Agenda

Brian is the founder and CEO of Peerless Media. He has 30 years of experience in B2B publishing; 27 of which are in the logistics, supply chain and materials handling markets. Brian’s vision when launching Peerless was to create a unique media company for the new digital era in publishing, offering both the traditional print and online B2B products, while adopting new digital services such as market intelligence, SEO enhancement, behavioral targeting and content engagement. His goal is for Peerless to become a full-service media partner to their clients.

Results oriented, experienced leader with multifaceted experience across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales & Finance in a distinguished, world-class consumer goods company.

Amy is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience in supply chain management and innovation. She is highly regarded for her ability to deliver exceptional results in Product Supply for P&G. Amy excels at inspiring and motivating key decision makers to embrace change within their organizations. By leveraging supply chain data and insights, she efficiently prioritizes work for her teams, allowing them to focus on executing important business strategies and driving necessary changes. Amy’s strengths lie in relationship building, persuasive selling, and achieving success in challenging situations. Her expertise spans supply chain strategies and operations, customer collaboration, leadership of large organizations, and innovation management. She has a unique ability to find innovative solutions that lead to victory, making her an invaluable asset. Amy holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas in Austin and actively leads the Texas Channel P&G Recruiting Team. Outside of work, she enjoys home improvement projects, golfing, traveling, and supporting her children’s school. Amy resides in Cincinnati, OH, with her husband, two children, and two dogs.

Jennifer Springer is Senior Director Customer Fulfillment at Whirlpool Corporation. In this role, she leads a cohesive $1B fulfillment network of over 120 warehouses, a portfolio of global and domestic logistics and trade compliance solutions, a final mile delivery and installation organization, reverse logistics and refurbishment, and a future-forward technology and automation strategy in the United States and Mexico diversified in structure, service level and capabilities tailored uniquely to a range of business units including major appliances and KitchenAid small appliances.

Before joining Whirlpool in January 2022, Jennifer was Senior Director Distribution Center Operations and Logistics for Zebra Technologies where she orchestrated operations for four fulfillment centers located in the US, the Netherlands, Singapore, and China which drove over $4.4B in annual sales revenue. She managed a global transportation portfolio of over $250M, built vision and execution for Zebra’s logistics network strategy, and drove overall supply chain innovation through the Zebra4Zebra program. She began her career with Scanwell Logistics as Business Development and Quality Control Manager.

Jennifer holds an MS in International Trade and Development from Oklahoma State University and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College. She also serves on the Supply Chain Management Advisory Board at Western Michigan University.

Senior Director, Network Supply Chain

Amy Augustine’s team is responsible for building the business cases for the corporate strategic projects for U.S. Cellular. She has interest in how 5G technology can transform the future of supply chain. From 2013 until mid-2018, she led the Reverse Logistics team that is responsible for the strategy and execution of the reverse supply chain, including planning, repair of handsets and tablets, and re-commerce of handsets and accessories. Amy has held various roles within supply chain and has worked at U.S. Cellular more than nine years. Earlier in her career, she spent 10 years in the consulting industry working for KPMG, BearingPoint and the Revere Group. Amy earned her MBA in Operations Management and International Business from Loyola University in Chicago and holds a CSCP certification from APICS.

Drew Eubank is the EVP & Co-Founder of Zion Solutions Group. He is an operations executive with over 20 years of experience running both large and small operations, building and leading high-performing teams, and developing strategies that drive significant returns.

His areas of expertise include: operations improvement, facility and process design, network development and strategy, labor efficiency, software functional design and system selection, material handling integration, partnership/program management, executive strategy, and support.

Drew lives near Athens, Georgia, has been married to his wife Lindsay for fifteen years, and is father to a son, Caleb (12) and a daughter, Adilynn (9). An avid Georgia “Bulldawg,” Drew holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership.

Vijay Cherukuru is Head of Product at Walmart GoLocal, a leading Last Mile Delivery Provider, leveraged by the largest retailers nationwide. Vijay is responsible for building AI-enabled supply chain optimization technology that can reliably facilitate millions of last mile deliveries every week for GoLocal customers. At Walmart, he led Driver workflow, Driver Pay, Tractor & Trailer Telematics, Safety, and Dispatch Optimization products for Walmart Private Fleet’s 15K drivers and 100K+ assets. Vijay also pioneered the concept of Connected Asset Platform for Walmart’s fleet of tractors, trailers, and physical assets to improve digital visibility of physical assets in collaboration with leading ELD, Trailer and Sensor companies. In his past roles, Vijay built several zero-to-one products and platforms in healthcare, B2C marketplace, banking, and supply chain domains, helping them scale to multi-million dollar annual revenues.

