Student Insights on the 2022 CSCMP EDGE Supply Chain Conference

Walton College Supply Chain Management students - Reagan White and Derek Mitchell - had the opportunity to attend the 2022 EDGE Supply Chain Conference last month, hosted by CSCMP. Read below for a blog that details their experiences and takeaways from the conference.?

Academic Research Days (ARS)

During the first two days of CSCMP Edge, I had the opportunity to meet professors and Ph.D. students from other universities and sit in on sessions regarding the latest research within the field of supply chain management. The first session I sat in on took a deep dive into supply chain theory and the importance of using mid-range theory to cater to the diverse needs of businesses and provide successful supply chain solutions. The second session focused on the relationship between supplier diversity management and the impact on large retailers vs minority-owned suppliers. Overall, supplier diversity management is a “win-win” for large retailers, but not so much for minority-owned suppliers unless they are associated with large retailers. Since I am considering becoming a professor in the future, I enjoyed getting to learn more about the process and learning more about the various research topics.?

-Reagan White

We got in on Saturday the 19th and got to attend the start of the Academic Research Symposium (ARS). I had no idea what to expect going into the sessions, but it was interesting and cool to see. The first session we attended was by Dr. David Dobrzykowski and was called “The Power of the Arrow”. In this session we were able to see the intersection between academics and industry. It was cool to see how practitioners took theory and was helpful to know and I’ll easily be able to apply this in the future. On Sunday we were able to attend any sessions we wanted. My favorites were Adrianna Hofer’s study about setting limits on purchases in humanitarian crises and how that affects consumer purchase behavior. Another favorite was Robert Jensen’s study on stockouts. He discussed how not all stockouts are equal and dove into which categories are more susceptible to stockouts and how consumers might react when a stockout takes place. I went into these sessions thinking that they would be very high level, and that I as an undergraduate student would not be able to understand their research. However, the presenters were incredible, and I was able to understand everything that they discussed. Overall, the ARS was very insightful, and I will be able to keep these takeaways in mind as I go through my career.

-Derek Mitchell

Networking

One of the most valuable pieces of attending CSCMP was the opportunity to meet other supply chain professionals to grow my network and hear about their experience within the field. My favorite part was the young professionals networking event because I had the opportunity to meet students from other universities and employers. Hearing about other students' internship experiences, plans after graduation, and future goals for their supply chain careers was interesting! I even had the chance to meet several young professionals from Cleveland, Ohio, which is where I will move to start full-time after school, so that was great!?

-Reagan White

Another aspect of the conference I appreciated was the networking opportunities. Having the ability to talk to other students from across the country, all with a passion for supply chain, was one of the best experiences at the conference. My favorite event was the young professionals networking event. The event included both students and any professional under the age of 40. There was a large variety of people there from across the country as well as what they did in the supply chain industry. It was fun to learn about their experiences and what they do.

-Derek Mitchell

?Supply Chain Exchange Exhibition

Throughout CSCMP there was a supply chain exchange exhibition where practitioners would set up booths to display and talk about their products or services. I had the chance to visit this exhibition and speak with various companies about their products. Having done an internship in an Amazon warehouse, I was drawn to all the booths about warehouse technology. One pain point of warehousing is inventory management, so many of the technology providers were offering solutions to help tackle this issue. Additionally, there were lots of booths providing innovative transportation solutions with new TMS dashboards. The practitioners in attendance were a mixture of startups, mid-size companies, and large corporations. I enjoyed having the chance to talk with companies across various aspects of the supply chain and learn about how their products are shaping the world of supply chain management.?

?-Reagan White

The first night of the conference we went to the supply chain exchange exhibition which was essentially a showroom for companies to show off their new technology or to get their name out there. It was cool to talk to the different companies. There were many companies that I had very in-depth conversations about their tech with that I did not expect to happen. I was able to bounce ideas from my experience with companies and learn more about the industry and specifics about aspects I didn’t have experience in. Overall, it was really interesting to see all these companies in one place and to see companies that I have worked with or used their software and be able to talk to them about it.

-Derek Mitchell

Keynote Speakers

To kick off each day of CSCMP, the opening sessions featured keynote speakers. The first keynote speaker was Mandy Rennehan, also known as “The Blue-Collar CEO.” Throughout this session, Mandy spoke about her journey of being curious and entrepreneurial from an early age and building the company and platform that she has today. A key theme throughout her talk was the question “Are you relatable?” To get people to buy in and follow you, you have to be relatable. As a female CEO, Mandy also touched on her experience as a young woman in the world of business. One of my favorite quotes from her session was, “Good women take women with them.” Mandy also touched on the importance of leaders helping their followers not only understand their jobs but also why their jobs are important to the company. In her own words, “People want purpose, not just a job.”?

The second keynote speaker was Tom Szaky, CEO of Terracycle who spoke about sustainability and social responsibility within the supply chain. Oftentimes, we are taught that business is solely about maximizing profit, but it can also be about making the world a better place as well. As many companies strive to make strides within the sustainability of their supply chains with initiatives such as recyclable packaging, reduced carbon emissions, regenerative farming, etc. it is important to note that many of these solutions are siloed. This means that consumers can only return recyclable packaging to that specific company and not to other companies. To truly make supply chains sustainable, Tom Szaky expresses the need for greater collaboration among companies and the introduction of a circular economy of sustainability within the supply chain.?

