Supply Chain Frontiers issue #17. Read all articles in this issue.
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) presented two showcase sessions at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) 2006 annual conference in San Antonio, TX, this October, that won wide acclaim from the audience of supply chain professionals.
The event’s so-called Major Session, organized by CTL, was a panel on energy efficiency in supply chain management that included senior executives from Dell and Mars Inc. and CTL Research Director Larry Lapide. “The panel was a huge hit with the audience and spurred lively interaction among attendees throughout the rest of the conference,” said Rick Blasgen, CSCMP President and CEO.
CTL also staged a simulated supply chain disruption caused by an outbreak of avian flu as part of the newly introduced Hot Topics conference track. Based on the highly successful simulation carried out this April at CTL’s Crossroads event, the exercise in San Antonio was moderated by Jim Rice, Director, MIT Integrated Supply Chain Management Program. It featured executives from companies such as HP, Intel, and Limited Brands, and played to a packed house. “About 260 people sat glued to this presentation, which included a real-time simulation that drew upon the experience of the participants,” Blasgen noted. The session, called The Disrupted Supply Chain: A Simulated Outbreak of Avian Flu, “generated passionate debate about what the most effective approach would be during a real-life situation,” Blasgen said. He added that CTL’s simulation “was a resounding success, because everyone learned something useful.”
CTL is offering a new two-day business continuity workshop based on the avian flu simulation (see November Workshop Deals with Disaster item above).