CSCMP CHICAGO 41ST ANNUAL SEMINAR
April 23, 2026
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Our upcoming Seminar, Building Supply Chain Organization 2030: Talent, Technology & Transformation, equips supply chain organizations to lead into the next decade. From practical AI and digital fluency to systems thinking, strategy, and leadership, you’ll gain skills and insights you can apply immediately. Designed for practitioners through executives—learn, network, and leave with a clear roadmap and new relationships to manage your organization and career successful through this transformational period.
Session Summaries
Building a Successful Supply Chain Leadership Career
Over the past couple decades, the supply chain professional and role of Supply Chain leaders in their respective companies has evolved and grown significantly.
Past research of successful Supply Chain leaders has shown that career paths are varied and highly random. In addition, there are critical business integration experiences and assignments, in addition to functional supply chain roles that best prepare for career advancement and the most significant contributions to value creation for companies.
This presentation explores key foundational experiences, skillsets and career path principles in structuring and navigating a successful supply chain leadership career.
Speaker:
Bob Masching – CSCO, EVP Global Supply Chain
Interns to Employees: Developing High-Potential Students into High Performance Contributors
In this presentation, Kenny will discuss strategies for building strong relationships with universities, attracting top student talent, and maximizing value to achieve optimal outcomes for both students and companies.
Having the right individual to manage these university partnerships can transform your organization from being relatively unknown to becoming a top-of-mind employer, significantly increasing your application volume. Furthermore, hiring highly qualified students for internships reduces long-term costs associated with training and career exploration, helping you secure the most retainable talent.
Kenny will also cover how to successfully convert these internships into long-term careers once you have recruited the best-matched students for your program.
Speaker:
Kenny Kyle – VP of Campus Collaboration, TMC Transportation & Logistics
The Next Supply Chain Failure Won’t Be External
Over the past five years, supply chain leaders have fortified the perimeter through predictable paths; dual sourcing, regionalization, control towers, AI-enabled forecasting, expanded risk registers. Yet despite increased visibility, organizations continue to fracture under stress.
Why?
Because the dominant risk of 2030 will not be geopolitical volatility, climate disruption, or supplier instability. It will be internal misalignment.
Most organizations can see risk. Far fewer can comprehend what it means materially, let alone act on it at speed. Authority is fragmented. Incentives are misaligned. Decision rights are unclear. Finance optimizes margin while operations protects uptime. Procurement is measured on savings while resilience carries no scorecard. Under pressure, governance velocity lags disruption velocity. That gap is where failure occurs.
This session challenges the prevailing narrative that resilience is primarily a sourcing or supplier problem. Instead, it argues that by 2030 resilience will be a governance problem. Leaders will explore how authority gaps, incentive collisions, and decision latency create hidden exposure, and why structural coherence, not just visibility, will determine which organizations endure.
The future of supply chain risk is internal. The question is whether we are designed to respond to what we already know.
Speaker:
James Altwies – Senior Supply Chain Risk Leader, Exact Sciences
Supply Chain Excellence at Ace Hardware
Supply chain excellence at Ace Hardware is defined by a retailer-centric operating model that supports thousands of independent stores with speed, reliability, and flexibility. As the world’s largest hardware cooperative, Ace designs its supply chain to deliver high service levels without forcing inventory, preserving the cooperative advantage while enabling local retailers to compete effectively. Continued investment in a strategically designed national distribution network, including modern Retail Support Centers, expands capacity, improves geographic reach, and strengthens operational resilience. Advanced automation, scalable processes, and disciplined continuous improvement underpin data-driven decision-making and cross-functional collaboration, ensuring the supply chain evolves with retailer needs effectively.
Speaker:
Jake O’Neal – Corporate Vice President of Supply Chain & Logistics at Ace Hardware
The Supply Chain Center of Excellence 2.0: How to Build Lasting Impact
Speaker:
Dan Vanden Brink – Partner, Decision Spot
From Zero to Scale: Building a Company and Supply Chain from Scratch
What does it really take to go from “idea” to a scaled product supply chain—then survive a once-in-a-generation demand shock? In this fireside chat, Gunner Lyslo, Founder & CEO of Surfacide, will walk through the practical lessons of building a medtech manufacturing and supply chain capability from scratch—from building up a supplier base, to developing manufacturing processes, and a delivery and support supply chain.
We’ll cover early-stage ramp-up challenges, the operational and regulatory realities of bringing a clinical product to market, and the leadership decisions that separate fast growth from sustainable growth. The discussion will also revisit the COVID demand surge—how scaling under pressure impacts sourcing, lead times, and quality—and what changes when demand later stabilizes.