Vijay lives in Northwest Arkansas, where Walmart is headquartered. He enjoys mountain biking, exploring Northwest Arkansas outdoors with his family and their Shih Tzu.

Sankalp Arora is the CEO & Co-Founder of Gather AI. With 14 years of experience, Sankalp developed safety and sensor planning for the world’s first safe autonomous helicopter, funded by DARPA, a project that won the Howard Hughes award, AUVSI Xcellence award and was nominated for the Collier Trophy. He is a recipient of the Qualcomm Innovation fellowship and Swartz Innovation fellowship and has a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon.

AJ Raaker, Director of Warehouse Development at Taylor Logistics, has dedicated 15 years to enhancing the company’s warehousing, technology, and automation capabilities. An industry expert, AJ has led initiatives such as the Safe Quality Foods (SQF) program, facilitated Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) fulfillment, and helped implement Gather AI inventory drones.

AJ’s innovative approach has optimized operations and helped care for our customer’s inventory solidifying Taylor Logistics’ leadership in the supply chain sector. Outside of work, AJ is a father, husband, coach, and a massive University of Kentucky sports fan!

Senior Director, Network Supply Chain

Amy Augustine’s team is responsible for building the business cases for the corporate strategic projects for U.S. Cellular. She has interest in how 5G technology can transform the future of supply chain. From 2013 until mid-2018, she led the Reverse Logistics team that is responsible for the strategy and execution of the reverse supply chain, including planning, repair of handsets and tablets, and re-commerce of handsets and accessories. Amy has held various roles within supply chain and has worked at U.S. Cellular more than nine years. Earlier in her career, she spent 10 years in the consulting industry working for KPMG, BearingPoint and the Revere Group. Amy earned her MBA in Operations Management and International Business from Loyola University in Chicago and holds a CSCP certification from APICS.

Results oriented, experienced leader with multifaceted experience across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales & Finance in a distinguished, world-class consumer goods company.

Amy is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience in supply chain management and innovation. She is highly regarded for her ability to deliver exceptional results in Product Supply for P&G. Amy excels at inspiring and motivating key decision makers to embrace change within their organizations. By leveraging supply chain data and insights, she efficiently prioritizes work for her teams, allowing them to focus on executing important business strategies and driving necessary changes. Amy’s strengths lie in relationship building, persuasive selling, and achieving success in challenging situations. Her expertise spans supply chain strategies and operations, customer collaboration, leadership of large organizations, and innovation management. She has a unique ability to find innovative solutions that lead to victory, making her an invaluable asset. Amy holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas in Austin and actively leads the Texas Channel P&G Recruiting Team. Outside of work, she enjoys home improvement projects, golfing, traveling, and supporting her children’s school. Amy resides in Cincinnati, OH, with her husband, two children, and two dogs.

Craig Moss is Director of Data and Change Management at the Digital Supply Chain Institute (DSCI) and Chairman of the Licensing Executives Society committee for developing an ANSI global standard for IP Protection in the Supply Chain.

Craig is also Executive Vice President of Ethisphere and Director of Content for the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI). He is a leading expert on using management systems to improve compliance and risk management performance within companies and across supply chains.

He has designed and led numerous programs helping Fortune 500 companies around the world to implement management systems to reduce supply chain risk and improve performance. He has developed guides on implementing management systems to improve compliance for organizations including the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and the United Nations.

Karisa Sprague is the Senior Vice President for Walmart US Supply Chain Fulfillment and Reverse Operations. She is responsible for leading the Walmart Fulfillment organization by driving performance, profitability, growth, and innovative technology. Karisa is responsible for the stand-alone Fulfillment Centers and Reverse Operations across Walmart US, all working seamlessly to ensure on-time delivery of products to customers and helping to shape the future of how Walmart serves its stores and customers to provide the best shopping experience.

Karisa began her Walmart career in 2001 as an hourly trainee. She has held multiple positions within Store Operations, including leadership roles at store, region, division, and People roles supporting stores and supply chain. Karisa began her Walmart career as an hourly trainee in 2001.

