For ten years now, the Georgia Logistics Summit has been the premier supply chain focused event in the Southeast. The 2018 Summit continued in that tradition by offering more cutting edge content than ever, and by partnering with MODEX, showcased the Georgia Logistics Summit to more than 30,000 trade show attendees from around the globe.

The Summit began on Monday morning with a keynote from UPS Chief Information and Engineering Officer Juan Perez. Perez made the case to the capacity crowd for UPS as not just a logistics company, but a technology company. He continued by telling the crowd that “… I would make the argument that each and every one of you, you work in a technology company.” In Perez’s estimation, he stated, the way to remain on the forefront of your industry was to constantly be disrupting yourself.

Monday morning continued with Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal, who gave his final Georgia Logistics Summit address to officially kick off the 2018 Summit, and reminded Summit and MODEX attendees why Georgia is the nation’s Best State to Do Business five years in a row and counting.

As always, the wide-ranging content at the Georgia Logistics Summit served as both a multi-level discussion and a sharing of best practices for the issues that face the logistics and supply chain industries. Recently, the biggest pain points for both logistics providers and cargo owners have been related to workforce and the rapid developments in new technologies. This year’s Georgia logistics Summit covered both of these issues in-depth with multiple general and breakout sessions dedicated to unpacking the various aspects of those issues effecting the industry.

Sessions like Challenges in the Logistics Workforce, The Talent Pipeline: Trends and Solutions, and Women in Logistics addressed the prevalent issue of a changing workforce in the logistics industry, and attendees were treated to robust discussions of best practices from some of the country’s top logistics providers, shippers, academics, and public sector workforce experts. Elba Pareja-Gallagher, Director of Finance, Global Retail and eCommerce Strategy at UPS and Founder and President of ShowMe50.org addressed the capacity crowd at the Women in Logistics session, stating that when you optimize 100 per cent of the workforce, you create high-functioning, diverse teams and career advancement on a level playing field. This is emblematic of the seemingly simple, but vital knowledge passed on by any number of expert panels at the 2018 Summit. The great minds in the room shared a wealth of knowledge relating to how a provider or shipper could optimize their full workforce, how they found best to recruit and retain top talent, and how to communicate employer needs in a way that lent itself to closing the skills gap that so many supply chain organizations are noticing in the present economy. The skills gap discussion was on full display at MODEX’s Wednesday keynote featuring Mike Rowe, Dirty Jobs host and founder of Mike Rowe Works, an organization aimed at closing the skills gap through a refocusing of our view of what hard work means.

The advancements and adaptation of new technologies in the logistics industry has been a hot-button issue at the Georgia Logistics Summit for the past several years, and 2018 was no different. The seemingly constant shift in technologies are creating problems for those companies that aren’t equipped to deal with them, and opportunities for those that are. Cloud computing, mobile computing and the internet of things are creating unprecedented opportunity for developing cost effective solutions to increasing real-time visibility and efficiency in supply chains. Evidence of how this is taking shape was on display at the 2018 Technology Showcase as companies featured a variety of solutions for connecting fleet assets, employers and employees, improving traffic flow and inventory management just to name a few. Start-ups in the logistics space continue to grow as companies look to increase efficiency in managing the flow of goods throughout their supply chain.

While some truly riveting content came from the sessions we just mentioned, the 2018 Summit wasn’t all workforce and technology. This year’s Summit saw the return of a 2017 favorite, Pete Mento, give his update on the state of the US and Global economies. As always, Pete delivered a wealth of information and insight with his trademark wit and kept the general session crowd engaged while unpacking a litany of complex economic observations and predictions.

For some, the Summit shines brightest during its keynotes. This year, the Georgia Logistics Summit presented two distinct keynote addresses from two of Georgia’s largest and most effective supply chain organizations. UPS’ Juan Perez kicked off the 2018 Summit in the MODEX theater, and Delta’s Gareth Joyce, President of Delta Cargo and Senior Vice President of Airport Customer Service, anchored the day two general session content with his unique take on innovation in the complex commercial aviation industry. Gareth shared a number of ways that Delta was able to remain on the cutting edge in terms of both industry innovation and customer satisfaction despite it being one of the world’s largest airlines.

The Georgia Logistics Summit began ten years ago as a lunch and learn, and has evolved to meet the needs of Georgia’s supply chain industry. We are proud to present this event as both an educational and networking opportunity, and a chance to meet Georgia’s growing logistics industry where it is, in the best State in the nation in which to do business.

See you next year.

From the Georgia Department of Economic Development