Experts in supply chain management will gather in the Scheman Building Friday for the Voorhees Business Conference to share ideas about things that relate to more than just business.

Michael Crum, associate dean for the College of Business, said he feels the conference is a real sharing of experiences and benefits more areas than business. Other areas that could benefit from the supply chain management conference are logistics, industrial engineering and textiles and clothing.

“Supply chain management is essentially managing projects and information flows from the raw material state to the end user,” Crum said.

This is the 14th time the conference has been held, and it draws participants from as far away as Ohio.

“This is a program that is a real point of pride for the College of Business, logistics and supply chain management,” said Daniel Ryan, program coordinator for the College of Business.

The conference draws in more than 100 participants each year, including the man the conference was named after: Emeritus R. Dale Voorhees. Voorhees taught and researched at Iowa State for 20 years.

“The thing he exemplified was connecting Iowa State with the industry,” Crum said.

The industry experts at this year’s conference will include speakers from Satellite Logistics Group, Honeywell Building Solutions, Wells Dairy, Inc. and Caterpillar Inc.

The speakers were chosen not only because they are leaders in the area of supply chain management, but also because they have used technology in their work. Technology will be the highlighted topic this year.

Mary Bell, chairman and president of Caterpillar logistics services and vice president of Caterpillar Inc., will be the keynote speaker.

“Caterpillar is clearly one of the leaders in its area in supply chain management,” Crum said.

The speakers will present all day, and at the end of the day will field questions as a panel.

The conference started by bringing one person to campus for half a day. On its 10th anniversary, the conference became an all-day event.

“It’s a conference that has grown,” Ryan said. “It started out as a lecture. Over time it has grown and gotten a foothold with people in the Midwest as a good resource.”