?-Reagan White

Women’s Leadership Forum

Being involved with Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence (WISE) at the U of A, one of my favorite sessions of CSCMP was the Women’s Leadership Forum, which consisted of female leader panelists across various industries in the supply chain field. According to the panelists, successful supply chains are agile, productive, connected, and sustainable. However, as we all know, the supply chain is often strained and faces many issues. Right now, key supply chain issues include inventory management, trust with suppliers, lack of collaboration, communication, data-sharing, and transparency. Specifically concerning the United States, “decades of underinvestment, offshoring, and onshoring has crippled US supply chains.” New supply chain challenges are arising each month and greater collaboration with suppliers has been key to tackling these crises. As data continues to play a larger role in supply chain management, data-sharing and transparency are becoming key topics of discussion. So, what’s holding companies back from being transparent then? According to the panelists, there are a variety of reasons, depending on the company and industry. The main reasons include protecting competitive advantage, lack of understanding of how to translate and utilize data, and uncertainty surrounding suppliers.?

?-Reagan White

EDGE Sessions

Session 1: Supply Chain Risk & Mitigation

Over the past two years, we’ve seen how risk management and mitigation is crucial to supply chain management. During this Edge Session, I learned that risk management all depends on the culture of the company. “Risk appetite is culture and culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Risk management is also all about perspectives, which are influenced by our experience level and role within the company. Right now, we live in a “VUCA” world, meaning a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. Given that companies will experience on average eleven risk events per year, with significant financial costs, the practice of risk management through scenario planning is becoming more common within the field of supply chain management. To determine the best technique for managing risk, companies must answer three questions: how mature is our supply chain, how does our company perceive risk, and what is our company culture??

?-Reagan White

Session 2: Creating Valuable Supply Chain Management Internships

As a student with two previous internships, I was interested in this session, because I wanted to understand how companies view internships from the other side of the table and how in touch they are with what many young professionals in supply chain are currently looking for. To recruit top talent, many companies are starting to recruit earlier and earlier. Following an internship, 70% of employers will extend full-time job offers, 80% of the former interns will accept, and there’s a 60% conversion rate from intern to full-time employee, so internships are viewed as a valuable investment. The average hourly rate for supply chain internships is $20.76. Based on data collected from the speakers, the one-year retention rate of full-time employees is 71% for those who were internal interns and 59% for external interns. The five-year retention rate ranges from 41-54% for internal interns and 32-52% for external interns. When trying to attract students to your internship program, you want to make sure that you are in line with current trends regarding pay and job expectations. Additionally, having campus ambassadors by identifying full-time employees that are alumni creates a connection between the company and the campus.?

?-Reagan White

I finished my undergraduate thesis in the spring, and I did an ethnographic case study on supply chain internships, so it was very cool to see an industry professional and professor come to very similar findings as my research did. It was affirming about my research, and it was interesting to see the additional findings they found and how they came to those conclusions. They presented 9 best practices for supply chain internships and 6 of those 9 best practices were included in my research. I was impressed with how in touch the research was with actual student views on supply chain internships. The presentation was also very well done and impressive.

-Derek Mitchell

Session 3: 2022 CSCMP State of Logistics Report: Out of Sync

This session focused on the key points from the 2022 CSCMP State of Logistics Report with a panel to answer any additional questions about the content. During the year logistics costs rose by 22% and beat out the rapid inflationary pressures. However, capacity was missing to meet the increased demand in many industries, causing what we know as the “bullwhip” effect. Now, we are headed into an economic slow period, but unemployment is low, and the labor participation rate is low. This means that companies are struggling to find labor and there is a shifted focus on the ways that companies retain and attract talent. This has led to innovation in onboarding and recruiting, freeing people up from repetitive work, an increase in career pathing, and shorter timelines between interviews and offers being extended. Some other key trends in supply chain throughout the year included: the increasing role of air freight, lower warehouse vacancy, a push for just-in-case inventory instead of just-in-time inventory, sustainability, and the topic of reshoring.?

?-Reagan White

Session 4: Creating the “Right” Transportation Sourcing Strategy?

Sourcing has become a huge topic of discussion over the past few years, so I sat in on this session to learn about what goes into determining the right supplier for transportation. During this panel, the overarching theme was the tradeoff between service and cost. Companies that place a higher value on customer service, were willing to pay the higher transportation cost. But for companies with a slimmer profit margin and a greater focus on the bottom line, the cost was the main determinant in the carrier that they selected. There are three main pillars that drive a sourcing strategy for transportation which are service, cost, and alignment on ESG goals. These pillars have become key focuses of carriers as intense competition drives the industry to do better. To determine which carrier to choose you must rank them according to the strength of the relationship, their performance, and their strategies for risk management.??

-Reagan White

?As I have some experience in transportation and logistics, I liked their perspective on everything and the ways they outlined how to improve domestic transportation within your company. Additionally, they discussed how to present your ideas to the C-suite which can be applied to almost any presentation you may have in the future, not just about transportation. All in all, I found the sessions to be incredibly informative and I am very confident I will be able to use something I took away from each session and use it in my future career.

-Derek Mitchell

Overarching Trends & Topics

Throughout the conference, some of the key main topics were the importance of relationship-based supplier management, the growing need for cross-functional collaboration, the introduction of sustainable supply chain practices, and current supply chain pressures such as labor shortages, global inflation, technological innovation, etc.?

?-Reagan White

What are employers looking for with young professionals in the supply chain??

While talking with employers at this event and sitting in on some of the sessions, I was curious about what skills employers currently view as valuable or necessary when recruiting recent supply chain management graduates. Several of the most desired qualities included: data analytic skills, any foreign languages, prior internship experience, project management skills, proficiency/familiarity with programs like Excel, PowerBI, SAP, Oracle, etc., and the willingness to relocate after school.?

?-Reagan White

What does the future of supply chain management look like??

While much of the conference focused on the current situation within supply chain management, there was also some discussion about the future of supply chain management, and it looks exciting. The future of supply chain management will be highly shaped by technological innovation, such as autonomous trucking, AI, automated warehouses, etc. Due to the ever-changing nature of supply chain management, the future is sure to be full of surprises.?

-Reagan White