KEYNOTE: 

James A. Tompkins, Ph.D.,  is President and CEO of Tompkins International. Tompkins is an international authority on leadership, logistics, material handling, outsourcing, and supply chain best practices.  His 35-plus years as CEO of a consulting / integration firm and his focus on helping companies achieve profitable growth give him an insider's view into what makes great companies even better.  As a high-level business advisor, his unique perspective prepares corporations and executives for the future. 

To share his knowledge and provide up-to-date information on supply chain and business trends, he developed the GoGoGo! Blog and Global Supply Chain Podcast.  Jim is also a thought leader, sharing insights on business strategy through his "Business at a X-Roads" and "The Amazon Effect" presentations.

He has written or contributed to more than 30 books, including Caught Between the Tiger and the Dragon, Bold Leadership, Logistics and Manufacturing Outsourcing, The Supply Chain Handbook, No Boundaries and Facilities Planning. Jim has been quoted in hundreds of business and industry magazines such as The Journal of Commerce, Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and FORTUNE, and he has spoken at more than 4,000 international engagements.

Jim has served as President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Materials Management Society, and the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education, and Purdue has named him a Distinguished Engineering Alum. He has also received more than 50 awards for his service to his profession.

Jim received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering in 1969, his Master of Science in Industrial Engineering in 1970 and his Ph.D. in 1972, all from Purdue University.

Brenda Hambleton is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for ES3.  She is responsible for building and maintaining client and customer relationships and the interfaces and processes that support those relationships. 

Before joining ES3, Brenda held the position of Executive Vice President, Client Solutions for Scribe Software, Inc.  Brenda managed Scribe's consulting practice as well as the Customer Care and Customer Education Programs. 

Prior to Scribe, Brenda was the Executive Vice President for Information Resources, Inc. Brenda established and managed IRI's $80mm commercial development organization.  She managed teams responsible for developing, testing and support, including call center, distribution, training and product management.  Brenda also developed IRI's website and established electronic commerce, online ordering and online delivery systems. 

Brenda has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Master of Science with concentrations in Marketing and Strategy from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Nick Hobbs is President of Dedicated Contract Services (DCS) at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.  Hobbs has been employed at J.B. Hunt for twenty-eight years.  After graduating in 1984 from the University of Arkansas with a BSBA in Finance and Banking, he began his career as a Manager Trainee.  Prior to being appointed as President of one of J.B. Hunt's four divisions, (DCS), he served as Senior Vice President of Operations for DCS for twelve years.  

Nick's personal activities include coaching baseball and softball youth leagues for the past ten years.   He served on the board of Ronald McDonald House Charities Care Mobile of Arkoma from 2009 through 2011.  He has been a Deacon for nineteen of the twenty-five years he has attended First Baptist Church in Rogers.  In fact, he is a past Chairman and Chairman Elect for 2012-2013.  Additionally, he served as Chairman of Personnel Committee from 2006 through 2010.  He and his wife, Barb, have been teaching Young Marrieds at First Baptist Church for over twenty years.

David Hughes is the ITS Senior Business Partner for Kimberly-Clark's (K-C's) Walmart business and is responsible for driving joint business value (Walmart & K-C) at the intersection of process, technology, and information. 

From 2009-2011, David led development of K-C's Retail Data Strategy and its subsequent process and technology implementation across K-C's top 17 retailer teams.  

Prior to these roles, David partnered with K-C's Corporate Marketing Organization and was responsible for K-C North America's Advertising & Consumer Promotion planning and financial systems.  Under David's leadership, his cross-functional team designed and delivered a first-of-a-kind executive dashboard of key brand and country metrics, including P&L, Market Share, Brand Equity, and Innovation.

David's span of business and systems knowledge includes CPG industry processes and relationships, sales and category management, supply chain forecasting and replenishment, corporate and brand marketing, trade promotion management, demand planning, business intelligence and analytics, and product innovation management.

About Kimberly Clark:  K-C and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries.  Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being.  With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, K-C holds No.1 or No. 2 share positions in more than 80 countries. 

