George Prest

Peak US industry group MHI will be opening its annual conference to non-members for the first time.

"The goal is to bring the industry (members and non-members) together to collaborate and develop into a growing community that shares knowledge and addresses current and future manufacturing and supply chain challenges and opportunities," says George Prest, CEO of MHI.

In another attempt to broaden the appeal of the event, MHI is granting first-time attendees to the conference complimentary admission.

The event will take place on October 4-7 in Ponte Vedra, Florida and kicks off with an executive summit featuring a half-day of keynote sessions followed by the annual conference.

All sessions will focus on innovations that are transforming traditional supply chains into next generation models.

The speaker line-up for the executive summit includes Patrick Murzyn, global purchasing director at Caterpillar, Inc; David Simchi-Levi, professor and co-director-leader for global operations, MIT; Lora Cecere, founder and CEO, Supply Chain Insights; and David Roberts, GSP director at Singularity University.

According to Prest, the content of this year's event was developed to address innovations that were examined in the recently published MHI 2015 Annual Industry Report and US Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics.

In addition to the keynotes, the conference will include six panel sessions covering topics that include omnichannel fulfillment, automation, information systems and the supply chain workforce.

MHI is an international trade association that has represented the materials handling and logistics industry since 1945.