Karisa serves on Walmart’s Women Officer Caucus. She is an executive advisor for the Walmart Women of Supply Chain. She is one of the founding graduates of Walmart Leadership Academy, a former participant of the CEO’s Key Leadership Program, and Walmart’s Executive Leadership Development Group. She is committed to ongoing mentorship and development of women leaders across the company. Karisa actively sits on the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

Devin Bhushan is the Founder and CEO of Squint. Prior to founding Squint, Devin was an engineering leader at Splunk and Yahoo. As an early pioneer in AR, Devin holds over 30 patents across various applications of the technology. Devin received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brian is the founder and CEO of Peerless Media. He has 30 years of experience in B2B publishing; 27 of which are in the logistics, supply chain and materials handling markets. Brian’s vision when launching Peerless was to create a unique media company for the new digital era in publishing, offering both the traditional print and online B2B products, while adopting new digital services such as market intelligence, SEO enhancement, behavioral targeting and content engagement. His goal is for Peerless to become a full-service media partner to their clients.

Luis Roman is Vice President of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) MedTech Supply Chain. In this new role, Luis has leadership accountability for core MedTech Supply Chain functions and capabilities. He will partner with cross-functional leaders to ensure these teams are efficient, responsive to evolving business needs, and deliver quantifiable results for each business unit and region to improve our overall competitiveness and better deliver for customers. He also leads the MedTech Supply Chain Governance Council, is a member of the MedTech Leadership Team, and the J&J Supply Chain Management Committee.

Prior to this role, he was the Global Head of Site and Supply Chain services that included enterprise functions such as Engineering & Property Services, Supply Chain Excellence, Global Transportation, Enterprise Contract Managements, Digital & Data Science, Trade Controls, and Strategic Programs. Under his leadership, these teams delivered continuous improvement of operational and supply chain capabilities, explored partnerships across a diverse network, and drove customer-focused growth and innovation for the future.

Throughout his career at J&J of over 20 years, Luis has held positions of increasing responsibility within supply chain across various functions in Manufacturing, Engineering, New Product Introduction, Strategy Development/Deployment, and Distribution/Logistics. Luis was also previously responsible for the management of Innovative Medicine Supply Chain’s global Small Molecule Platform, which included oversight of the internal and external network, management of critical strategic partnerships, reliability, and continuous improvement. Additionally, he has held roles as Vice President of Innovative Medicine Partnership and External Supply and Vice President of MedTech Supply Chain’s Cardiovascular and Surgery business units.

Luis is a strong developer of talent, an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a passionate supporter of social justice. Throughout his tenure at J&J, he has been known for his active participation and sponsorship of the HOLA and Open & Out Employee Relationship Groups. He is also a member of the Seton Hall University Transformative Leadership in Disruptive Times Program Advisory Board. In this advisory role, Luis helps shape the Seton Hall Supply Chain graduate curriculum and provides mentorship to graduate students on the changing landscape of pharmaceutical supply chain external manufacturing. Additionally, he is a Board Member for the Pace Center for Girls, an innovative prevention and intervention program focused on providing an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy.

Luis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a M.B.A degree from the University of Texas. He is certified as a Six-Sigma Black Belt, Lean Green Belt, and in Flawless Project Execution. He is also an active member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the American Society of Quality. In his spare time, he enjoys staying active outdoors with CrossFit, cycling, and recreational baseball in addition to cheering on his local sports teams with his wife, daughter, and son.

Rochelle Savel is director of Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management for the Emerging Innovations Group. In this role, Savel is responsible for developing optimized supply chains for Corning’s innovations focusing on cash, cost, and customer lead times.

Savel joined Corning in 2018 as business supply director, Global Supply Management, for Optical Connectivity Solutions. She was responsible for partnering with business leadership to deliver exceptional supply chain performance across the division’s global portfolio. In this capacity, Savel had responsibility for the development and execution of strategy for a large volume of third-party spend, including security of supply, sourcing, inventory optimization, and contract negotiations. Additionally, she was instrumental in developing the inaugural Supplier Diversity Program for Optical Communications.

Prior to joining Corning, Savel had 20 years of experience in a variety of roles. From capital project management to operations, she worked within the Energy sector for BP (British Petroleum) and was responsible for driving efficiencies across numerous countries ranging from the United Kingdom to Angola. Savel led numerous transformational efforts such as standardization of complex designs to large-scale SAP implementations. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated her passion for empowering others and creating inclusive leaders and teams. Savel was director of Global Procurement Strategy & Capability at Ingersoll Rand; whose family of brands includes Club Car®, Ingersoll Rand®, Thermo King® and Trane®.

