2021 USC Marshall Global Supply Chain Excellence Summit is a Must-Attend Event

When the 2021 USC Marshall Global Supply Chain Excellence Summit convenes next month, humanitarian supply chains and the challenges of current epidemics are certain to be addressed…along with tough lessons learned.

This year’s theme is “Reimagine. Reinvent. Resilient. The New Realities of Supply Chain Post Covid-19.”

But the mission remains consistent with past USC summits: to connect leaders and create transformation through supply chain excellence.

“This has always been an opportunity for supply chain managers to gain access to unparalleled networking opportunities with top business leaders and companies,” says Nick Vyas, executive director and co-founder of the University of Southern California’s Marshall Center for Global Supply Chain Management and assistant professor of clinical data sciences and operations.

He says it’s also an opportunity for industry leaders to recruit top supply chain management talent in a relaxed and engaging setting.

According to Vyas, managers here will learn how to leverage high performing supply chains through insights developed from industry experience and applied research.

“Furthermore, companies can showcase as a sponsor to our 80,000-strong USC Marshall global network and nearly 500 attendees,” he says.

At the same time, the summit recognizes industry best practices through supply chain excellence awards. These include:

• Sustainability Excellence Award: Recognizing organizations and individuals that commit to advancing and promoting campaigns in sustainability
• Supply Chain Digital Transformation: Recognizing organizations that leverage digital technology to disrupt and improve supply chain performance
• 3PL Excellence: Recognizing organizations and individuals that provide exceptional value as a third party logistics provider through customer service, reliability, and industry expertise
• Women’s Leadership in Supply Chain: Recognizing individuals for demonstrating outstanding leadership, championing diversity and inclusion as a pioneer in the supply chain space
• Lean Excellence: Recognizing organizations that demonstrate outstanding achievement in lean supply chain practices and foster a lean culture within their industry or organization

But we are especially keen on learning from speakers anchoring the summit’s “sustainability” panel.

Abe Eshkenazi, CEO, Association for Supply Chain Management, notes that we’re seeing some pretty amazing applications of blockchain.

“Certainly, it’s helping build greater trust in all kinds of commercial transactions, contracts and data-sharing,” he says.

But that’s just the start.

“When there’s a risk of foodborne illness, blockchains assist in the management of food safety by enabling producers and retailers to determine exactly which batch of product is affected,” he says.

As Logistics Management has documented, pharmaceutical companies now use blockchains to track and manage the drugs they manufacture and ship, while preventing misuse such as counterfeiting.

“Furthermore, blockchains are advancing the traceability, monetization and circularity of recycled plastics,” says Eshkenazi.
He notes that rather than using cloud-storage systems — which are not immune to hackers or infrastructure issues — blockchains are proving themselves to be a better way to back up data.

“Blockchains can even bolster worker rights by creating a registry of protocols that verify, facilitate and enforce contracts to improve labor policies and compel employers to honor digital agreements,” says Eshkenazi.

He will continue this dialogue at the “ASCM Connect” virtual conference in the month of October – another premium Pacific Rim event.

Meanwhile, the USC Center for Global Supply Chain Management will be hosting the 9th Annual Global Supply Chain Summit in “a hybrid model,” from October 19 to 20, 2021.

This past year USC held its first virtual summit which hosted over 2,000 attendees. Since this next event will be hybrid, Nick Vyas is expecting even greater attendance than ever before.

“As we move forward with the impacts of COVID-19, we must be able to react and adapt in order to remain resilient in the face of adversity,” he concludes.

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