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CRLC | Supply Chain Evolution
October 2, 2025 @ 7:30 am – 4:00 pm
The Columbus Region Logistics Council (CRLC), an initiative of the Columbus Chamber, is all about industry collaboration.
CRLC: Supply Chain Evolution
Navigating What’s Now and Next in the Columbus Region
The Columbus Region’s supply chain is undergoing a dramatic transformation – reshaping how goods move, how businesses operate, and how communities thrive. Join us for Supply Chain Evolution, a dynamic convening of industry leaders, innovators, and community stakeholders exploring the current state of the local supply chain and its trajectory over the next 5 to 10 years.
Through engaging keynotes and focused breakout sessions, we’ll examine how different sectors are adapting to supply chain challenges, seizing new opportunities, and preparing for a rapidly shifting future. Whether it’s technology integration, infrastructure investment, workforce development, or sustainability practices—this event brings together the voices shaping what’s next.
Together, we’ll answer:
What’s moving supply chains now—and what will move them tomorrow?
We want to extend a special thank you to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Columbus Roundtable; Columbus Logistics Breakfast Club; Warehousing Education Research Council/Material Handlers International; Association of Supply Chain Management; Ohio Trucking Association; CBUS Retail; Columbus Fashion Council; and Clean Fuels Ohio for their support and collaboration!
Keynote Speakers
Opening Keynote
Closing Keynote
Agenda
- 7:30 – 8:00 AM – Registration, Breakfast & Networking
- 8:00 – 8:15 AM – Welcome & Sponsors
- 8:15 – 8:50 AM – Opening Keynote: Mike Engstrom, VP Domestic Intermodal, BNSF Railway Company
- 9:00 – 9:50 AM – Breakout Session A
- 10:00 – 10:50 AM – Breakout Session B
- 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Lunch Keynote: Steve DeNunzio, Senior Lecturer, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business
- 12:10 – 1:00 PM – Breakout Session C
- 1:10 – 2:00 PM – Breakout Session D
- 2:10 – 3:00 PM – Closing Keynote: Roger Blackwell, Blackwell Business Advisors
- 3:00 – 4:00 PM – Happy Hour
Breakout Session A
Join us for the latest updates in Rail Intermodal and Dray. First mile to final mile. We have it all by rail.
Cargo theft is evolving rapidly, driven by increasingly sophisticated cyber-enabled scams that target every link in the supply chain. In this session, “Fake Docs, Fake Drivers, Real Losses: Protecting Your Freight from Cyber-Enabled Scams,” Justin Austin, Senior Vice President at Aon, and Chris Montez, Underwriting Director at U.S. Marine Insurance Group (USMIG), will provide a comprehensive look at the current cargo theft crisis in America.
Attendees will gain insight into the latest theft trends, including the rise of fraudulent carriers, manipulated documentation, and organized crime tactics that exploit weaknesses in verification and communication processes. The presentation will break down the most prevalent types of cargo theft, highlight how criminals leverage technology and identity theft to intercept loads, and explain the shortfalls in industry and law enforcement response.
Participants will learn to recognize red flags, understand the financial and operational impact of theft, and discover actionable strategies to protect their freight—from enhanced screening and verification to leveraging open-source intelligence and partnering with recovery experts. The session will also address insurance considerations, common coverage gaps, and how to ensure your organization is adequately protected.
Whether you are a shipper, broker, or carrier, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify threats, respond quickly, and minimize risk in today’s supply chain environment.
Whether you are a shipper, broker, or carrier, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify threats, respond quickly, and minimize risk in today’s supply chain environment.
Join industry leaders Top Shelf Integrated Solutions, Hytrol, and APT Manufacturing Solutions for an in-depth look at how artificial intelligence and robotic de-palletizing are transforming warehouse and distribution operations. This session will explore real-world applications, from intelligent conveyor systems to fully automated de-palletizing and sortation, showcasing how AI-driven decision-making and robotics integration can increase throughput, reduce labor costs, and improve safety. Attendees will gain practical insights on implementation strategies, ROI considerations, and how to future-proof their supply chain with cutting-edge automation technologies.
Roger Sanders
APT Manufacturing Solutions
Examine how supply chains evolve from siloed, fragile logistics into intelligent ecosystems. Through technology integration and reflective leadership, it reveals a future shaped by transparency, strategic adaptability, and trusted collaboration.