We’ll close with today’s realities: extended global supply chains, risk management, tariffs, and navigating evolving regulatory expectations (including FDA clearance dynamics) while protecting customer outcomes.
Speaker:
Gunner Lyslo – Founder & CEO of Surfacide
All Change Starts With Leadership: the Role of Leaders in Guiding Transformations
Leadership is never obsolete.
As we face incredible change and transformation, leadership is more important now than ever. We will cover how leaders need to show up during transformations and inspire people during times of rapid change.
Speaker:
Mike Chaney – Supply Chain Advisor, Retired SVP at Procter & Gamble
Panel Discussion - Cracking the S&OP/IBP Code: Learnings and Guidance From Practitioners
S&OP has been around since the 1980’s, yet companies still struggle with the fundamentals: balancing demand and supply in one plan aligned across sales, marketing, finance, and manufacturing / supply chain operations. This panel will talk what works, mistakes learned from, the practical difference between IBP and S&OP, and what might change by 2030.
Panelists:
Andrew Byer, Founder / Principal at TransformGrow Supply Chain Consulting, ex P&G
Cristina Sergent, Vice President of Planning Transformation and Excellence of Diageo
Lina Alvarado, MBA, MSc, PMP, SCPro – Director of Supply Planning & Execution at Fortune Brands Innovations
Bob Masching, CSCO, EVP Global Supply Chain
Driving Change in Your Organization
Most change efforts do not fail because of strategy. They stall because teams struggle to adapt in real time.
In today’s supply chain environment, change is constant. New technologies, shifting customer expectations, and ongoing disruption require organizations to adjust quickly while keeping operations running. The challenge is not just designing change. It is helping people move through it without losing engagement or performance.
This session focuses on what leaders can do in those moments.
Participants will learn how to clearly communicate the “why” behind change, recognize early signs of resistance, and take practical steps to keep teams aligned and moving forward. The emphasis is on simple, repeatable actions that work in fast-paced, operational environments.
Through real-world scenarios and interactive discussion, attendees will practice techniques they can apply immediately to support their teams through process changes, new technologies, and organizational shifts.
You will leave with practical tools to lead change more effectively while maintaining productivity, engagement, and operational stability.
Speaker:
- Ed Huey – Manufacturing Executive at Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center
From Reports to Real Decisions: How AI Is Transforming Supply Chain Planning
Scenario analysis, plan comparison, and exception management have long been core disciplines in supply chain planning. But for many organizations, the work required to support those decisions is still highly manual, time-consuming, and siloed across functions.
In this session, John Sharkey and Nick Hamm will share a practical perspective on how Generative and Agentic AI can help planning teams work more effectively. They will discuss how AI can accelerate scenario analysis, surface meaningful changes and root causes, and improve planner productivity while supporting better informed decisions.
Attendees will gain insight into how these capabilities can help organizations move from periodic planning cycles toward more continuous, cross-functional decision-making. The session will offer a grounded view of where AI is creating value today, what is changing in supply chain planning, and what organizations need to do to ultimately set the stage for autonomous planning and decision-making.
Speakers:
- John Sharkey – CEO – Spinnaker SCA, Global Supply Chain Lead, Publicis Sapient
- Nick Hamm – Vice President, Supply Chain Design and Analytics at Spinnaker SCA
Resilient by Design: Elevating Inventory Performance Across the Value Chain
Volatility isn’t slowing down and supply planning must move faster. This session delivers a crisp, action‑focused roadmap to strengthen inventory performance end‑to‑end. Leaders will learn how to rapidly recalibrate planning parameters, tighten demand‑supply alignment, and deploy smart buffers that flex with market conditions.
You’ll walk away with immediate actions to:
- Cut through planning noise by cleaning and stabilizing core data inputs.
- Shorten decision cycles with streamlined exception management and automated triggers.
- Rebalance inventory proactively using fast scenario modeling to anticipate disruptions.
- Strengthen demand–supply alignment through tighter cross‑functional rhythms.
- Design adaptive inventory buffers that flex with volatility instead of inflating stock.
- Free up working capital while protecting service levels in dynamic conditions.
This session gives Supply Chain Leaders a focused set of moves their teams can apply right away reducing firefighting, increasing predictability, and making supply planning a true engine of resilience and competitive advantage.
