Rishma Khimji, Chief Technology Officer, Harry Reid International Airport
“Manifest Vegas is a great place to meet different types of technologies, whether that is in supply chain, logistics and indoor or outdoor usage of technology. Being in the airport space, we need to make sure that we take part in these events and work out where it is going to affect our business. We have a baggage handling system at the airport and you see that a lot in manufacturing. What are they using to make that system that much better, robust and secure?
“We want to ensure that we are using the right technology so when we are processing a passenger’s baggage, we are getting it to their plane. We are giving the customer the data of when it got on the plane and they feel safe and secure that their baggage went through the system in a way that allowed it to get to the plane on time.
“There is a lot of translation of services between the airports and other types of manufacturing and logistics that are here at Manifest Vegas. We are here to make sure that we are all being more collaborative and figuring out ways to leverage some of the same technologies but for different uses.”
Karoline Dygas, Global Supply Chain Executive, Nordstrom
“It’s actually my first time attending and I was surprised about how big Manifest Vegas really is. The event has exploded in the past few years and it’s easy to see why. It’s a good aggregation of shippers of innovative new startups and some of my supplier partners are here so it’s a really great opportunity to network and learn from each other to be ready for whatever problem is around the corner. Perhaps there’s already someone here that can help you solve it.”
Todd Greener, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Tupperware
“My peer group is here in a big way so that’s always important to network with them and other companies. A lot of us are dealing with the same things so that’s really important. Just from a provider standpoint, existing providers, startups, the mix of tech and operational and investment partners, it’s a really easy way to check all the boxes on what leaders like myself are looking to get out of one of these events.”
Shauna Gamble, Chief Procurement Officer, Bombardier
“I love the diversity of the commodities. I come from aerospace, but I used to come from high tech. You get to hear the view of your peers across such a broad platform and number of commodities or product solutions, be they hardware or software, and you understand their challenges. Supply chain leaders generally have the same problems.
“Maybe the level or the complexity of the problem is different, but to come to an event like this and hear the creativity of driving solutions and trying to be proactive both through the use of tools and applications such as AI or digitalisation, but also through their people and their learnings, it’s very important to take the time to hear others. You can’t have all the answers yourself.”
Judy Webb-Hapgood, former Chief Supply Chain Officer, University of Miami
“Last year I was one of only two healthcare customers in all of Manifest. It was great to have the opportunity to speak and then also to be given that chance again this year.
“I introduced the people at Manifest to some of my peers within the healthcare space because I feel like the industry is behind when it comes to best practice of supply chain and Manifest brings together a lot of the greatest innovators and leaders in manufacturing, logistics and distribution. I like to encourage people to learn from other industries. Don’t get pigeonholed in simply healthcare. Don’t get pigeonholed in academia. Look at Amazon, they’re very innovative. Can we do that on our side too? Manifest gives that opportunity for those that may not know about DHL or XPO and all these other manufacturers great practices that I can take back to my organisation and implement.”
Pam Simon, Conference Chair and EVP of Programming, Manifest
“Watching the growth of the show and how it is scaling every year has been amazing. From the last time I checked, over 120,000 connections have been made at the show. That’s a lot of new business, investments and partners or potential customers. I feel like anyone who is here is going to walk away with something that they can take back to their business financially and otherwise. It’s been really exciting to see.”
- Collaboration & Optimization
