Here's our roundup of events at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' annual CSCMP EDGE 2017 conference held in September in Atlanta, Georgia.
With its focus on cutting-edge technologies, leadership development, and industry disruptors, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' annual conference lived up to its new name: CSCMP EDGE. Attendees at the event, held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in September, represented 39 countries and all facets of the supply chain. They came to gain a glimpse of the future of the discipline and celebrate the fact that, as CSCMP President and CEO Rick Blasgen (at left) said, "Supply chain managers are making the world smaller and a better place to live."
While there, attendees enjoyed three days of educational seminars, the annual Academic Research Symposium, site visits, networking receptions, and the Supply Chain Exchange exposition, which showcased supply chain technologies, equipment, and services.
Not able to attend the conference this year or unable to sample everything that was offered? This roundup of the conference's sessions and main events will help you fill in some of the gaps.
CSCMP bestows 2017 awards for excellence
Every year at its annual conference CSCMP recognizes individuals and organizations that are helping to push the supply chain discipline to new heights. The following are some of the recognitions given out this year.
The 2017 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Dr. Nancy Nix, executive director of the industry association Achieving Women's Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, and Education (AWESOME).
Nix; Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon; and George Laurer, the inventor of the Universal Product Code (UPC), were inducted into CSCMP's Supply Chain Hall of Fame.
Nathan Chaney of the logistics and transportation company Mainfreight and David Perez of the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield received the 2017 Emerging Leader Award for outstanding supply chain professionals age 30 and under.
Dr. Jeffrey J. Risher of Southeastern Louisiana University won the Doctoral Dissertation Award for his paper "From Offshoring to Reshoring: A Conceptual Framework for Manufacturing Locations Decisions in a Slow-Steam World."
The Bernard J. La Londe Best Paper Award was given to Monique L. Murfield, Terry L. Esper, Wendy L. Tate, and Kenneth J. Petersen for "Supplier Role Conflict: An Investigation of its Relational Implications and Impact on Supplier Accommodation."
Brian Fugate and Jon Johnson of the University of Arkansas and Saif Mir of the College of Charleston received the E. Grosvenor Plowman Award for their research paper "Persuasive Communication Pathway: Influencing SCM Partners to Work Voluntarily on Sustainability Initiatives."
TransCelerate BioPharma Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and GlaxoSmithKline won the Supply Chain Innovation Award for creating a collaborative network that improves the supply chain for medicines used in clinical drug trials.
New CSCMP board members begin their terms
CSCMP EDGE marked the start of the 2017-18 term for the association's board of directors. The following officially took office at CSCMP's annual meeting, which was held during the conference:
Board of Directors Chair: Remko van Hoek, independent advisor and former sourcing, procurement, and supply chain executive
Immediate Past Chair: Mary Long, managing director of the Supply Chain Management Institute at the University of San Diego
Board Chair-elect: Mark Baxa, vice president of global procurement, strategic sourcing, at Monsanto
Board Vice Chair: Michelle Meyer, director of supply chain management, PwC
Secretary/Treasurer: Brian Gibson, Wilson Family Professor of Supply Chain Management, Auburn University
CSCMP session sampler
With 18 tracks, three keynote presentations, and nearly 100 educational sessions, CSCMP EDGE 2017 attendees had a wide variety of educational opportunities to choose from. Here are highlights of just a few that sparked interest at the conference.
The power of stories. Opening keynote speaker Matthew Luhn, who has crafted a string of blockbuster animated films for Pixar Studios, explained the value of telling a compelling story. "A story," he explained, "is 22 times more memorable than facts alone." How does that advice apply to supply chain management? Luhn said that a supply chain professional's story could be the mission statement or vision for a business, what they want to do to transform customers' lives, or how they intend to turn everyday life upside down.
Support for truck platooning. Commercial motor vehicle "platooning," where a string of driverless trucks follows behind a lead vehicle with a driver, is a safe and sensible idea that needs more support from the freight transport and logistics community, said Mary (Missy) Cummings, director of Duke University's Humans and Autonomy Laboratory. Cummings also predicted the development of highly automated "super-dispatch" centers that will function like control towers to manage the movement of vehicles and their interaction with intelligent roads.
Why truck rates are rising. Trucking executives have long warned that a sustained U.S. economic recovery paired with a shortage of trucks and drivers would lead to significantly higher freight rates. That moment may finally have come, said a panel of trucking executives. Spot rates, which have been surging for months, will continue to climb, and contract rates, which lag the spot market by three to six months, will follow a similar trajectory, they predicted. Derek J. Leathers, president and CEO of truckload carrier Werner Enterprises Inc., said the industry is experiencing freight demand that "it hasn't seen in a long time."
Trust the data. Before supply chain organizations can apply artificial intelligence (AI), they must first learn to trust the data that underlies the technology, said speakers in a session titled "The Artificial Intelligence-Based Supply Chain." Panelist Alejandra Dorronsoro of GP Cellulose suggested three ways to convince a company to trust the results of an AI project: 1) tie the project to solving a specific problem; 2) educate colleagues that AI is not the "Star Wars" product many people imagine; and 3) prove that the project can produce a profitable business value.
