Site Visits/Speakers include:

Ballet Jewels Inc., Kearny, NJ, is a supplier of fashion jewelry to Wal-Mart, Target, Kohls and more.  Sam Schmidt, Director of Warehouse Operations, will give a tour and explain how they have been able to drive down their distribution cost-per-piece over the years and continue to do so even in this tough economy.    

SaraMax Apparel Group Inc., Sayreville, NJ, a high-volume supplier of merchandise to major retailers, is one of the largest privately held branded and private label undergarment manufacturer and supplier.  Steve Lind, Director of Distribution, will walk attendees through the advances they have made to increase performance for Wal-Mart and other retailers, while continuing to reduce their cost of distribution.

Paul Lightfoot, CEO and President, AL Systems, will discuss today’s challenges faced by suppliers to the big box retailers.  With downward pricing pressure to maintain or grow your market share, it is more critical than ever to take costs out of your operation.  Profitably fulfilling store specific orders under a variety of conditions will be explored and discussed.  

Brian Lindenmeyer, Director of Account Management, Peach State’s Global Consulting & Engineering Group, will discuss how to maximize productivity of your existing assets.  In any economy, but particularly in today's economy, companies need to make the most out of what they have now.  The pressures to improve business operations are the same, but the capital funding is not.  Mr. Lindenmeyer will discuss the key components of sustainable and measureable improvements, and how companies can use these immediate improvements to increase the bottom-line profits.  Mr. Lindenmeyer will also show how operational excellence set companies up for even greater success during improved economic times. 

As in previous Knowledge Conferences, there will be interactive discussions giving attendees the opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas and share openly with other supply chain executives on industry issues, challenges, and operations.