A paradigm shift: Jump Start 2022 breaks new ground on day two
Authored by SMC³ on January 31, 2022
Infrastructure, dynamic pricing, final mile, reverse logistics and technology spark the conversation
There’s always been a push and pull at the heart of the supply chain – and today, it’s about much more than basic supply and demand. Jump Start 2022 has focused on some of those dualities: capacity and cost; recruitment and development; local and national; opportunity and challenge; growth and change. Here’s how day two of the event put those in context and center stage.
“The last two years have taught us all a lot,” said Yellow Corporation President & COO Darrel Harris in Tuesday’s opening keynote. “They really put our industry front and center and allowed people to appreciate just how fragile the supply chain really is … it’s not just about brick-and-mortar, rolling inventory and shortages. It’s about all of those things and how they fit in our daily life.”
In the words of session host Bill Cassidy, senior editor of trucking & domestic transportation at JOC, “This isn’t your grandparents’ infrastructure conversation.”
The transportation industry used to be able to talk about supply chain infrastructure in terms of highways, bridges, ports and intermodal; today, people, technology, fluidity and safety are as much a part of the conversation as any mode.
The pair went on to explain that grappling with the new technology, tools and money available to supply chain infrastructure will mean a fundamental change in how we envision the very concept. Consider the impact of expanding internet access on nationwide ecommerce; how the advancement of electric and autonomous vehicles will change transportation in the near- and long-term; the power of carriers to leverage local relationships to affect regional change.
“This is a great opportunity for trucking to make a lot of noise,” Harris said. “And I mean the right kind of noise.”
That simmering potential ran through every one of the day’s exciting presentations and panels. Reverse logistics and final mile deliveries have been thrust into the spotlight with the ecommerce boom; LTL dynamic pricing models will continue to shift to more sophisticated paradigms and the day ran heavy on the idea that 2022 is just a small taste of the supply chain world to come.
In breakout sessions, attendees dove deep on enhancing LTL through data and analytics, the value of a single enterprise app to synchronize LTL operations, and more. Even in automation, the human element is still essential. In “Driving the New Supply Chain through Customized Applications,” panelists discussed the growing pains of 5G and IoT in the transportation industry, the limitations of disparate data and just how far machine learning can take trucking today.
While everyone agreed it’s too early to know exactly how the $1 trillion-plus infrastructure bill will manifest in the supply chain, thought leaders James Burnley and Jason Moss worked to separate the partitions, including $550 billion to traditional highway programs and another $350 billion to create new programs in surface transportation, including transit, passenger rail, bike trails, hiking and more.
James Burnley, partner at Venable LLP, said the omnibus bill represents a change in direction in terms of how federal money is spent – one in which voices from both the supply and demand sides will be critical to advocating for the needs of tomorrow’s supply chain.
As Harris said in his opening keynote, “Everyone wants to be part of building the future.”
The three-day Jump Start 2022 supply chain conference facilitates meaningful knowledge transfer and collaboration between logistics and transportation professionals from carrier, shipper, logistics service provider and technology verticals. To learn more about SMC³ supply chain conferences, visit https://www.smc3.com/supply-chain-education.htm