There are a lot of factors weighing on the future of the LBM industry: Tariffs, robotics, automation, digitization, transportation, fluctuating economic drivers, shifting procurement, and evolving customer and team-member experiences have the potential to significantly change, and even disrupt, businesses. That’s why the theme for the 2019 ProSales 100 Conference (March 6-8) is Mapping the Future.

Speakers at the event will offer strategies and solutions to help senior-level LBM professionals carve out a path for growth. The two-day event, held at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX, will enable attendees to learn from and network with experts, senior leaders, and peers about a variety of key LBM topics. Some of the topics covered at the event include the following:

Changes in Transportation
The opening keynote underscores how the revolution in active, shared, electric, and automated transportation of people and things will remap the LBM channel’s future (featuring Timothy Papandreou, founder of Emerging Transport Advisors, as the speaker).

Off-site Construction
The second keynote, “Sudden Impact,” focuses on off-site manufacturing processes and their implications for the LBM channel (presented by Margaret Whelan, CEO and founder of Whelan Advisory; and George Casey, CEO of Stockbridge Associates).

Tariffs
The session “Tariff Tactics” offers LBM leaders a look ahead for work-arounds, new deals, and restored predictability at both the product and sub-product level of pricing, supply capacity, options, and procurement expense (speaker: Marisa DiNatale, senior director of Moody’s Analytics).

Process Innovation
As labor challenges increase in severity, your business will depend on process innovation to create efficiencies, lower costs, and meet customers’ expectations. Learn from leaders in technology and supply chain dynamics on how to approach automation and how their operations will evolve in the session "How to Supercharge the Channel and Delight Customers" (speakers: Cody Behles, assistant director of innovation and research support at FedEx Institute of Technology, The University of Memphis; and Josh Shabtai, director of lab productions at Lowe’s Innovation Labs).

Lean Operations
At this year's event, the ProSales 100 Conference is introducing the preconference workshop “Lean Operations.” This three-hour workshop, on March 6, will help organizations maximize efficiencies and profitability (speaker: Scott Morrison, president of Scott Morrison Consulting). Separate pricing applies.

Economic Outlook
Understand the residential construction’s current state and where it’s most likely heading, based on exclusive market-by-market valuation, supply, and demand predictive models in the session "Economic Outlook" (speaker: Mark Boud, senior vice president and chief economist at Metrostudy).

Additional Sessions
Additionally, an executive panel and an M&A panel will bring senior executives to the stage to address the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the LBM industry. And the session “60 Ideas in 60 Minutes” will offer a fast-paced collection of the best ideas in LBM operations, sales, marketing, technology, personnel, and leadership (speaker: Craig Webb, president of Webb Analytics).

The super early bird rate ($599) expires after January 4, 2019. Additional pricing and registration information can be found here. For more information about the event, visit ProSales 100 Conference.