It was hot in San Antonio when the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) held its annual global conference there in late September. Fall had yet to reach that deep into Texas, but 2,500 supply chain professionals did make the trek.
Now that I've had time to recuperate, here are a few random reflections on the event:
- There's an app for that. The CSCMP conference app seemed a hit with attendees, who used it to navigate among the dozens of educational sessions covering just about everything under the supply chain sun. One of the frustrations of attending a conference of this scale is choosing just what to attend, and the app appeared to help.
- The future of supply chain management is in good hands, if the young professionals I met are any indication. I had the good fortune to sit at a dinner next to the recipients of this year's Emerging Leader Awards: Susan Conley, program specialist at Caterpillar Inc., and Mengxiao (Michelle) Zhang, team lead, lean logistics and operations at LeanCor Supply Chain Group. Both young women were engaging, intelligent, curious, and certainly well informed on supply chain issues. CSCMP created the award to recognize outstanding supply chain management and logistics professionals, age 30 and under, for their contributions to and potential future influence on these two disciplines.
- At the other end of the experience spectrum, Mike Regan, TranzAct Technologies Inc.'s chief of relationship development, received the group's distinguished service award. It was well deserved. He is not only a successful entrepreneur and innovator in his own right, but he has also long been in the forefront as an advocate for the profession and for organizations like CSCMP. It is hard to name anyone who merited the recognition more.
- Speaking of hot, a few topics seemed hotter than others, providing a good indication of what's top of mind for supply chain pros. Some we've heard about before—the driver shortage and the effects of regulation on business operations, for example. Others have only lately risen to the fore. Omnichannel was perhaps the issue most often at the forefront this year. Retailers and their suppliers continue to try to understand it and implement their own variations on the strategy. (By the way, look for our special supplement on omnichannel in our November issue.)
- Finally, and as always seems to be the case at events like these, much of the education and the value came in the times between sessions and at meals. The networking and the exchange of ideas and recent experiences once again proved worth the trip in and of themselves.
- CSCMP will hold its next annual conference from Sept. 27-30, 2015, in San Diego. The organization has already started preparations.
