The ISCPO wrapped up another great conference this year in Garland, Texas. Presenters, attendees, and participating vendors walked away with an understanding that the Future is Now in the global supply chain, especially when it comes to Ecommerce, technology, and communication.
Once again, the ISCPO brought together a wide-range of speakers that provided a plethora of information spanning all sectors within the supply chain. Leading off as keynote speaker, Stuart Spiegel, Chief Marketing Officer for Newgistics provided insight proving that the Ecommerce consumer journey doesn’t end after it reaches the consumer’s doorstep. In the case of returns parcels, data transparency is key in providing a positive post-purchase experience for consumers. Participants got a real inside look at consumer behavior as it relates to how we all are now shopping.
Glenn Master, co-founder of the ISCPO and current Board Director summed it up best by illustrating the explosive growth of companies who are now doing business on the internet. Master explained that it is not uncommon for a package to travel across multiple countries and be handled by numerous companies on its journey to the consumer. “In essence, we’re all in this together,” Master explained. “It’s going to be the responsibility for everyone in Loss Prevention to re-think how they are looking at loss within their own organization.”
You have heard the old adage ‘timing is everything’. For this year’s conference, timing could not have been worse. On the heels of two major hurricanes that hit the U.S. back to back, we, unfortunately, had attendees that were unable to make it to the conference. This included the ISCPO’s Vice Chairman, Byron Smith [7-11]. Being in charge of business continuity, Byron was running the War Room at 7-11’s corporate HQ as they had over 800 stores compromised in the storm’s aftermath. Even with these two tragic events occurring, the conference was able to capitalize on the importance of Emergency Response Planning. Both Bill Besse [Andrews Security] and Eric Davis-Fernald [Nestle] gave outstanding presentations on these topics using real-world scenarios, including both hurricanes as the importance of preparing for these events.
Wayne Hoover [Wicklander-Zulawski] led off his presentation by providing insightful information on how conducting interviews in a supply chain setting has changed throughout the years. Prior to this Ecommerce explosion, Wayne stated that police officers were normally hired as Security Managers in distribution centers. The approach businesses are now taking has changed dramatically and Loss Prevention interviewing has had to evolve as well.
From last year’s conference, we received a lot of feedback on having more discussion topics related to Latin America. David Mozden [XPO Logistics] provided an in-depth presentation on doing business in Mexico and the challenges of the black market in Mexico City. The Latin America discussion concluded with a unique oversight in how DHL Latin America was adding drones to their arsenal of Security. Jeronimo Sosa [DHL Supply Chain] showed a great video of high-flying drones being used to cover thousands of square feet of DHL’s distribution centers. We challenged Jeronimo to bring in a drone for next year’s conference, so we can see this unique perspective on leveraging this type of technology.
Other notable presenters were Brett Leatherman (FBI), Amanda McMurray (US Postal Inspection Service) and Bill Temple (ATF). These individuals all presented on the different ways U.S. Federal Law Enforcement are now getting involved in supply chain threats. From collaborating with Loss Prevention during investigations to identifying and combating terrorism in the global supply chain, they are having to evolve.
ISC
PO Chairman, Rod Fulenwider, along with ISCPO board members, presented the Loss Prevention Foundation with a donation towards its fund to support members and their families affected while performing the duties of the loss prevention/asset protection professional.
We want to thank all the speakers and attendees for making this year’s conference one to remember and look forward to seeing everyone next year.