Savel earned a Master of Business Administration from Rice University and holds a bachelor’s degree in supply chain management from Michigan State University. She also completed Corporate Policy and Regulation for Executives from Washington College and Chinese Financial Policy with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (via Rice).

For 5 years, Savel was chair of the North Carolina chapter of Women in Manufacturing, a national association dedicated to inspiring, developing, and promoting women who are pursuing, or have chosen a career, in the manufacturing industry.

Jonas Swarttouw is Executive Vice President Commercial and Chairman North America at NewCold. Jonas has over 15 years of experience in the logistics industry. Originally from the Netherlands, Jonas relocated to Chicago, Illinois in 2017 as Country Manager to help lead the development of NewCold North America. Today he oversees Business Development and customer relations at NewCold and is excited about the continued growth of the region.

Craig Moss is Director of Data and Change Management at the Digital Supply Chain Institute (DSCI) and Chairman of the Licensing Executives Society committee for developing an ANSI global standard for IP Protection in the Supply Chain.

Craig is also Executive Vice President of Ethisphere and Director of Content for the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI). He is a leading expert on using management systems to improve compliance and risk management performance within companies and across supply chains.

He has designed and led numerous programs helping Fortune 500 companies around the world to implement management systems to reduce supply chain risk and improve performance. He has developed guides on implementing management systems to improve compliance for organizations including the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and the United Nations.

Dan Pellathy is Faculty of Practice & Director of Operations of the Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business. Pellathy holds a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, an MBA/MPIA with a focus on international economics from the University of Pittsburgh, and a BA in philosophy and anthropology from Cornell University.

Pellathy’s professional background includes enterprise risk management and he continues to actively consult with companies across a broad range of issues related to strategic supply chain planning, organizational alignment, supply chain risk management, and end-to-end operational excellence.

Pellathy’s research has been published in academic journals including Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, and International Journal of Logistics Management. He is also co-author of numerous papers on forward-thinking topics in supply chain management. This work has been featured in practitioner and popular outlets including Supply Chain Quarterly, Supply Chain Management Review, The Conversation, and the Wall Street Journal.

Jadé Johnston is a supply chain and operations leader, known for steering teams through complex challenges across the military, national security, defense, aerospace, manufacturing, and systems integration sectors. With an MBA in Logistics and Operations Management from the University of Tennessee and a BS in Management from the University of Phoenix, Jadé’s expertise is supported with certifications such as PMP, CPSM, and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.

As Director of Procurement at Leidos Inc., a major Systems Integrator and IT provider to the US Federal Government, she oversees a team of 55 global supply management professionals, responsible for procurement activities of nearly $2B in 7 countries. Her team is pivotal in negotiating software, cloud, and IT service agreements, driving cost savings, enhancing service levels, reducing supply chain risks, and maximizing supplier contributions to support various commercial, international, and federal missions, including those for DOD, DOE, DOJ, DOT, NASA, FBI, and NSA.

Jadé has effectively harnessed her relationship with the University of Tennessee, introducing cutting-edge supply chain practices at Leidos, enhancing talent development, and adding value to the procurement process. Her role as an Adjunct Lecturer also showcases her commitment to education and industry development.

Her distinguished military service in the US Army Signal Corps, recognized by several medals, highlights her leadership in communications for critical missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.

Jadé’s impact extends to significant cost savings and operational enhancements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where she led material operations improvements and a strategic maintenance operations plan for the Uranium Processing Facility Project, a key National Nuclear Security Administration initiative.

In her tenure as Director of Supply Chain and Operations at Kelsan, Jadé founded a Supply Chain Council that revamped logistics, procurement, inventory, and supplier relations, significantly boosting supply chain efficacy and delivering financial value to the Board of Directors. Her initiatives in talent development and sales process innovation further testify to her strategic and integrative approach to supply chain management.

Beyond her professional achievements, Jadé is an active member of CSCMP, ISM, PMI, and serves on the Pellissippi State Community College Business Advisory Board. Her personal interests include real estate investment, outdoor adventures with her family, and once, a memorable skydiving experience she’s unlikely to repeat. Her comprehensive skill set, leadership across diverse sectors, and dedication to advancing supply chain practices distinguish her as a dynamic and impactful leader.