Rob Kusiciel currently serves as Vice President of Inbound Transportation for Walmart Stores, Inc., integrating his prior role in Global Logistics with domestic US Inbound Transportation responsibilities encompassing Carrier Relations, Backhaul Administration, Grocery and General Merchandise Transportation and Inbound Strategy.  Previously, as Vice President of GLobal Services within the Global Sourcing division, he was responsible for leading Ethical Standards, Quality Assurance for Direct Imports and all aspects of Global Transportation.

When he joined Walmart in 2001, Rob brought more than 15 years of transportation and logistics experience with industry leading global service providers.  

A native of Chicago, Rob received his Bachelor of Scinence degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is a leading national retailer serving more than 200 million customers per week at more than 9,600 retail units operating in 28 countries.

Chris Rasche is the Vice President of Business Development at New Creature where he has the opportunity to supply and serve both suppliers and retailers with their POP display needs.  He previously served three years as Vice President of Execution, running their Operations Division prior to his current role.

Chris is a 22 year veteran of Walmart having held positions in multiple areas including Store Operations, Replenishment and Merchandising, as well as Supplier Diversity and Global Supply Chain.  After leaving Walmart, he spent two years as Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain for an Accessory Supplier.  

Chris has a well rounded background having seen all sides of the retail equation by working for the retailer, supplying the retailer, and now supplying the Suppliers of retail.  Chris has been a speaker at multiple venues including Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), IRMA, Salt Lake City Counsel of Logistics Management, and the Chicago Business Opportunity Fair and has spoken to business classes at multiple universities in these areas.

Peter Spanos is Vice President of Logistics North America for Nestle Purina. Spanos began working for Nestle in 1984, serving in Transportation, Warehouse and Materials Management, before being promoted to St. Louis Manager, Retail Transportation in 1989.  In 1999 Spanos was appointed as Director of Transportation and served in this role until he was promoted to his current position in 2012.

Spanos has a Bachelor of Science in Logistics from Penn State University. He has served on the Supply Chain Advisory Board for St. Louis University, the Board of Directors for the National Industrial Transportation League, and the Board of Directors for National Freight.

Gibu Thomas is the Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital at Walmart responsible for all the global mobile and digital media initiatives for the company.  Prior to taking on this role, he headed up strategy for Walmart's Global eCommerce group.

Gibu has 20 years of experience as general manager and technologist, with over 10 years of background in the mobile industry.  Prior to Walmart, he was a serial entrepreneur who founded and led multiple technology companies.  His first company, Bluelark Systems, created the Blazer mobile web browser, the first mainstream smart phone web browser and the default browser on Treo smart phones.  Bluelark was successfully sold to Palm, where Gibu helped incubate the smart phone business for the company, growing sales by over $100M in 3 years.  Most Gibu co-founded and was the CEO of Sugarsync, a venture-backed cloud-based synchronization and online backup service.

Gibu has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.  

David Vehec is Senior Vice President at GENCO.  Following 14 years in Retail Logistics David has spent over 15 years in Third Party Logistics at GENCO and UTi  Worldwide in various capacities including Operations, Systems, Implementations, and Business Development throughout North America and the United Kingdom.  David began his career in the grocery industry then mass merchandise retail with Foodland, Phar*Mor and Sears. David has developed and implemented logistics operations for Nike, BMW, Fuji Film, The Home Depot, Dell, Best Buy, Pep Boys, Shop Direct and John Lewis Partnership.  Working with Retailers in the United Kingdom provided an education in the WEEE Directive and recycling and refurbishment programs, end-of-life strategies for products, and the relationships between consumer, retailer and supplier.

GENCO is the leading 3rd Party Logistics provider in North America delivering technological and operational excellence across 5 main verticals including Retail, Healthcare, Consumer and Industrial, Government, and Technology.   

Prior to joining GENCO, he studied Electronic Engineering and worked in the Engineering Research and Design Department at Carnegie Mellon University.