The trade group MHI aims to foster and encourage innovation as part of the Modex show on 17-20 March in Atlanta.
"We received 77 entries in the competition for the 2014 MHI innovation awards, and we will have all of the applications on display for attendees to view at the entrance to the show," says Tom Carbott, MHI senior vice president of exhibitions. MHI ran its inaugural innovation awards program in 2013.
A panel of end-users vetted the 2014 entries and selected six finalists in each of the two categories: existing products and new products. "Another judging panel will look at them on the first day of the show, and the winners will be announced before the 18 March keynote address." Carbott notes. "Attendees come to look for new solutions", and MHI views the strong innovation approach as filling a need.
Carbott says that Modex 2014 will have about 700 exhibitors - up from 568 at Modex 2012, also in Atlanta. The exhibitions unit of Reed Elsevier plc conducts the collocated Supply Chain & Transportation USA show with another 100 exhibitors. The 2014 activities in Hall B of the Georgia World Congress Center will occupy about 225,000 sqft. (20,903 sqm) in comparison to 175,000 sqft. (16,258 sqm) for Modex 2012 in the centre's Hall C.
The Georgia Logistics Summit will be held concurrently on 18-19 March, and the programs of 15 industry, educational and professional organisations and institutions will offer a variety of opportunities for attendees. The summit organiser is the Center of Innovation for Logistics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Modex 2014 - characterised as "the greatest supply chain show on earth" - is building on the solid 2012 event, which was "one of the few shows to crack the Trade Show 100 as a new entity", Carbott says. "We had a great start out of the chute."
In the area of materials handling equipment, Modex will include exhibits for the Yale, Hyster, Raymond, Landoll and Combilift forklift brands "plus accessory people and a fair number of international companies with tyres and wheels", Carbott notes.
Keynote speeches at Modex will feature Edward H Bastian, president of Delta Air Lines; Lee Scott, former Wal-Mart Stores Inc CEO; and Scott Sopher, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP's supply chain practice.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based international trade association adopted MHI as its name in January 2013. The previous identity - Material Handling Industry of America - stemmed from its founding in1945. The registered name is "MHI ? The Industry That Makes the Supply Chain Work." MHI members have interests in materials handling, logistics and supply chain equipment.