UPS COO David Abney to Keynote WERC Conference

OAK BROOK, Ill.—David Abney, chief operating officer for UPS, will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 conference of the Warehousing Education and Research Council, to be held April 26-29 in Atlanta.

Mr. Abney's presentation, titled “Shrink-Wrap Your Way to Greatness”, addresses his contention that companies can build a protective strategic coating around their supply webs that makes them resilient to risk. The topic grew out of a recent study by UPS and The Economist Intelligence Unit that reports only one in six senior leaders feel his or her company is prepared to deal with serious risk.

"David Abney’s topic is one that resonates with distribution professionals,” says Larry Corrigan, director of WERC’s 2009 conference and vice president of operations at Medline Industries, Inc. “Resiliency and risk readiness are critical competencies for the distribution function and his message reminds us that no matter how focused we are on the issues immediately before us, we can’t be negligent about preparing for contingencies. In fact, resiliency is a path to creating competitive advantage.”

The WERC conference consists of over 80 sessions, including presentations, roundtables and facility tours, all focused on practical solutions to benefit distribution’s operations and bottom line.