Speaker:
- Lina Alvarado, MBA, MSc, PMP, SCPro – Director of Supply Planning & Execution at Fortune Brands Innovations
Speaker Bios
Lina Alvarado, MBA, MSc, PMP, SCPro
Director of Supply Planning & Execution at Fortune Brands Innovations
Lina Alvarado is an accomplished global supply chain leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning supply planning, logistics, distribution, and end‑to‑end supply chain transformation. Currently serving as Director of Supply Planning & Execution at Fortune Brands Innovations, she leads enterprise‑level planning strategies that strengthen service performance, enhance resilience, and improve working capital across a diverse product portfolio.
Lina’s career includes progressive leadership roles across Fortune Brands, Duracell, and Procter & Gamble, where she built a track record of driving operational excellence, leading complex international transitions, and building high‑performing teams across Latin America, the U.S., and global markets. Her expertise spans demand and supply planning, logistics optimization, program management, innovation portfolio execution, and cross‑border operations.
Deeply committed to continuous learning, Lina holds multiple advanced degrees, including an MBA and a Master’s in Supply Chain Management & Logistics. She has also earned elite professional credentials such as PMP, SCPro Level One, and multiple Cornell University leadership and change management certifications.
A passionate advocate for inclusion and community impact, Lina has served as a board member and volunteer within professional and nonprofit organizations, including CSCMP and multiple animal welfare groups. She currently co‑chairs the Inspira Hispanic ERG at Fortune Brands Innovations, championing representation, visibility, and professional growth for Hispanic employees.
Originally from Colombia and now based in Deerfield, Illinois, Lina blends global perspective with hands‑on leadership. Known for her resilience, strategic mindset, and ability to elevate teams, she remains dedicated to empowering others, advancing the supply chain profession, and leaving a positive, lasting impact on the people and organizations she serves.
James Altwies
Senior Supply Chain Risk Leader, Exact Sciences
James Altwies is a senior supply chain leader with nearly 30 years of experience spanning strategic sourcing, complex negotiations, and enterprise risk governance in regulated, high-consequence industries. He currently serves in a Supply Chain Risk Management leadership role at Exact Sciences, where he designs and advances cross-functional resilience frameworks supporting critical global operations.
Throughout his career, James has led high-stakes supplier negotiations, developed sourcing strategies in sole- and single-source environments, and worked at the intersection of procurement, operations, finance, and quality to improve organizational response under stress. His focus extends beyond identifying exposure to ensuring companies are structurally equipped to act when disruption occurs.
In addition to his corporate leadership responsibilities, James contributes to industry conversations on the evolving risk landscape, governance alignment, and the future of resilient supply networks.
Andrew Byer
Founder / Principal at TransformGrow Supply Chain Consulting, ex P&G
Andrew Byer, independent advisor/consultant – Andrew is a globally experienced supply chain expert, advisor, board member and consultant with more than 40 years leadership experience across the supply chain. He currently teaches an ‘AI for Industrial Leaders’ course at Altix Consulting, and authors a monthly series called “What it Really Means” for Supply Chain Management Review. As a former Senior Director at Procter & Gamble, the majority of his experience has been with P&G’s supply chains working in operations and with suppliers / customers. Andrew is globally experienced with roles based in the US, Greater China, Japan and APAC. He also led licensing of P&G supply chain know-how giving him the opportunity to work on supply chain improvement in other industries and with C-suite executives at companies both larger and smaller than P&G. Andrew’s expertise includes digital transformation, network design, strategic planning, innovation management, operational planning (demand, supply), supplier and customer connectivity and logistics (transportation, warehousing.)
Andrew is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, lives in Cincinnati, and is married with four children and three wonderful grandchildren.
Mike Chaney
Supply Chain Advisor, Retired SVP at Procter & Gamble
Mike Chaney is a retired Procter & Gamble senior executive with extensive global experience and expertise in Product Supply, Innovation, organizational leadership, and operational excellence. Since his retirement from P&G, Mike serves on boards of various companies and non-profits.
Mike has a proven record of delivering breakthrough business results. Mike was a Senior Vice President and Officer at P&G for over 14 years with extensive experience in Engineering, Manufacturing, Innovation management, Procurement, and Supply Chain leadership. His last position at P&G was Senior Vice President, Product Supply, Global Grooming leading an organization delivering 13+% of P&G sales with 19 manufacturing sites and 5 R&D centers around the world.
Mike has a strong track record of developing people and leaders of multiple cultures around the world and was well known as a strong sponsor of Diversity with experience in sponsoring multiple affinity groups including women globally and ethnic groups in the US and sponsorship of multiple STEM schools around the world.
