Adam J. Fein, Ph.D. is president of Pembroke Consulting, Inc and author of wholesale industry's future trends report Facing the Forces of Change: The Road to Opportunity

Wholesale distribution is emerging as one of the most technology-intensive industries in the U.S. economy. Technology investments by wholesaler-distributors represent opportunities to solve genuine problems for customers while driving continuous improvement in the business. The industry continues to contribute an impressive portion of our country’s productivity growth, with employment gains far below top line revenue increases.

Steve Epner, founder, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group I wonder if our company can use this platform? Can we increase business? Can we open new markets? Can we better introduce new products? Can we sell new products to existing customers? This presentation will walk you through what it took to produce this virtual tech fair – with straight talk about the costs and economics and a behind the scenes look at how it works and upcoming developments.

Don Webb, President, Activant®

What is CRM? Who uses CRM?

Joshua M. Bultz, Manager, Service Custom and Go-Live Solutions, Intuit Eclipse

A comprehensive definition and explanation of EDI technology and discussion of potential financial and operational improvements a distributor could realize by implementing EDI across an organization.

Data Management & Analysis

Jeff Gusdorf, CPA, Principal, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group

What is Business Intelligence? How do you use the data you collect?

Don Webb, President, Activant®

What is business intelligence? Using what you already have as a competitive weapon.

Rick Sundahl, President, Grey Wolf Systems

Distribution businesses can no longer depend upon one system to provide 100 percent the information required of employees, customers and vendors. "Getting Your Independent Systems to Talk to Each Other" covers the role of application integration in distribution information technology.

Software Solutions & Selection

Ross Elliot, CTO, Accellos

Kamal Syed, CEO Gillani, Inc.

Panel discussion hosted by Alexander Haig of World Business Review. Guests include:
o Dan Miklovic, vice president research, Gartner G2 Consulting
o Dennis R. Cowhey, president, Computer Insights, Inc.
o Diane M. Miller, general manager, Computer Insights, Inc.

Jeff Gusdorf, CPA, Principal, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group

State of the industry report.

Ross Elliot, CTO, Accellos

Jeff Gusdorf, CPA, Principal, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group

Getting more out of what you already have.

Don Webb, President, Activant®

Tips to help you get the most from your software.

Walter Ulrich, President, Mincron Software Systems

Ross Elliot, CTO, Accellos

Ross Elliot, CTO, Accellos

Steve Epner, CSP, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group

Jeff Gusdorf, CPA, Principal, Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group

Walter Ulrich, President, Mincron Software Systems

Russ Mellot, Senior Director of Solution Development, Activant®

Enterprise software solutions - designed with distributors' specific needs in mind - can help streamline business processes. This session will help determine what functionality is needed to help increase sales, improve customer service and reduce operating expenses.

Supply Chain

Syed Kamal, founder and CEO, Gillani

Distribution is a critical link in the supply chain, deserving the attention of a best-of-class, integrated distribution management and financial solution. In today's active distribution market success requires the ability to address customer requirements, business growth and an evolving market.

Len Merkel, Manager, Quality Assurance, International Business Systems

In today’s global economy, organizations need to integrate applications from different parts within the company and from other companies to achieve measurable and fast ROI, quantifiable value and competitive advantages. Learn to leverage your existing systems to streamline and enhance supply chain integration tools.

Keith Jones, National Sales Manager, IST

A brief examination of the history, growth, value propositions of vendor managed inventory problems and the technology drivers of these programs.