October 1st - NESCON
This is a local supply chain conference that the New England Roundtable supports and generates scholarship revenue. It consists of several tracks covering procurement, logistics, leadership, and distribution.

October 18th - Global State of Supply Chain
Our RT Executive Forum presents an update of recent critical supply chain metrics supplied by IHS.com

On June 27th our program year-end and celebration of summer was a cruise on the Charles River in Boston and a discussion of the future supply chain and logistics opportunities and threats in our business presented by Rick Blasgen, the President/CEO of CSCMP. All this and a networking cruise around the Boston Harbor and the Charles River during Happy Hour.

The meeting was a great success both as a Roundtable educational event and an opportunity to meet with Rick Blasgen who presented an update of the 2017 State of Logistics Report: Steep Grade Ahead. He reported that logistics expenses in the US approached $1.5 Trillion and was 7.7% of the GDP in 2017. Rick challenged the group to think about autonomous vehicles, what will the future driver look like, drones and blimps in the sky, and blockchain technology in logistics. The audience responded with questions regarding CSCMP roles in educational certification, how recent graduates can put their degree into practice, what it takes to be a logistics leader, and the value of belonging to CSCMP by taking an active role in our local RT. Rick also mentioned his role as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, a Congressional Committee designed to support U.S. export growth, provide advice on regulatory policies, and to facilitate the movement of goods - a big task by anyone's measure! Everyone said the 'cruise' was so rewarding that it should become an annual event. Whats better than seeing the architecture along the Charles, moving through the locks, and viewing the Boston Harbor from the water? Lets all think about a cruise for next year!

The New England Roundtable wants to thank Aysan Rafiei Nasrabady our YP Chairperson for suggesting this venue and managing this great program.

We also want to thank Amber Road our sponsor of this event for their support. Amber Road’s mission is to dramatically transform the way companies conduct global trade. As a leading provider of cloud-based global trade management (GTM) software, trade content and training, they help companies all over the world create value through their global supply chain by improving margins, achieving greater agility and lowering risk.

Again this year on June 8th the New England Roundtable sponsored the 2018 MIT SCM Best Project Competition lead by Dr. Bruce Arntzen a huge supporter of our RT. Each winner received a presentation plaque and a monetary credit to be used at the CSCMP store for research publications and student memberships for next year.

We want to congratulate the MIT award recipients:

Winner:
Justin Yoon
The Traveling Salesman Problem with Multiple Drones: An Optimization Model for Last-Mile Delivery.

Honorable Mention:
Ade Barkah & Patrick Robert
Reducing CO2 Emissions in Transportation Using Machine Learning

We also want to thank our board member Jonathan Smith for leading the review of each project thesis and voting for these winners.

Pictured below L to R: Josué Velázquez-Martínez (Executive Director, Masters of Supply Chain Management Blended Program), Patrick Robert, Ade Barkah, Justin Yoon, Jonathan Smith, Bruce Arntzen (Executive Director, Supply Chain Management Program)

On May 31st the New England Roundtable presented a Breakfast Forum to hear two industry experts tell us about the State of Transportation and the Future of Transportation.

Our two guest speakers determined what is up with freight besides the costs and poor customer service in this frenzied supply chain. Matt Harding from Chainalytics will presented big data geographic and demographic statistics and trends of domestic transportation. Adrian Gonzalez of Adelante SCM reviewed where he sees the future of transportation heading including block chain technology, platooning, future of third party logistics, supply chain costs, and private delivery. These are both supply chain experts in transportation with years of practice and consulting that are helping us through this operations and technology enigma.

We want to thank both Matt and Adrian with their presentations and responses to an open discussion with questions. Our sponsor for the meeting was Barrett Distribution Centers and we want to thank both Arthur and Tim for the venue at the Franklin Country Club. This event was one of our hits this programming year!

