White House Supply Chain Innovation Roundtable in Washington, DC
Chuck Spangler, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO of South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP), was selected to attend the Supply Chain Innovation Roundtable on Thursday, July 9, 2015, in Washington, DC. The roundtable included Cabinet members, Senior White House officials, and leading OEMs and suppliers who added their voices, perspectives, and opinions to the event.
The Supply Chain Innovation Initiative was a first-ever convening of manufacturing leaders discussing how to strengthen the innovation capabilities of U.S. supply chains. MEP Center clients and board members were invited to tell their company stories in regards to maintaining their competitive edge in their supply chains, how innovation and technology affects their business, and where MEP played a roll in strategies.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker thanked MEP for its support of manufacturing and challenged corporate executives in the room to get to know MEP if they had not already done so. The event was attended by over 30 manufacturers representing both the top and lower tiers of their supply chains. Among the day’s discussion topics were forms of collaboration between supply chain partners which included how to leverage U.S. innovation assets, like the National Labs, MEP, and federal financing programs, and scaling technology resources to reach even the smallest companies in supply chains.