Post P&G, Mike has served on company boards including Bison Transportation, Real Time Intelligence (Supply Chain AI), 1LogTech (Transpiration Software), and advisory Boards including Cultivate(md) Venture Capital fund. He also serves on several non-profit boards.
Mike and his wife Kathy have three children and six wonderful grandchildren. He is a graduate of Rose Human Institute of Technology in Chemical Engineering.
Nick Hamm
Vice President, Supply Chain Design and Analytics at Spinnaker SCA
Nick Hamm is Vice President of Supply Chain Design and Analytics at Spinnaker SCA, a Publicis Sapient company, where he helps global enterprises make better network, inventory, and service trade-off decisions through data-driven modeling. A pioneer in the field, Nick was LLamasoft’s first employee and helped build Supply Chain Guru and the company’s Applied Research team. Over the course of his career, he has led more than 120 modeling engagements, including work with 60% of Gartner’s Top 25 supply chains. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and began his academic career at West Point, where he played Division I ice hockey.
Ed Huey
Manufacturing Executive at Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center
Ed Huey is an operations and workforce specialist with more than 25 years of manufacturing and leadership experience. He has served as a Plant Manager in the automotive industry, where he led teams through operational improvements, workforce development, and lean transformation initiatives.
Ed focuses on helping manufacturers strengthen team engagement, improve communication, and build the internal capability needed to sustain performance in fast-paced environments. His experience allows him to connect workforce behavior directly to productivity, retention, and operational results.
He brings a practical, hands-on approach to guiding teams through change, helping leaders implement strategies that improve engagement while maintaining performance.
Ed is a certified Training Within Industry (TWI) Job Instruction and Job Relations Trainer and Coach, an OSHA Authorized Outreach Training Provider, and a certified DDI facilitator.
Kenny Kyle
Former Vice President of Campus Collaboration, TMC Transportation and Logistics
Kenny Kyle retired from full time work after a long career, most recently serving as Vice President of Campus Collaboration for TMC Transportation and Logistics, an Employee-Owned company. He had held positions as Operations Fleet Manager, Customer Service Manager, Special Operations Manager, and Director of Customer Services since joining the company in 2001. In 2017 he opened TMC’s Student Training Center at the Iowa State University Research Park in Ames, IA. By partnering with universities and schools throughout the US, he created an extensive internship program resulting in enhanced education for many students and careers for many graduates. He also helps host Capstone and Practicum projects for students. Kenny was born in Scotland and worked in Greece, Portugal, Spain, and England before settling in Iowa in 1999. He speaks fluent Portuguese and dabbles in several other languages. He currently volunteers as a “GlobalScot” with Scottish Development International. This international trade and development board helps Scottish companies develop business overseas. In his life he has owned a restaurant, two logistics companies and two trucking companies. Kenny serves on six different advisory boards at four universities and one high school. He also helps with youth organizations such as YS&S, I-JAG and EDGE. Kenny now enjoys part-time freelance work, contracting as an OBC, monitoring Super-loads, and volunteer work such as guest-lecturing at multiple universities on a variety of leadership and transportation topics. He conducts presentations to student organizations and offers advice on soft skills for career advancement.
Gunner Lyslo
Founder & CEO of Surfacide
Gunner Lyslo is an American entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Surfacide®, an award-winning medtech company he established in 2010. Surfacide’s patented Helios® System uses a trio of UV ‘robots’ to disinfect and kill deadly pathogens (including Coronavirus) on surfaces. Originally conceived to tackle Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) and emerging ‘superbugs’ in the healthcare industry, Surfacide’s UV technology has become a global leader across a wide range of industries beyond healthcare including professional sporting venues, hotels, restaurants, fitness clubs, schools and more. Today, Surfacide’s UV technology is implemented in more than 1000 facilities around the globe and continues to grow exponentially.
Gunner’s extensive knowledge in infectious diseases and his passion for disruptive technologies in infection control dates back to more than 25 years ago. Early in his career, he tackled Legionnaire’s disease by working on an evidence-based ionization technology solution that effectively reduced the presence of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens. His vision for not only understanding the importance of data collection, but also acting on that data with life-saving technology solutions, has made him a well-known expert and thought leader in the infection prevention space.
Gunner is an active member of The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), The Association of Professionals Optimizing Healthcare Facilities (ASHE), The Association for Healthcare Environments (AHE) and The International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA). In his free time, he enjoys being a husband and father of 2 boys, and coaching youth hockey.
