A record-breaking number of attendees at the 2022 Gartner Supply Chain Symposium heard about resilience and other hot topics in supply chain, according to Chris Poole, practice vice president, supply chain research, Gartner.

The 2022 edition of the symposium was the first in-person event since 2019, and Poole said during the show, “It’s absolutely fantastic to be back and to see everybody making connections. The buzz of the place is just fantastic.”

As Poole walked the halls and the exhibitor showcase, he spoke with many of 2,660 registrants — an increase of 300 since 2019 — and with 107 different exhibitors, 30 new to the event. 

The theme of the 2022 symposium, “Building a Resilient Supply Chain in a Changing World,” recognized the myriad challenges and disruptions that companies have faced in the last couple of years. “What we’re saying is, disruptions are here to stay, and you’d better have a supply chain strategy that accommodates that. You need to be resilient now,” Poole said.

Whom would first-time attendees have met at this year’s symposium — and at the next event? “We have many of the top chief supply chain officers,” Poole said. In fact, we reckon that upwards of eight to nine percent of the folks attending are the most senior leaders in supply chain. And there aren’t that many of them, of course, because they’re the top of the pyramid. But on top of that, it’s the folks that lead the functions: planning, logistics, quality, manufacturing, those kinds of areas as well.”

Poole noted that the majority of sessions were industry-agnostic. “But we do have some industry-specific sessions for retail, consumer products, healthcare, life sciences, high tech and some of the discrete industries as well. So, there is something for everybody: both a combination of functional and industry sessions.”