WERC 2026 will take position Might 17-20 in Jacksonville, Florida, and it is going to be co-located with the 2026 MHI Spring Assembly. Along industry-led tutorial periods, you’ll to find networking alternatives, keynote audio system, social occasions, and excursions of amenities within the Jacksonville house.
The periods come with:
John Frehse Govt Masterclass (WERC Kickoff Consultation) on Monday, Might 18 | 8:00 AM
The Long term of Group of workers Management in a Moving Financial system
Grow to be your group of workers demanding situations into alternatives. Leaders are these days going through unparalleled demanding situations. Price lists, evolving laws, inflation, and chronic exertions shortages are reshaping the panorama, and conventional group of workers methods might now not be sufficient to handle those problems. As group of workers dynamics develop extra advanced, leaders will have to to find new, leading edge techniques to power luck and maintain their other people’s enlargement. Main exertions knowledgeable John Frehse, Head of World Exertions Technique at Ankura, finds vital methods each chief must prioritize to optimize their hourly group of workers. Drawing on over 25 years of analysis from the Management Lab, this consultation will spotlight 5 key focal point spaces which are crucial for other people leaders managing massive hourly groups in 2026 and past:
- The use of synthetic intelligence to control, to not lead
- Figuring out the real value of overstaffing and understaffing
- Figuring out the correlation between worker enjoy and industry effects
- Solving workers’ loss of agree with in management
- Essentially the most robust factor any chief can do (and learn how to get started doing it immediately)
Tyler Gillum Keynote on Monday, Might 18 | 11:30 AM
Rating a Tradition House Run the Savannah Bananas Manner
Savannah Bananas Head Trainer Tyler Gillum constructed probably the most a hit sports activities crew in The united states – now not via specializing in baseball, however on buy-in. On this keynote, learn the way Gillum creates a tradition of excellence thru a management way that emphasizes dedication over compliance. He’ll element the crew’s adventure from the introduction of “Banana Ball” to turning into the best display in sports activities via nurturing an atmosphere the place groups each thrive and reach the bizarre. Be told Gillum’s option to power, mindset, and servant management, together with learn how to outline and construct tradition from the highest, and learn how to be sure that determination to the project flows thru each point. You’ll stroll away with actionable methods to assist create a championship-level tradition that’s absolutely embraced via your crew.
Jason Schenker Keynote on Tuesday, Might 19 | 11:30 AM
From Approach to Execution: How Financial and Era Tendencies are Reshaping Subject material Dealing with and Warehouse Operations
Sign up for top-ranked economist and bestselling creator, Jason Schenker, for a dynamic keynote and hearth chat that connects international financial and generation developments to the realities shaping nowadays’s subject material dealing with and warehouse operations. Jason will unpack the newest tendencies in AI, automation, exertions markets and geopolitics, translating them into sensible insights for each the fabric dealing with {industry} and pros main warehouse and distribution operations. Attendees will achieve a deeper figuring out of the way financial shifts and rising applied sciences are influencing funding priorities, provide chain resiliency, and operational efficiency – and learn how to flip the ones developments into a long-lasting aggressive benefit.
Facility excursions
You’ll be able to additionally see distribution processes in motion with guided facility excursions within the Jacksonville, Florida area. Some excursions come with:
Anderson DuBose: The Anderson DuBose Jacksonville distribution heart opened in August of 2025 and is a 165,000 sq. foot facility that services and products eating places within the Southeast Georgia/Northern Florida marketplace. It operates in all 3 temp zones and these days helps 200 eating places. The DC makes use of a low-ammonia machine for cooling, providing enhanced protection, progressed potency, and environmental sustainability advantages. The DC’s location to its carrier marketplace, in conjunction with it being a rail website, drives important miles aid to the machine.
Johnstone Provide: Johnstone Provide is a wholesale distributor serving skilled HVACR contractors. Johnstone has the biggest collection of apparatus and authentic OEM portions within the {industry}. In this excursion, individuals will view real-time operations and voice-picking. Johnstone’s core project—Making it Simple for the HVACR Contractor to do Industry—emphasizes product variety, availability, and eCommerce. The Jacksonville Distribution Middle services and products 90 branches throughout seven states within the Southeast.
Henry Schein: In this excursion of Henry Schein, a supplier of clinical and dental provides, individuals will enjoy a facility that runs for 21 hours an afternoon, Monday thru Friday. All over this excursion of a VNA (Very Slender Aisle) warehouse, entire with twine steerage, turrets, and a 3-level complete case pick out mode, individuals will view the RF generation this is used for receiving, putaway, replenishment, and cycle depend purposes. This facility additionally makes use of choosing with Voice directed choosing generation and conveyors that course applications to a couple of trailers for shipments to their shoppers within the Southeast.