Bob Masching
CSCO, EVP Global Supply Chain
Bob recently founded BMasching Consulting & Advising, after retiring from over a decade in Executive Supply Chain/CSCO officer roles.
Most recently, he served as EVP, Global Supply Chain at Trident Seafoods, responsible for all supply chain functions at North America’s largest vertically integrated seafood company. Prior to Trident, Bob was the Chief Supply Chain Officer for The Nature’s Bounty Company, a leading PE-owned Health and Wellness company. Prior to joining The Nature’s Bounty Co., Bob was VP, Global Supply Chain for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Prior to this role, he served as SVP, Supply Chain for ConAgra Foods and other senior supply chain positions after joining the company in 2003. Prior to ConAgra, Bob worked for PepsiCo in multiple assignments within the Quaker Foods North America business since starting his career at Quaker Oats Co. Bob has held a wide variety of roles in procurement, operations, logistics, customer supply chain, and SC Planning and Program Management, and has successfully led several supply chain transformations.
Bob earned a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.
Jake O’Neal
Corporate Vice President of Supply Chain & Logistics at Ace Hardware
Cristina Sergent
Vice President of Planning Transformation and Excellence of Diageo
With 22 years of experience in end‑to‑end supply chain management, Cristina has built a career driving transformation, capability building, and operational excellence across global organizations. She spent 15 years at Procter & Gamble, where she held a variety of roles across multiple categories and supply chain disciplines, gaining deep expertise in planning, strategy execution, and cross‑functional leadership. Cristina then joined Mondelēz International, where she spent six years leading the Global Planning Center of Excellence. In this role, she spearheaded the company’s global planning transformation and implementation of a new Advanced Planning System. In April 2025, Cristina joined Diageo as Vice President of Planning Transformation and Excellence. She is currently leading the company’s Global Integrated Business Planning (IBP) transformation, shaping the future of enterprise planning, and driving sustainable improvements in agility, accuracy, and performance.
John Sharkey
CEO – Spinnaker SCA, Global Supply Chain Lead, Publicis Sapient
As Global Supply Chain Lead of Publicis Sapient and CEO of Spinnaker SCA, John Sharkey leads the overall supply chain strategy, client success, team development, and financial performance. With more than two decades of experience delivering large-scale supply chain transformation, John is widely recognized as a trusted advisor to leading organizations across retail, manufacturing, and distribution industries. In 2024, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Prior to joining Spinnaker SCA, John held roles at EY, Orion Consulting, and Procter & Gamble. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois and earned an MBA and MS in Engineering from MIT as a fellow in the Leaders for Global Operations program.
Dan Vanden Brink
Partner, Decision Spot
Dan Vanden Brink is a highly experienced Supply Chain and Technology Executive with a distinguished career spanning over 30 years. With a solid foundation in technology, supply chain, strategy and leadership, Dan has cultivated expertise in strategy formulation, organizational scaling, and effective leadership. Notably, he has consistently demonstrated his ability to drive significant financial outcomes, generating over $200 million in savings to his employers and clients through the application of Optimization and Data Science.
Throughout his career, Dan has held key leadership roles in prominent companies such as Decision Spot, LLamasoft, IBM, and Schneider National. His leadership style emphasizes team empowerment and development, resulting in sustained success across various organizations.
Dan’s professional journey showcases his proficiency in navigating complex challenges within the supply chain and technology domains. He has spearheaded initiatives in advanced planning, risk management, strategic planning, analytics, and AI, consistently driving growth and innovation.
Beyond his corporate endeavors, Dan is actively engaged in academia and industry associations, contributing to professional societies, board memberships and public speaking engagements.
Annual Sponsors
Why Attend
Thought Leadership and Education
Learn how both the C-Suite and Supply Chain Professionals are planning for strategic impact and driving change within their organizations. With the rapid geopolitical and technology changes now impacting operations, this topic is more relevant than ever.
Premier Networking
Connect with industry leaders and professionals. This event is your gateway to accelerating career growth, refining strategies, and integrating advancements into your work.
Exceptional Value
This conference offers an unbeatable blend of affordability and quality with C-level executives and other supply chain professionals. The cost is significantly lower than similar events with fantastic speakers. From the strategic location to the concise schedule, every aspect is designed to minimize expenses.
Don’t miss out on this enriching seminar—a catalyst for supply chain management career growth. Reserve your spot now to tap into a wealth of knowledge and networking opportunities that can redefine your career and your organization’s trajectory.
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