Purdue's Smart Crossroads Workshop - Smart Crossroads - Purdue University

A Partner Initiative with America's Heartland at the Epicenter of Freight and Logistics 4.0

What is the Smart Crossroads Ecosystem?

The global freight and logistics industry has entered an era of disruptive innovation and disintermediation. New technologies, AI, regulatory frameworks and geopolitics threaten industry roles, business models and boundaries. Alongside this disruption, new freight and logistics systems are emerging.

The future of freight and logistics in the coming decades promises a landscape characterized by unprecedented efficiency, sustainability and innovation. Supply chains will be tightly integrated, data-driven, and optimized for speed and cost-effectiveness. Advanced technologies and applications of AI will lead this transformation. The challenge is how to get there in a rapidly competitive world.

At the epicenter of innovation in freight
and logistics in the Heartland is Smart Crossroads.

Smart Crossroads is a pivotal ecosystem strategically connecting Purdue's extensive resources with leading industry partners, including founding member Wabash along with transportation fleets, 3PLs, retail shippers, suppliers, and pioneers in telematics, autonomous vehicles and batteries.

Why Attend the Smart Crossroads Workshop?

The workshop brings together potential ecosystem partners to discuss challenges and transformation. Benefit from the unique diversity of thought and approach that key leaders from many different parts of the supply chain bring to Smart Crossroads. Together we'll analyze the toughest challenges facing the freight and logistics industries in the next decade.

Who Should Attend?

• Freight and logistic companies who need to accelerate the formation of collaborations to respond to the coming innovation disruptions.
• Companies needing supply chain talent will find responsive and flexible talent development programs.
• Companies needing to redesign their supply chains for resilience and sustainability will find skilled guides and peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
• Start-up teams will find a dense network of resources to develop the collaborations needed to scale.
• Investors will gain a window into new technologies and promising start-ups.
• Regulators can explore new pathways for adaptive and flexible regulatory responses to new technologies.
• Economic development professionals will define new strategies for attracting investment.

Why Purdue?

Purdue is the only university that flexibly aligns its resources to meet the broad sweep of industry challenges.

Purdue University, a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale, is one of the largest producers of high quality engineers and top-notch business talent. Purdue also offers a range of worldclass research centers, partnerships with leading public-private-academic universities, and government and industry collaborations that can be linked, leveraged and aligned to amplify the impact of Smart Crossroads.

Purdue has a deep bench of experience in areas related to logistics 4.0 and all of the areas below:

• Robotic Warehouse Operation
• Emerging Trends in Supply Chain Management
• Cold Chain Refrigeration
• Digital Supply Chain Transformation
• AI Applications in Freight and Logistics
• Systems Optimization
• Drone Technologies
• Electrification
• Analytics and Machine Learning
• Electric/Hybrid/Low-emission Vehicles
• 5G/6G/IoT
• Software as Service and Other Emerging Business Models
• Open Source Software Platforms/APIs
• Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Fusion

Some of the Companies that Attended the December Workshop

To learn more about how Smart Crossroads is aligning Purdue's resources to solve complex challenges in the freight and logistics industry, contact:

Jill Vigar
jvigar@purdue.edu
Director of Operations, Office of the Dean of Engineering
Purdue University