Rick Blasgen, Alberto Alemán Zubieta and Dr H Donald Ratliff are slated to deliver keynote addresses during the Modex 2012 expo and conference in Atlanta.

Blasgen, chief executive officer of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, will speak on 6 February about logistics and supply chain management.

Alemán, CEO of the Panama Canal Authority, will talk on 7 February about the canal's expansion and impact on supply chains and global trade.

Ratliff, executive director of the supply chain and logistics institute of the Georgia Institute of Technology, will appear on 8 February discussing how performance in the disciplines impacts trade.

Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) is organising Modex 2012 with more than 500 exhibits and 70 educational sessions outlining trends, best practices and state-of-the-art equipment and technology solutions.

Modex 2012 has 17 co-located organisations including the American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution, College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and its Atlanta roundtable, Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment Council, Georgia Institute of Technology supply chain and logistics institute and the Georgia Logistics Summit.

Also, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association, Metro Atlanta Chamber supply chain leadership council, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Panama Canal Authority, Reusable Packaging Association, Technical Career Education Program and the US Department of Commerce international trade administration will be represented.

"Co-locating these events. . . will allow manufacturing, distribution and supply chain professionals unparalleled education and networking opportunities as well as exposure to the broadest material handling, logistics and supply chain equipment and technology display of any expo of its kind in North America," says John Nofsinger, CEO of Charlotte, North Carolina-based MHIA.

Nofsinger notes that the Georgia Logistics Summit in May 2011 drew 1,300 attendees from 21 states "and expects to draw even more in conjunction with Modex 2012".

George Prest, MHIA chief operating officer, observes that the Modex 2012 conference "will feature leading-edge topics in manufacturing, distribution and the supply chain" and explore subjects such as sustainability, security and the impact of the Panama Canal expansion.

Modex 2012 runs on 6-9 February in the Georgia World Congress Centre. More details are available at the website.