Knoxville, Tenn., was the place to be last month if you were looking for supply chain heavy hitters. Executives from 30 companies, all with titles of vice president of supply chain or above, gathered at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Global Supply Chain Institute for the inaugural meeting of a new advisory board.

UT Knoxville set up the advisory board with two objectives in mind: to solicit advice from supply chain leaders on its domestic and global supply chain programs, and to give these leaders a venue for discussing the latest supply chain trends and benchmark best practices. The board will meet quarterly through a Web conference.

"This is a unique opportunity for senior supply chain executives to compare notes on issues that keep them up at night," said J. Paul Dittmann, the institute's director, in a statement.

Attendees at the inaugural meeting represented such varied industries as office products, online services, technology, transportation, aerospace and defense, apparel, dining, and pharmaceuticals. Just a few of the famous names represented: Amazon, Boeing, Caterpillar, ConAgra, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Lowe's, and Office Max.

To learn more about the institute, visit http://GlobalSupplyChainInstitute.utk.edu.