The International Supply Chain Protection Organization (ISCPO) held a one-day summit in Burbank, California in August. The summit was designed to bring together a select group of loss prevention/corporate security professionals, industry speakers, and the ISCPO’s preferred vendors across a multitude of business verticals to discuss pertinent supply chain security issues and challenges.
Bringing Verticals Together to Expand Partnerships
The 2024 summit brought together top professionals from various sectors to discuss emerging challenges and solutions in supply chain protection. Speakers Glenn Master, Adam Stokes, Scott Cornell, Rod Fulenwider, Danny Ramon, and Anthony Quinn all did an outstanding job relaying critical information to the attendees. With a goal of expanding membership to all businesses with supply chain and cargo issues, this year the invite-only summit included security, loss prevention, and supply chain leadership in retail, restaurant, grocery, and manufacturing.
“The event targeted mid- to senior-level decision makers across a wide range of business verticals,” emphasized Glenn Master, ISCPO president and chairman. “Having a one-day event packed with informative speakers on different topics created organic networking and conversation, which promoted problem solving.”
“I thought all our presenters did a great job and aligned nicely with the summit theme of strategic cargo theft,” said Wes Bank, LPC, of DHL E-Commerce. “There was plenty of time between presenters to make new introductions and chat about challenges or successes.”
“The energy with the attendees was extremely positive with a great cross representation of companies and people,” added Rod Fulenwider, vice president of D&L Protective Services. “The presenters and presentations were strong and engaging with the audience asking wonderful questions. This created a strong dialogue for the entire day.”
Preferred Vendor Presentations: A Key Highlight
The summit also featured presentations from ISCPO’s preferred vendors, including Verkada, 7PSolutions, Protos Security, and Citadel. Attendees found these sessions to be particularly valuable, providing actionable insights and solutions for industry challenges.
“Each one of the preferred vendors is a best-in-class company with their respective applications,” Master said. “The Q&A sessions with the audience presented real-world challenges in the supply chain and the vendors provided real-world solutions. In addition, the audience members’ engagement in the Q&A created a collaboration that you do not see with most solution providers at a conference. That collaboration in turn served as a problem solving platform.”
“The audience seemed energized and open to the solutions offered by the preferred vendors during their presentations,” said Fulenwider. “So much so, that many grab additional time with them to discuss their obstacles and possible solutions.”
“I spoke to the first-time attendees after the meeting, and they were impressed with the detailed information and specifics given to them from the presenters,” added Tracy Nini, CEO at WCR. “The idea of having a smaller, regional meeting seems to be well received. Attendees who may not have been able to attend a longer meeting, or go to another city, were grateful to be included and said they learned a lot from the day.
“The question and answer session with each speaker was hugely insightful and helpful. Members of the audience sharing their experiences and successes was invaluable. This group of people is incredibly supportive to one another, giving sage advice and insights freely—it was very impressive.”
A Call for Greater Industry Involvement
All things considered, the consensus among participants is clear: The ISCPO summit offered immense value, and industry professionals should consider becoming more involved in future events.
“ISCPO is not just an industry group—it has a role in shaping the future of supply protection,” said Bank. “It’s a path forward for every practitioner to find answers on how to reduce losses within their supply chain network.”
“Broader engagement is the path forward,” added Tom Meehan, CEO at CONTROLTEK. “Spreading the word and ensuring that others across the industry are more aware of our message and what we’re doing should be a primary focus. There is a lot of value in the programs, both for the solution provider and the practitioners.”
The ISCPO summits open doors for industry leaders explore opportunities for productive industry engagement. They provide the chance to cultivate new relationships within the industry, add new insights, and gain a better understanding of the solutions available to improve productivity and ultimately our results. This is a forum to benefit from the valuable insights and perspectives of the supply chain protection community, opening doors to a wealth of potential solutions to address the challenges and trends faced on an everyday basis.
“I would highly recommend industry leaders become involved,” said Paul Ganz, ISCPO board member and senior director of supply chain asset protection at The Home Depot. “Cargo theft is an ever-increasing trend. We need to find more opportunities for industry engagement, opening these events to a broad spectrum of verticals.”
The 2024 ISCPO Summit in Burbank was a valuable and enriching experience for all who attended. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, relevant discussions, and actionable insights, the event set a high bar for the upcoming summits this year in Toronto and London. For details about these summits, visit the ISCPO website. For conference details and to catch the latest ISCPO news, join the ISCPO LinkedIn Group.