There is no limit to the amount you can learn to power up your supply chain at ProMatDX. And, this year, all it takes is a click to join in and learn from the experts who are on the front lines of the industry. No running from session hall to session hall, trying to sneak peeks along the way, and inevitably getting slightly lost the first day. It's all housed at promatshow.com, a platform we've probably all mastered by now thanks to the priceless cheat sheets, articles, videos and podcasts shared by MHI. But, also because MHI spent a LOT of time making it as attendee-friendly as possible! 

 

Innovation, at this year's ProMatDX, began at the starting gate—when MHI first decided to build this incredible digital platform and when you first signed in—and continues to escalate each day as the keynotes and education seminars unfold, the product demos and innovation chats take place, the sponsor showcases are revealed, and the one-on-one chats are set up.

 

ProMatDX is allowing you to make new contacts, discover cutting-edge solutions, and learn the latest trends that are sure to give you a leg up on the competition. Here, you’ll encounter the best our industry has to offer – all at promatshow.com.

The ProMatDX Challenge rewards the most engaged ProMatDX attendee for each day during ProMatDX. Today's prize is a $500 gift card to the attendee with the most engagement on the portal plus a $500 donation to Feeding America in their name. ProMatDX attendees are automatically entered when logging in. Winners acquire points based on their activities within ProMatDX.

Day 1 Winner: Al Batista from Gold Medal Bakery 

Day 2 Winner: Your Name Here?

During ProMatDX, participate in these conversations on buzzworthy topics with your fellow ProMatDX attendees. Topics include:

• Robotics & Automation
• AI/Machine Learning-Moderated
• Micro-fulfillment
• Supply Chain Resilience
• E-commerce Boom and Omni-channel Fulfillment

If you're ready for some fun and ready to see what ProMatDX can REALLY do, check out the artificial intelligence app that is built into the promatshow.com platform. First, make sure you've completed your profile. Then the AI action will begin! In this “how to” webinar, some fabulous tips were shared by host Ralph Henderson, MHI’s John Paxton and Carol Miller, Freemans’s Nicole Ginebra, and Grip’s Casey Pannella—we have some of the highlights outlined here AND you can watch the recording of the video online. “We want this to be your most productive show ever,” said Henderson.

If you haven't quite gotten the hang of the promatshow.com platform yet, no worries! We have your back. Here are some tips and links to show you how to make the most of your experience at ProMatDX, April 12-16. These links will help you quickly customize a show that is built around the sessions and products that most interest you. Plus, you can populate your personal calendar with reminders, set up connections and video meetings with sponsors, and schedule product demos. 

Wednesday, April 14
11 a.m. – Noon (CDT)
MHI will preview the 2021 Annual Industry Report: Innovation Driven Resilience during the April 14 keynote during ProMatDX. During the keynote, Thomas Boykin of Deloitte will join John Paxton, CEO of MHI, to present the findings of the 2021 report that details the innovations that are driving this change from traditional to digital supply chains. They will be joined by a panel of manufacturing and supply chain professionals to discuss the real-world significance of the report findings.
Moderators:
John Paxton, CEO, MHI
Thomas Boykin, Supply Chain Specialist Leader, Deloitte
Panelists:
Randy V. Bradley, Associate Professor of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, Haslam College of Business, The University of Tennessee
Annette Danek-Akey, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Penguin Random House

During the April 13 keynote, American Logistics Aid Network’s Kathy Fulton and a panel of supply chain thought-leaders from Clorox, FedEX and C&S Grocers explored lessons learned from the pandemic and how building long-term resiliency into supply chain and logistics operations will be key to adapting and recovering when future disruption or disaster strikes. And the reason for this conversation? “We’ve just gone through a year’s worth of insanity in our supply chains due to the pandemic,” said Fulton.

 

View the full ProMatDX schedule of events including seminars, product demonstrations, roundtables and daily event recaps. You can add any event to your personal calendar as you plan out your week at ProMatDX. Here are a sampling of the education seminars going on tomorrow, April 14, but there are a lot more to choose from at promatshow.com!

