's board of directors chose to create the Supply Chain Hall of Fame. The Supply Chain Hall of Fame allows us to recognize creative thinkers who have been at the forefront of this growing and evolving discipline, and to look toward those who will continue to shape it in the future.

The inaugural Supply Chain Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held at CSCMP's 2016 Annual Conference in September. The initial class of inductees included all past winners of CSCMP's Distinguished Service Award. We also recognized three pioneers whose ideas and accomplishments dramatically reshaped not just the supply chain discipline, but also the world we know today:

  • Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company. Ford is best known for introducing the efficient mass production of automobiles. But he also revolutionized product design and manufacturing with techniques that have been adopted around the world.

  • Johnnie Bryan (J.B.) Hunt, founder of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. In 1989, Hunt and Santa Fe Railway President Mike Haverty sealed a deal to move freight from truck to rail. Their revolutionary joint venture heralded a new era for intermodal transportation.

  • Malcom McLean, developer of the intermodal shipping container. McLean's idea of improving productivity by loading ships' cargoes in steel containers quite literally changed the world. Without containerization, the global economy and standards of living would be far different than they are today.

    • CSCMP's board of directors, which is leading the Hall of Fame initiative, set a number of criteria for prospective inductees, who may be industry leaders or transformers, knowledge creators and communicators, or CSCMP Distinguished Service Award winners. These inductees were chosen for their thought leadership, creation or advancement of innovative technologies, and overall contributions to supply chain management. As Don Schneider, the founder of the transportation company Schneider National, used to say, "The purpose of the supply chain is to improve the life of every one of the world's citizens." The inaugural class of CSCMP's Supply Chain Hall of Fame did exactly that.

    Initially the Supply Chain Hall of Fame will be virtual—an online source of information where the general public can learn about inductees and their contribution to the industry—but we hope to develop a physical Hall of Fame in the future. If you'd like to learn more about this initiative and even submit a nomination for a future inductee, please visit our website, cscmp.org.

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