Logistics Quarterly Magazine - Volume 16, Issue 1, 2010

RILA Conference Report

A snapshot of RILA's Logistics Conference and the insights that were shared from leaders in the retail field from the U.S. and Canada.

By Casey Chroust

WINTER HAS TURNED into spring and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Logistics Conference has concluded another successful year with record-breaking attendance, phenomenal content and fantastic feedback.

Logistics 2010 is the number one conference for retail supply chain and is comprised of the "who's who" in the United States, mainly senior supply chain executives, with more than half of attendees being a vice president or above and the rest director and above. RILA would like to thank our steering committee for their tremendous efforts and all of this year's conference attendees, sponsors and exhibitors for making it such a memorable event.

Held from February 21 to 24, RILA got underway on the eve of Logistics 2010 with the third annual Women in Logistics networking event. The evening brought together senior supply chain executives from more than 75 retail, product manufacturer and service provider companies to learn from peers ways their organizations are supporting women's leadership and development within retail and supply chain departments.

This year's speakers, Amy Van Hoveln, director of sales and president of the Women's Leadership Forum at Nestlé Purina PetCare, and Mary Stoddart, vice president, territory general manager and co-leader of WOLF@Best Buy at Best Buy Co., shared insight and lessons learned from the development of successful women's leadership programs at their respective companies and talked about next steps for the future.

Participants engaged in roundtable discussions on topics that included how to lay the groundwork to develop a women's leadership forum, how to strategically engage with stakeholders internally and externally to support the development and growth of a women's leadership program, and business drivers of a women's leadership program, as well as key topics in supply chain management.

Keynote speaker Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Dollar General, officially kicked off day one of the conference by sharing his 40-plus year journey in the retail industry, which began in 1969 and has taken him to the head of several leading retail companies. Dreiling discussed the keys to leadership, his view of the current retail climate, his perspective on the dynamic role of supply chain, and his strategic plan and goals for Dollar General moving forward.

Scott Davis, chairman and CEO of UPS, presented on day two of Logistics 2010 giving his thoughts on what the past two years have taught retailers about why some companies fail and how some have not only survived but thrived. Davis noted that creating clear value, balancing "bricks and bytes" by engaging cus nologies to power their trucking fleet resonated deeply with attendees.

The "SmartWay 2.0: Driving Supply Chain Sustainability" session highlighted how freight shippers can save fuel and money by benchmarking the carbon efficiency of their supply chain and optimizing both modal and provider choices. Another presentation shared this green focus in transportation with a discussion of the innovative Freight Shuttle Concept. This new approach to regional and corridor-specific intermodal freight transportation is described by some in the industry as a "silver bullet." The concept, evolved and patented over the last ten years at the Texas Transportation Industry (TTI), is expected to ease congestion, improve air quality, lower transportation costs and increase supply chain predictability.

Finally, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation (CRT) shared with attendees the story of their partnership with the Port of Long Beach. A RILA partner whose membership has grown to include leading importers, exporters, trucking companies and ocean carriers who represent the largest and most progressive customers at America's ports, CRT's work with the Port of Long Beach is a testament to the power of industry collaboration to achieve greater environmental sustainability. According to the Port of Long Beach, this partnership resulted in cutting pollution at the ports by almost 80 percent. Nearly two years ahead of schedule, 6,650 clean trucks have been deployed - 4,000 privately financed. The proactive approach from all stakeholders proved to be a template for effective solutions to environmental challenges and served as a model for the Clean Trucks Program at the ports of Oakland and Seattle and recently the ports of New York and New Jersey.

RILA and the conference steering committee are looking forward to Logistics 2011, which will once again be held in Orlando from February 20 to 23, 2011. RILA looks forward to welcoming back executives to discuss current supply chain trends and industry best practices, engage with their peers, and experience outstanding educational content at the only supply chain conference created by retailers for retailers LQ's Executive Exchange of Ideas for Leadership.