CSCMP, Steve Jobs, Supply Chain Innovation

The 2011 Annual CSCMP Conference was a blur. Philadelphia provided great weather, an excellent venue and even some exciting moments with the Phillies and Eagles on Sunday the opening day of the conference.  Excellent attendance, some great sessions and of course tons of networking opportunities among the attendees.  Of particular interest to me was the Roundtable luncheon on Tuesday - it seemed that each regional Roundtable was not only well represented but several seemed to be bursting at the seams.  International attendance seemed particularly strong this year.

 
                                    CSCMP Annual Conference - Roundtable Luncheon

I admit I have a vested interest in the Chicago and Arizona Roundtables and both of those were extremely well attended.  The Arizona Rountable will be hosting their 5th Annual CSCMP-AZ Symposium at ASU SkySong in Scottsdale on November 8th and I encourage any CSCMP members in/around AZ at the time to attend.

Innovation continued to be a common theme among many of the exhibitors at the Supply Chain of the Future with a particular focus on cost savings, productivity and continuous supply chain performance improvement.  Kiva stole the show with a very nice working demo of their solutions and Llamasoft seemed to attracting a lot of attention with their solutions aimed at helping to optimize supply chain performance and reduce costs.

Sadly, following the conference we all learned of the passing of Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder and visionary.  The continued emergence of iPad technology, iPhones (and other smartphones to be fair), cloud technology is very encouraging.  Steve Jobs' vision and product developments have clearly had an impact on us as consumers, as well as practioners in supply chain. Supply chain techology and solution providers continue to push the envelope with their applications as more and more new college grads step into the world of supply chain and demand more from their companies and solution providers - it's a fascinating trend to be a part of.  With that, I'll close with a thank you to those schools and universities that are cranking out some fantastic new supply chain grads and to the entire CSCMP organization and volunteers for putting together a fantastic conference.  See you next year in Atlanta!

2011 Annual CSCMP Conference Kicking Off

It's hard to believe it's that time again, but the 2011 Annual CSCMP Conference is about to kick off.  The event is being held in Philadelphia and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of industry friends and associates.  There will be plenty of educational sessions and panel discussions around the latest and greatest developments in supply chain from productivity, software, HR issues, green initiatives and more.  I'll be updating my blog with events, happenings and hot topics from CSCMP over the next few days.  I look forward to seeing you in Philadephia!