ISM World 2025: Innovation Park Offers Disruption Solutions
The ISM World 2025 theme of “Sparking Genius” has shone brightly at the Innovation Park, the exhibitor trade show featuring vendors, a technology hub, presentations by supply management startups and more.
The Innovation Park features companies with solutions pertaining to risk and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, technology and innovation, and logistics and delivery as well as minority-owned businesses and startups offering a variety of innovations.
The Innovation Park was a highlight of ISM World 2025, Institute for Supply Management®’s (ISM®) Annual Conference at Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando, Florida.
Inside Supply Management® visited with some of the vendors to discover the notable as well as unexpected trends and features of their solutions as well as of supply management. Artificial intelligence (AI), tariffs and technology as an enabler were some of the most talked-about themes.
Red Bear Negotiation
“Control what you can.”
In 2020 and in many ways since, the coronavirus pandemic created monumental disruption for supply chains. Now, tariffs are a disruption that is out of our control, says Brandon Wilson, senior client partner at Red Bear Negotiation.
“But if you can control what you can in terms of having internal alignment and your team on the same page — common language, common approach, common skill set — and have the whole team pulling in the same direction, that will put you in a position to survive the current issues of the day,” he says. “You’ll be better off moving forward.”
Rapid Ratings
The future as well as the current situation is scary for many organizations.
Many suppliers that are unexpectedly closing their doors because of financial pressure, says Everett Weston, managing director, head of sales at Rapid Ratings. “This is what the core of what we help our customers with solve, giving them those early warning indicators,” he said. “How do tariff impact the suppliers we rely on? How will the business health of those suppliers be impacted in the future?
“Right now, we’re finding it’s pretty scary. There’s a lot of risk exposure for private companies in particular. Right now, they’re under tremendous financial pressure and the outlook is not getting better because there’s a lot of corporate debt coming due and we’re in a higher interest rate environment, which is really draining.”
True ValueHub
“AI can do the heavy lifting.”
Gautam Pasari, founder and CEO of True ValueHub, noted that with the push of a button, a company can find out about the risk they have today or the risk they might face in the future, the options they have to mitigate that risk, as well as the carbon footprint and the cost of the chosen alternative.
The company offers a cloud-based solutions for cost in the mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronics categories. They can visualize what will happen if they pick a certain alternative — the carbon footprint as well as the cost it will incur.
Wheels
The fleet and mobility provider does business in 58 countries with a mobile partner.
The company manages more than 800,000 vehicles in North America and more than 4 million across the globe. “It’s not a temporary solution, but a long-term relationship,” said Vivian Oday, lead event marketer at Wheels. “We value helping companies set goals,” whether pertaining to safety, risk management, embarking on an electric vehicle fleet or replacement, among other areas.
Wilya
Move over 9-to-5 jobs: Flexible scheduling is the trend.
“I have a couple of customers that are running a 24-hour operation,” said Andrew Mayhew, Workforce Solutions manager at Wilya. “One is a glass maker that can’t shut off the furnace (overnight). From a full-time worker standpoint, we equip them with the tools to be able to give flexibility in their scheduling” to accommodate the 24-hour-a-day work schedule.
The solution helps customers keep track of their workforce and needs, whether split shifts, special hours and other setup.
LegalSifter
The company combines AI and human intelligence: “We’re a 50-percent AI software company and a 50-percent lawyer-led company,” says Kevin Miller, chief commercials and strategy officer
“Contracts are the most important document in global commerce,” he said. “They’re a pain to read and they’re a pain to keep track of.” Clients can use LegalSifter AI software to evaluate and manage their contracts. Lawyers also are available for quick turnaround contract reviews.
Travel Leaders
The company combines AI with a human touch.
“We still believe in direct communication with travelers,” said Michael Morrison, director of sales and marketing. “We’re picking up the phone. You’re talking to a human who is going to be able to help you immediately. You’re not getting pushed off to something else. That’s been that has been a really big for us in particular.”
Still, the company embraces AI — on the back side, he said.
University of Nebraska Online MBA Program
The university’s MBA program has had an online component since 2001.
Online MBAs have become more popular since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but the University of Nebraska was an early adopter of virtual learning. Now, “our MBA, masters of science and business analytics, masters of science in supply chain management, and masters of science and finance, along with a selection of nine certificates, are fully online,” says Sheree Smith, who works in recruitment for the University of Nebraska.
“So, it’s possible to complete your degree at Nebraska from anywhere in the world.”
(Photo credit: Yannick Apers Photography)