From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine
Jan. 4, 2011
Supply Chain News: Material Handling Association Aims to Broaden Reach with New MODEX Show in Atlanta in February
First Year Show to Have Broader Supply Chain Focus; Inside the Four Walls and Outside the Four Walls, MHIA Says
Cliff Holste, Materials Handling Editor
The Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), an industry association representing material handling providers and related software vendors (e.g., WMS), announced a bold move in 2010 to retire its North American Material Handling show and replace it in 2012 with MODEX, a new event in Atlanta that will have a much broader supply chain focus.
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| "I am not sure if we could have done this 10 years ago," Forger said. "But the time is right now, and we are seeing substantial interest. |
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MODEX 2012 is coming soon, running Feb. 6-9 at the Georgia World Conference Center in downtown Atlanta. MODEX will continue to run in Atlanta in even numbered years, alternating with MHIA's major ProMat show in Chicago that is held in odd numbered years.
Gary Forger, Senior Vice President of Professional Development for MHIA, tells SCDigest that the show floor is already sold out, with more than 500 exhibitors preparing booths and displays for this new event.
Forger added that MHIA saw an opportunity to provide content and solutions "that are both inside the four walls and outside the four walls" with the new MODEX concept.
"I am not sure if we could have done this 10 years ago," Forger said. "But the time is right now, and we are seeing substantial interest."
The MHIA events have always had strong support from supply chain execution software vendors, and Forger said there will of course be a strong contingent of exhibitors from the material handling community as well. However, he said you can expect to see a broader range of exhibitors and seminars from more total supply chain focused solution providers and experts versus past MHIA events.
As usual, there will be nearly 80 "on the floor" seminars led by different exhibitors that will cover a wide range of supply chain and logistics topics. New for MODEX is what MHIA is calling "co-located education partners," generally industry groups such as CSCMP, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and the Warehouse Education and Resource Council (WERC) - 19 in total - who will also offer seminars on a variety of educational topics.
"We are bringing together the many voices of the supply chain together in one place," Forger said.
Both the on-floor seminars and the educational partner sessions are free of charge to show attendees.
(Distribution/Materials Handling Story Continues Below
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Each main day of the show will feature an opening keynote speaker. That schedule includes CSCMP president Rick Blasgen on Monday; Panama Canal Authority CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta, who will speak Tuesday on the status and impact of the game-changing project to widen the Canal; and well-known Georgia Tech professor Dr. Don Ratliff on Wednesday.