Digitization marches on. Digitization of supply chain management procedures will take on greater importance as order-to-delivery times continue to compress, said a panel of top executives during one of the three "mega-sessions" offered on the last day of the conference. This digitization, however, need not be complex to yield significant savings. For example, General Electric Co. (GE) discovered that its business units were paying different prices for the same product. By "pulling data together and doing basic analytics," GE resolved the issues and, in the process, saved US$40 million, said Jennifer Schopfer, a vice president with GE Transportation. Barbara Schwarzentraub, director of global supply chain and operations for Caterpillar Inc., said that her company's push into 3-D printing, with its goal of printing more parts on-site rather than waiting for them to be shipped from a factory or a warehouse, "will change all of our physical networks."
Customer-centric focus drives innovation. Amazon's vice president of logistics, Ed Feitzinger, spoke about how innovation is helping his company meet growing demands. The message is simple: It all starts with the customer. If you focus on customer satisfaction as the primary driver of your business, force yourself to meet customer demands, and create a supply chain around them, you will open up your business to innovations that can have a real impact not just on the customer but also on costs, he said.
The venture-backed fleet telematics technology provider Platform Science will acquire a suite of “global transportation telematics business units” from supply chain technology provider Trimble Inc., the firms said Sunday.
Trimble's other core transportation business units — Enterprise, Maps, Vusion and Transporeon — are not included in the proposed transaction and will remain part of Trimble's Transportation & Logistics segment, with a continued focus on priority growth areas following completion of the proposed transaction.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but as part of this agreement, Colorado-based Trimble will become a shareholder in Platform Science's expanded business. Specifically, Trimble will have a 32.5% stake in the newly expanded global Platform Science business and will receive a Platform Science board seat. The company joins C.R. England, Cummins, Daimler Truck, PACCAR, Prologis, RyderVentures, and Schneider as a key strategic investor in Platform Science along with financial investors 8VC, Activant Capital, BDT & MSD Partners, Softbank, and NewRoad Capital Partners.
According to San Diego-based Platform Science, the proposed transaction aims to enhance driver experience, fleet safety, efficiency, and compliance by combining two cutting-edge in-cab commercial vehicle ecosystems, which will give customers access to more applications and offerings.
From Trimble customers’ point of view, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of their Trimble solutions, with the added flexibility of the Virtual Vehicle platform from Platform Science. That means Virtual Vehicle-enabled fleets will receive access to the Virtual Vehicle Marketplace, offering hundreds of new and expanded applications, software, and solution providers focused on innovating and improving drivers' quality of life and fleet performance.
Meanwhile, Platform Science customers will enjoy the added choice of Trimble's remaining portfolio of transportation solutions which will be available on the Virtual Vehicle platform, the partners said.
"We believe combining our global transportation telematics portfolio with Platform Science's will further advance fleet mobility and provide our customers with a broader portfolio of solutions to solve industry problems," Rob Painter, president and CEO of Trimble, said in a release. "Increased collaboration between the new Platform Science business and Trimble's remaining transportation businesses will enhance our ability to provide positive outcomes for our global customers of commercial mapping, transportation management, freight procurement, and visibility solutions. This deal will result in significant synergies along with tremendous opportunities for employees to continue to grow in a more-competitive business."
The acquisition comes just five months after Platform Science raised $125 million in growth capital from some of the biggest names in freight trucking, saying the money would help accelerate innovation in the commercial transportation sector.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in August, though growth slowed slightly from July, according to the most recent Logistics Manager’s Index report (LMI), released this week.
The August LMI registered 56.4, down from July’s reading of 56.6 but consistent with readings over the past four months. The August reading represents nine straight months of growth across the logistics industry.
The LMI is a monthly gauge of economic activity across warehousing, transportation, and logistics markets. An LMI above 50 indicates expansion, and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Inventory levels saw a marked change in August, increasing more than six points compared to July and breaking a three-month streak of contraction. The LMI researchers said this suggests that after running inventories down, companies are now building them back up in anticipation of fourth-quarter demand. It also represents a return to more typical growth patterns following the accelerated demand for logistics services during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lows of the recent freight recession.
“This suggests a return to traditional patterns of seasonality that we have not seen since pre-COVID,” the researchers wrote in the monthly LMI report, published Tuesday, adding that the buildup is somewhat tempered by increases in warehousing capacity and transportation capacity.
The LMI report is based on a monthly survey of logistics managers from across the country. It tracks industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
That hiring surge marks a significant jump in relation to the company’s nearly 17,000 current employees across North America, adding 21% more workers.
That increase is necessary because U.S. holiday sales in 2023 increased 3.9% year-over-year as consumer spending grew even amidst uncertain economic times and trends like inflation and consumer price sensitivity. Looking at the coming peak, a similar pattern is projected for this year, with shoppers forecasted to drive a 4.8% increase in holiday retail sales for 2024, Geodis said, citing data from Emarketer.
To attract the extra workforce, Geodis says it will offer competitive wages, peak premium pay incentives, peak and referral bonuses, an expedited payment option, and flexible schedules. And it’s using an AI-powered chatbot named Sophie to serve as a virtual recruiting assistant.
“We acknowledge the immense responsibility we have to our customers to deliver exceptional service every day, and this is especially true during peak season,” Anthony Jordan, GEODIS in Americas Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said in a release. “Because peak season is the most business-critical sales period of the year for many of our retail clients, expanding our workforce is vital to ensure we have a flexible, dynamic team that can handle anticipated surges in demand.”