The Late Late Supply Chain Show: Top 10 Kinexions Supply Chain Conference ’16 Highlights

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Well, we’re back from another successful Kinexions. Everyone at Kinaxis is still catching their breath and singing Eagles tunes. There were so many highlights this year’s supply chain conference, it was difficult to get this into a top 10 list, but we did it. Can you believe my one and only supply chain joke didn’t make the list? You know the one, “What do you get when you play a country song about supply chain backwards? You get your revenue back, your margins back, your customers back…” Anyway, from the Late Late Supply Chain Show, here are our Top 10 Kinexions ’16 highlights.

 

10. Kevin O’Marah. As our day 1 keynote, Kevin did a great job kicking off the conference with his talk on the future of supply chain.

Often, we’re so caught up on our day-to-day activities we don’t think about the mega trends that can affect supply chain. As one person summed it up, “It’s so important to think about what is coming 5/10/20+ years from now. I don't get that chance too often.”

9. Mainstage Presentations. I may be cheating on this one, but it was too hard to pick just one. Presentations from Ford, Keysight, Roland and Xilinx were all described as “informative and insightful.”

Product roadmap conversations are always popular, and the encore of “The Top 5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with RapidResponse” was a real showstopper. There was also the Maintaining Momentum panel that showcased another four customers.

8. Late Late Supply Chain Show Band. At first glance, live music at 8:00 a.m. may not seem like a good idea. However, the first ever Late Late Supply Chain Show Band brought another level of energy to the room as the band played the presenters to stage. Hopefully nobody needed earplugs!

7. Access to Partners. Besides getting to rub elbows with some real supply chain experts, our Partners participated in mainstage presentations and breakout sessions, as well as manning booths in the Expo hall. Accenture, Deloitte, Barkawi, Aline, Prana, Cognizant and Clarkston Consulting all provided valuable supply chain insights. Of particular interest was the mainstage presentation where Deloitte and Barkawi shared the Vizio story.

6. Breakout Sessions. Okay, I may be cheating again but there were too many great breakout sessions to pick just one. There were the usual RapidResponse gurus in attendance to deliver educational materials on everything from functional business capabilities and integration improvements to knowledge services and best practices. Standout sessions came again from the customers, including Xilinx, Allegro, Celestica, Plexus, Amgen and Trinity Rail, who all shared their compelling RapidResponse journeys.

 

5. Don Felder. It was certainly a memorable experience to listen to Don’s timeless classics from his days with the Eagles, and then listen to his stories behind the music the next morning. Nicest guy in rock and roll. Enough said.

4. Expo. If you had questions coming out any sessions, this was the place to follow up for answers. There were over a dozen booths including Partner, product and demo booths. At the center, was the Club Axis booth (more on that in a second).

3. Mobile App. This year’s mobile app was the best yet. You could manage your agenda, complete surveys, and tweet and connect with other conference participants. The most valuable part of the app may have been the map of the hotel. I’m sure it saved me a few miles looking for my room!

2. Club Axis. I would say this is the most exciting initiative we have going on here at Kinaxis. Club Axis allows our customers to connect, learn and share better than ever before

1. Many Customers. One place. Although Club Axis will allow customers to connect all year round, Kinexions is the place to connect in person. There’s nothing like hearing from others about their RapidResponse experiences. This quote from a Club Axis challenge sums it up, “I loved being able to network with different supply chain professionals and learn best practices from other organizations.”

Did I miss any highlights? Would you add anything to the list? What would you do differently next year? We certainly want to say a big “thank you” to everyone who attended this year, and hope to see y’all again next year!

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