 

Boost the Value from Tech Investments to Your Teams (and Your Customers) at 9 a.m.; Innovation Talk: Boosting Sustainability and Resiliency in Warehouse Logistics at 9:30 a.m.; Why DOM and OMS Are the Keys to Omnichannel Fulfillment at 1 p.m.; How to Integrate Proven Solutions with ‘Bleeding Edge’ Technology at 1:30 p.m.; and How to Analyze Your Data to Prepare Your Warehouse for Automation at 2:30 p.m.

Building small-scale, automated warehouses in underperforming retail stores and stock rooms can balance demands for e-commerce and delivery, Advanced Handling Systems says.

“Heading into peak [season] of 2020, we needed to expand capacity,” said Crocs director of distribution and logistics, Rob Fauerback, during one of the first education sessions yesterday at this year’s ProMatDX conference, being held online this week. Automation would help streamline the onboarding of temporary help during peak season and speed throughput at its 500,000-square-foot distribution center in Dayton, Ohio.

Raging consumer demand for fast e-commerce services is putting pressure on traditional warehouse parcel sorting practices, driving increased demand for improved scanning technology to handle a flood of small, irregular shapes streaming down DC conveyors, according to a session at the ProMatDX trade show yesterday.

Companies need to gather critical data about their operations to determine whether a manual, semi-automated, or fully automated distribution center would be best for them.

Finding a well-planned strategy backed by data is key to creating a competitive last-leg fulfillment operation, a systems integrator explains during ProMatDX seminar.

Cimcorp is sharing its robotic order fulfillment systems at ProMatDX, and held a product demo yesterday that delved into automated crate picking—and combining buffer storage and order picking into one seamless operation. They also have a new case picking solution, which integrates an AS/RS with automated case picking, and a layer pick system that uses gantry robots.

There is a lot to take in and and a lot of options to fill up your entire day with learning and networking at ProMatDX, which is why we have these information-packed videos for you to peruse! Each day during ProMatDX, our video crew is gathering all of the best clips and tips during the show, then sharing them in these daily video recaps hosted by Randell Mauricio.

  

The videos are being emailed out daily, but you can also access them here, as well, to catch up on what you missed or to see the latest clips.

 

Click "Learn More" below to see a summary from the Day 2 video recap.

Gregg Vandenbosch from Dematic shares insight on flexible mixed-case fulfillment, and how their solutions are helping supply chains become leaner by delivering mixed-SKU pallet orders at a reasonable cost. He discusses the most significant use cases for this technology, explaining which types of organizations and which retailers would benefit most from this solution. Their technologies are helping to address labor shortages while producing upward of 200,000 cases per day.

Dan Breitbarth of NORD Gear discusses the benefits of their Condition Monitoring System, which uses sensors to measure drive parameters and values before they are evaluated for further processing. This technology gives end-users the opportunity to take preventative maintenance measures at an early stage, before encountering a critical problem. Customers who make this investment can personalize the Condition Monitoring System based on their needs, choosing between a variety of cost-effective, user-friendly options.

MHI is no stranger to using artificial intelligence to better tailor its content to your needs. In December 2019, MHI transitioned its weekly newsletter, Newswire, to AI. Each week, the articles contained in your MHI Newswire are selected by the AI program as ones that will be most valuable to you, based on your clicking and reading habits from previous weeks. The more articles you click, the more the program will be able to fine-tune its selections for you, giving you a truly customized reading experience. Want to see what AI has in store for you? Start your journey by signing up at the link below.

This issue of MHI Solutions focuses on the top technologies driving supply chain resilience, the steps to implement and what these technologies will mean for the future supply chain workforce. It also contains a tidy packet of information on ProMatDX and some of the opportunities available this week at promatshow.com. Some of the features include:

• New Role Materializing: Communicator-in-Chief

• By the Numbers: Blockchain

• Turning Big Data into Actionable Insights

• Delivering a Miracle: Overcoming the Supply Chain Challenges of Manufacturing and Distributing the COVID-19 Vaccines

This how-to video shows you how to navigate the ProMatDX platform and Grip Matchmaking tool to maximize and personalize your ProMat experience to power up your supply chain.