CSCMP’s ‘out of this world’ conference

Attendees will gain insights into the longest supply chains—those that reach into outer space.

   Talk about long supply chains.
   Attendees at this year’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) conference should get a view into the world’s longest supply chains.
   The meeting will feature an address by Capt. Scott Kelly, the astronaut who returned earlier to earth in March after a year in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
   Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko departed for the ISS on March 27, 2015, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and returned to Kazakhstan on March 2, 2016.
   During Kelly’s stay, two ISS resupply missions with unmanned spacecraft failed.
   The Progress M-27M resupply mission was launched on April 28, 2015, but a malfunction occurred during upper-stage burn and the spacecraft eventually fell into the Pacific Ocean weeks later on May 8.
   The Space X CRS-7 resupply mission, which was launched on June 28, 2015, also failed as the rocket disintegrated 139 seconds after takeoff.
   NASA Administrator Charles Bolden noted the astronauts had sufficient supplies for several months and five unmanned resupply missions reached the ISS from Russia and Japan and the United States later in 2015.
   Part of the purpose of the mission was to determine the health effects of long-term spaceflight, and medical experiments on Kelly were aided by the fact that his twin brother Mark was also an astronaut. Scott Kelly retired from NASA in April shortly after his year in space, while Mark Kelly had retired in 2011, a few months after the assassination attempt on his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
   Interestingly for logistics professionals, both the Kelly brothers graduated from maritime academies: Scott from the State University of New York’s Maritime College at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx and Mark from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island.
   The CSCMP meeting at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla. near Orlando on Sept. 25-28 will also feature general session addresses by Seth Bodnar, chief digital officer of GE Transportation; and Mark Schulman, a pop rock drummer and motivational speaker.
   Prior to his current role, Bodnar was a general manager in GE’s Cab Electronics business, which focused on innovating and delivering onboard computer systems and train control solutions to the rail industry.
   Bodnar said last year that “a more digital rail system means freight is delivered faster, more reliably and at lower cost.”
   The meeting will also present Chris Caplice, executive director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, with CSCMP’s 2016 Distinguished Service Award for “being a leader in supply chain management, from his involvement in education, to his innovative work in identifying and developing technologies that have contributed to the improved efficiency and effectiveness of transportation, logistics, and supply chain processes,” said Rick Blasgen, president and the chief executive officer of CSCMP. “He has had a dramatic impact in shaping the supply chain discipline as we know it.”
   Blasgen noted there will be 16 tracks at the conference, which “attempt to cover the entire gamut of supply chain.” Usually the conference attracts from 3,100 to 3,500 attendees.
   One of goals CSCMP has for the annual meeting, Blasgen said, is getting “the best speakers from companies who are willing to speak and share experiences.”
   He said the program will have not only individual speakers, but many panels and debates.
   “We are really trying to bring the ability to be interactive at our conference this year,” he said, adding that participants will be able to use an “app” to interact and even create ad-hoc meetings to address current events such as verified gross mass for containers, Brexit’s supply chain impacrs, and changing fuel prices.
   The conference will feature follow-up discussion to the 27th edition CSCMP’s State of Logistics report, published in June and researched and authored for the first time by A.T. Kearney, which Blasgen said “has more detail on modes and what is happening in the state of logistics as it relates to the greater supply chain in the U.S.”
   Blasgen said education continues to be a major focus of CSCMP. The council has set up a program called SCPro that allows industry professionals to deepen their supply chain management knowledge, skills and abilities, and earn certification.
   CSCMP offers three levels of SCPro certification. For the first, students must pass a 160-question exam; for the second they must prepare a case study with a strategic focus; and the third requires an individual to demonstrate supply chain mastery on the job by completing a project under the guidance of a mentor. 
   “A lot more companies are asking us to ‘create a customized educational event for our organization.’ They want something in person that can be interactive—not everything can be done online, even though we have a great amount of content online as well,” Blasgen said.  
   Several companies such as Coca Cola, Disney and Schreiber Foods have set up corporate programs where all of their supply chain employees can go through the SCPro program.  
   Blasgen said CSCMP has even stepped up focus on the roundtables of its local chapters, trying to assist them in creating interesting programs.
   “Many companies and people are willing to give their expertise locally,” he said.
   Blasgen also chairs the federal government’s 45 member Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, which advises the U.S. Commerce Department.
   He feels the committee has had an impact on federal policy, sending recommendations on single window systems to streamline reporting of imports and exports to the federal government, how to reduce port congestion, and measure supply chain competitiveness.
   For details about the upcoming conference, access the CSCMP website at www.cscmp.org.