Raj Tadipatri
Prajintel
In today’s dynamic marketplace, supply chains are under unprecedented pressure to adapt, innovate, and thrive. Yet, many organizations remain shackled by outdated staffing models that are slow, costly, and inflexible. In this session, Steve Anevski, CEO of Upshift, will explore the critical shift from legacy staffing to modern, agile labor solutions, highlighting how on-demand labor is not just a trend but a powerful engine for supply chain innovation.
Breakout Session B
Ohio’s energy market is at a crossroads. With capacity charges skyrocketing due to increased demand, retiring plants, and grid reliability reforms, we’re seeing real cost pressures on consumers. Take a deeper dive into contract timing, risk management, and procurement strategies. Exploring the role of sustainable energy solutions in building resilience and long-term affordability to give consumers viable offerings in a unpredictable market.
This panel will involve industry experts from many perspectives of automation implementations, from vendor to end-user. The panel will explore best practices starting with Strategy (Is this the right move?) to Solution Fit (Which one? Why?) to Real-World Justification (What are my tangible and intangible costs?). Panelists will share the “wins” from when these steps have been well-followed, and the “lessons learned” from when they have not.
- Tariffs? What is my number?
- Make vs Buy?
- Nearshore?
- Global source?
- Source from which countries?
- India, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Poland, South Africa?
- Where are the sourcing leaders to go?
- How can we navigate Tariffs? What are we to expect going into 2026 and beyond?
Hiten Shah will explore these questions, which are at the center of companies, small and large, across variety of industries including automotive, agriculture, housing, industrial, electrical, electronics and primary materials.
Hiten Shah founded Metrics holdings, which owns global supply chain business with operations in 7 countries (MES – www.mesinc.net). They also own manufacturing and logistics operations in Mexico, US, Poland and India (www.metricsworks.com) as well as SaaS business focused on enabling small and medium manufacturers to grow (www.meshworks.com). Through this broad view, Hiten will try to provide some simple frameworks to help sourcing, purchasing and engineering teams to help make decisions on sourcing and supply chains.
Over the past 5 years, multichannel brands have faced a multitude of supply chain challenges that have kept them on their toes to find optimal supply chain solutions for their companies and customers (COVID, increased demand/not enough inventory; decreased demand/too much inventory; tariffs/deminimus changes; labor challenges; automation improvements; emerging technologies; AI; social marketing; etc.)
In the fast-paced world of warehousing, stressed-out managers face demanding customers, constant deadlines, and a tight labor market — so workforce productivity is vital. Fortunately, there are 7 practical ways to improve warehouse labor productivity in just one day, without spending a lot of money. Attendees will discover the key differences between labor productivity and labor performance, and why they matter. Other takeaways include the fundamental factors that drive labor performance and which ones are easiest to improve, plus exploration of a sample performance assessment.
In 2024, nearly $900 billion in merchandise was returned, indicating that the experiences and operations surrounding returns can no longer be viewed merely as a minor component of a broader, generic cost-saving initiative. As companies strive to optimize their inbound supply and outbound logistics, developing and implementing a comprehensive returns strategy can yield favorable outcomes in areas that have historically been overlooked. Join Brendan Gualdoni from Aries Solutions and Dylan Telford from Summit Advisory Team as they explore how leveraging returns can significantly impact unexpected tariff fluctuations, the efficiency of outbound order fulfillment, the end-customer experience, and ultimately, your financial performance.
Breakout Session C
Join this session to hear from four powerful women in supply chain and logistics as they sit down together to talk about the perspective of their journey to their roles, how they are mentoring other women in the industry, and what they would change if given the chance.
Become a planetary and profitability hero! In just fifty minutes, you’ll learn over a dozen ways to cut your costs, energy consumption, and environmental impact by 20% to 50% or more, while improving your customer experience.
As the former Chief Sustainability of a $165M distributor and the creator of the Supply Chain Sustainability & Profitability Playbook, I’ll give you a simple framework you can use to slash costs and environmental impact from your logistics operations, plus insights into the technology trends that will be shaping fleets over the next decade.
For example, your 3PL is probably overcharging you for transportation and packaging, increasing not only your costs but your environmental impact. Fortunately, I’ll share information to ask for, so you can get pretty dramatic reductions in both.
As Ohio’s chief compliance officer, the Auditor of State makes Ohio government more efficient, effective, and transparent by placing checks and balances on state and local governments for taxpayers.
Learn more about what our office does and how we utilize the principles of Cohesive Teams to best serve Ohio taxpayers.