On April 17th we had a very educational and technical tour of a local robotics manufacturer and innovator. Locus Robotics Corporation has a deep warehouse heritage and in-depth, first-hand experience with the development and evolution of warehouse automation. Their founders were early adopters of robotics technology to improve warehouse productivity. They quickly discovered what robots are capable of doing – and what they can’t do. It’s what inspired them to engineer something better.
The Locus Robotics fulfillment system uses autonomous mobile robots and sophisticated control software, which enables extremely fast cycle times with reduced labor requirements, from receiving to picking to shipping - all without conveyor.
• LocusBots operate safely alongside people, making them more efficient and effective compared to traditional order fulfillment systems.
• Workers are able to fulfill more orders with less labor without the need to reconfigure or disrupt your warehouse.
• This innovative, proven robotics technology integrates seamlessly so it won’t disrupt an existing infrastructure and fulfillment processes.
• LocusBots friendly “user interface” means zero worker training time.
• Their lightweight design allows them to safely operate in mezzanine configurations.
The innovators of this company have worked for years to solve the traditional warehouse efficiency problem and have seen through many iterative changes as they now approach this autonomous mobile robotic solution.

On March 23, 2018 we held for the first time a joint venture with Bentley University; Waltham, MA. Our practitioner panel presented an educational event patterned after our successful Executive Breakfast Meetings. We thank Bentley University and Professor Mark Davis for the venue and panel format of this symposium. Our objective of analyzing educational content and the needs of our industry was a great success and one of our best attended meetings this year. We had a cross section of educators, students and practitioners in the audience. Watch for more meetings from the New England Roundtable in the future. A special thanks to Giles Taylor our Education Board Member for making this meeting a success!

Rates like we haven’t seen since before the great recession.

More turndowns then a Hilton Hotel.

Budget overruns like the federal government.

What’s a shipper to do?

We may have some answers for you.

Join us to hear two industry experts tell us about the State of Transportation and the Future of Transportation.

Our two guest speakers will determine what is up with freight besides the costs and poor customer service in this frenzied supply chain. Matt Harding from Chainalytics will present various statistics and trends of domestic transportation. Adrian Gonzalez of Adelante SCM will layout where he sees the future of transportation heading. These are both supply chain experts in transportation with years of practice and consulting to help us through this operations and technology enigma. Meet with us on Thursday, May 31st by clicking the register button to the right - -

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY!

Interested in the status of the supply chain industry?

Want to meet the CEO of CSCMP?

How about learning more about the New England Roundtable?

Want to meet and network at a great venue?

Our program year end and celebration of the summer will be a cruise on the Charles River in Boston and a discussion of the future supply chain and logistics opportunities and threats in your business presented by Rick Blasgen, the President/CEO of CSCMP. All this and a networking cruise around the Boston Harbor and the Charles River during Happy Hour. Come and find out how you can be a part of the supply chain by joining our board and committee members.

Amber Road is one or sponsors of this event and we thank them for their support. Amber Road’s mission is to dramatically transform the way companies conduct global trade. As a leading provider of cloud-based global trade management (GTM) software, trade content and training, they help companies all over the world create value through their global supply chain by improving margins, achieving greater agility and lowering risk.

The date or this program is Wednesday June 27th at 5:00 PM. Just click on the registration button to the right - -

The NEW ENGLAND ROUNDTABLE & COUNCIL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS (CSCMP) PRESENT:

SAVE THE DATE

Interested, curious, and concerned about robots;
then we are presenting a tour you will want to attend!

Tour of Locus Robotics Corporation

Place: Locus Robotics Corporation
301 Ballardvale Street
Wilmington, MA 01887

Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Time: 10:00 AM Registration and Networking
10:30 AM Presentation
11:00 AM Tour
12:00 PM Questions and Answers
12:30 PM Adjourn


What You Will See and Learn:
• The rise of new autonomous mobile robots at Locus Robots
• A highly flexible and scalable robotic system
• Example of a robot that can work in a multi-product fulfillment operation featuring a rapidly changing SKU mix
• Designing an evolving robotic device capable of handling product categories that include small parts, apparel, accessories, shoes, home goods, jewelry, etc.
• Use associated navigation and control systems integrated with warehouse and fulfillment management software products
• Understand the complexities of the robotic design and application business
• Learn about future plans for both Locus Robotics and Quiet Logistics

Please save the date of Friday, March 23, 2018 for our first ever joint venture with Bentley University; Waltham, MA to present an educational event patterned after our successful Executive Breakfast Meetings. We thank Bentley University and Professor Mark Davis for the venue and panel format of this symposium. The panel will consist of consultants, practitioners, company executives and search executives with the objective of analyzing educational content and the needs of our industry. Watch for more information on our CSCMP registration page. Please register by Wednesday, March 21st at 11 PM.