Day two of the Jump Start 2020 supply chain conference featured the presentation of the Alliance Awards, which is given out each January at the Jump Start logistics event. The award recognizes shippers and service providers that collaborate to overcome significant supply chain issues. Winners craft innovative solutions to extraordinary challenges. Additional highlights included a customer-service panel featuring representatives from The Home Depot, Chick-fil-A and UPS Capital and an in-depth panel about transportation regulations.

Speaking on the first day of Jump Start 2020, Joe Thiesmann gave a rousing keynote address while conference chair Eric Stone, senior manager of domestic sourcing and supplier performance at Johnson & Johnson, ended his brief presentation by showing the audience how to create value in the freight transportation procurement process. While price is important, his team also considers the sustainability programs at their carrier partners, the diversity of those suppliers, and the companies’ commitment to new technology.

Speakers at SMC³‘s Jump Start 2020 supply chain conference, coming to Atlanta this January, will explore emerging trends, current challenges and new innovations in the supply chain. Eric Stone, Johnson and Johnson’s senior manager of domestic sourcing and supplier performance, recently took the time to discuss the current state of the transportation market, which previews his remarks from the Jump Start stage, as well as how he thinks shippers benefit from attending SMC³ conferences.

Jump Start 2020, a three-day logistics and supply chain conference held this January in Atlanta, is one of many transportation events held throughout the country in 2020. SMC³ has worked tirelessly to create the ideal environment for qualitative, valuable networking and industry education. So why should you attend?

The optimal way to understand the intricacies of today’s supply chain environment is to participate in an educationally focused transportation conference. Events hosted by a reliable company with decades of industry expertise arm attendees with new supply chain ideas and transportation tools.

New technology and the introduction of innovative supply chain solutions into established processes is one way to combat transportation issues. Brian Thompson of SMC³ sees the uptick in technology adoption, and a broader adoption of transportation management systems among even the smallest transportation companies, as a sign of how shippers and 3PLs are now confronting a challenging supply chain arena.