The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Teams is based on New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni’s groundbreaking model for developing cohesive teams through five key behaviors: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results.
With more than 3.2 million copies in print, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a cornerstone methodology for teamwork and organizational development. Propel your team to the next level with this high energy, high impact training session while learning about a state agency that touches millions throughout Ohio.
Objectives:
- Embrace a highly effective framework that can guide your team to become more effective and efficient.
- Identify team-related stumbling blocks.
- Recognize the main characteristics of cohesive teams.
Collaboration and cohesion within a team are essential for achieving joint goals and promoting collective success. When team members work together harmoniously, they can share their skills, ideas, and perspectives to creatively and effectively solve problems.
“Packaging is often overlooked, but it’s one of the fastest, most practical levers for reducing both costs and emissions in the supply chain. This session will explore how leading companies are rethinking packaging to drive measurable savings in transportation, storage, and materials, while also advancing sustainability goals.
We’ll cover actionable strategies for right-sizing, material reduction, and packaging standardization, as well as the use of data and digital tools to uncover hidden inefficiencies. Real-world examples will show how even minor changes to packaging design can deliver major impact across the network, lowering freight costs, improving cube utilization, and cutting Scope 3 emissions.
Attendees will leave with a framework for identifying packaging opportunities in their own operations and a clearer understanding of how packaging fits into the broader supply chain optimization playbook.”
The session discusses the importance and methodology of benchmarking in improving warehouse efficiency and productivity within the consumer goods supply chain sector. It outlines a step-by-step approach to benchmarking, including key metrics, data collection, and performance comparison to identify gaps and implement improvements. Challenges in benchmarking and attributes of effective performance measures are also highlighted to aid organizations in achieving best practices.
Breakout Session D
In workforce, begging, borrowing, and stealing isn’t a sin—it’s a strategy. This session shares the lessons, tools, and templates we wish we had from the start, so you can skip the guesswork and go further, faster.
Ohio is facing a workforce challenge that directly impacts supply chain, similarly to manufacturing: not enough qualified technicians and production talent to meet industry demand. In this session, workforce leaders from the Mahoning Valley and statewide technical assistance will share how Ohio is aligning education with industry through sector-based strategies that are already producing results.
Join Joe Chambers for a showcase of how portable extended reality (XR) technology is transforming sales training and product demonstrations. In this session, you’ll gain a clear, jargon-free understanding of the key differences between augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), and how each can be applied in real-world sales environments. Discover how XR can replicate high-impact, in-person training experiences using just a single headset – delivering interactive role-play, immersive product walkthroughs, and on-demand coaching that enhances product knowledge, boosts confidence, and improves pitch effectiveness.
One of the industries that no one mentions or talks about directly is work in the supply chain industry. For many who work in it now, it was not intentional. With all the growth in Central Ohio around the supply chain industry, we have to prepare now for later when the workforce is needed the most for new employers and to fill open positions for retirng employees. Attend this session to learn more about Ohio’s newest Industry Sector Partnership (ISP), O-SCAN, Ohio Supply Chain Academic Network. Find out what O-SCAN is planning for drawing attention to this industry from middle school and up.
Learn how to get the most out of your existing warehouse space, and/or plan for your next facility. What is the right type of storage and material handling equipment and technology to support your operation? How do you develop an efficient material flow and layout design?
Struggling to grow your workforce in a tight labor market? Chances are, you’re overlooking a sizeable segment of the population that is eager to fill those open positions. In this panel discussion, hear from experts in disability inclusion, industrial labor trends, and warehouse employment strategies as they discuss the benefits of creating an inclusive warehouse and ways to improve accessibility. Attendees will gather useful strategies, tangible tools, and insights into technologies that support warehouse accessibility. Real-world examples of the positive effects of inclusion on warehouse productivity and workforce turnover will be shared.
Pricing
Member Registration: $100
Non-Member Registration: $175
Member Exhibitor Table: $300 (includes 2 tickets)
Non-Member Exhibitor Table: $450 (includes 2 tickets)
Are you a member? Look up your company here!
Location
Parking
- Parking is free and is located either in the front or rear of the building based on the meeting location.
Registration fees are considered non-refundable. This is a ticketless event. An electronic reminder will be sent with full details prior to the event.
Questions? events@columbus.org
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Presenting Sponsors
Impact Sponsors
Signature Sponsor
Small Business Sponsor
Networking Mixer Sponsor
Investor Partners
