Travels from Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Alan Amling's speaking fee falls within range: $25,000 to $30,000
Logistics innovator, Alan Amling has been working to keep companies’ supply chains on the right side of disruption for over 23 years. As VP at UPS Ventures and UPS Corporate Strategy, Amling has been working with emerging trends, markets, and technologies to cut down on costs and carbon while bringing UPS business models into the “On-Demand Economy.”
One of Amling’s most noteworthy developments is UPS’s growing On Demand Manufacturing Initiative which uses 3D printing, the potential of which he explored in a much-viewed TED Talk. He is also working on projects that involve AI, IoT, Blockchain, autonomous everything, platform businesses, and smart cities. His understanding of technology combined with his experience using it to reinvent aspects of logistics, distribution, and inventory management make him a valuable speaker for large businesses looking to get in the game in the Digital Age.
Amling has held various leadership positions at UPS since 1994. He got his start at the company as a seasonal delivery driver. He holds an MBA from the Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and is working on a PhD in Management and Strategy from Kennesaw State University, with a focus on disruptive innovation theory. Specifically, his research involves uncovering common processes that companies undergo once they’ve identified potential threats, and which processes or characteristics lead to more positive results.
Dr. Alan Amling is a TED speaker and leading authority on supply chain transformation and digital disruption. His insights have been featured in Fortune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Alan’s latest book, Organizational Velocity, was published in 2022.
Named one of the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Digital Disruption in 2022 and a “Top Executive Management Voice” by LinkedIn in 2024, Dr. Amling parlays his leadership experiences over a 27-year career with UPS with cutting-edge research to help businesses large and small better understand the changing world order of commerce and how they can position themselves for success.
Today, Alan researches and teaches in the #1 rated Master of Supply Chain program at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville and is the CEO of advisory firm Thrive and Advance, LLC. He also serves as an advisor for several supply chain startups, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, and the NextGen Supply Chain Conference.
Alan’s latest role at UPS was VP of Corporate Strategy, where he helped revitalize UPS innovation and venture capital programs for the digital economy. He moved into this role after serving as VP of Marketing for UPS Global Logistics & Distribution. His first job for UPS was loading packages and washing vehicles in college.
Dr. Amling holds a Ph.D. in Management from Kennesaw State University, an MBA from Indiana University, and a BA in Business and Psychology from Lewis & Clark College.
Alan Amling describes the supply chain of the future: high-speed travel “hyperloop” technology and hundreds of 3D printers around the globe able to reduce the amount of time, costs, and carbon weighing down most companies’ current logistics. “Inventory is the devil,” Amling jokes, noting seriously, though that the value of inventory in the U.S. is $ 1.8 trillion, a combination of manufacturing and transportation costs which are now sitting on a shelf waiting to be sold.
Amling offers several specific examples of how he believes technology could be practically applied to meet the needs of today’s “on-demand” economy. Some of his examples are currently in progress, others are in development, and a few are his hopeful dreams - moonshots that nevertheless could happen.
“The ‘why’ behind all this is indisputable,” he summarizes. “Rising expectations of consumers is not going to stop. And it’s beginning to clash with industrial age manufacturing and transportation practices. As a result, rules are beginning to change, and when the rules change, impossible becomes possible.”
Alan Amling works with big companies to see change coming and reimagine their business models so that they can stay in the game. Amling particularly offers extensive expertise in 3D printing and the impact this and other technologies will have on logistics, the supply chain, and inventory management. Pulling from over two decades of the innovative side of business, Amling discusses how to get a feel for threats and opportunities from your customers, align your company’s inner reality with external truths, and rollout transformation that’s sustainable and relevant in the “On-demand” economy.
War, Weather, and Wuhan: Understanding the Changing World Order of Trade
Global supply chains are under attack. Geo-political conflicts, sustainability challenges, and a pandemic have ushered in the largest transformation of global supply chains in the last 50 years. At the same time, information-empowered consumers are demanding more…and getting it. In this timely presentation, Dr. Amling puts these changes into context and outlines what businesses can do today to thrive in the disruption ahead. Packed with first-hand stories, practical examples, and pragmatic takeaways, this presentation is always a crowd-pleaser.
Organizational Velocity: Turbocharge Your Business to Stay Ahead of the Curve
Change is not new; the speed and breadth of change are new. Fueled by the connecting and thinking technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, new companies with new business models have been displacing incumbents at an unprecedented pace. Why? With all the well-documented lessons from victims of disruption—books and seminars espousing the latest remedies—and consulting firms standing at the ready, corporate failures should be going down, not up. Right?
This talk brings the insights from Alan’s 2022 book Organizational Velocity to life. The critical learnings from corporate, startup, and military leaders, coupled with Alan’s experience in the trenches, are distilled into stories, examples, and practical advice to enable incumbent firms to thrive in disruption. The audience leaves understanding the hidden sources of friction holding them back and the pragmatic steps they can take with their teams to unleash new growth potential.
When Pigs Fly: Staying Ahead of Change When the Impossible Becomes Possible
This update of my 2015 TED Talk focuses on how the convergence of technologies underlying industries has removed longstanding structural and industry barriers, allowing entirely new business models to flourish.
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If you’re not operating with Organizational Velocity, you’re getting lapped and don’t even realize it.
Business as usual? Established organizations are being disrupted as nimble upstarts cross long-established competitive moats with increasing ease. The status quo needs to be blown up.
In Organizational Velocity, veteran UPS executive Alan Amling distills five years of research and three decades on the front lines of Corporate America to reveal a fundamental truth…
Moving at the speed of change is a choice, not a circumstance.
Companies from Amazon to Shaw Industries stay ahead of the curve by operating with Organizational Velocity, a rapid learning paradigm empowering organizations to create persistent advantage.
Amling shows how companies get in their own way and provides pragmatic insights from industrial, digital, and military leaders to break through organizational friction and thrive in disruption.
Organizational Velocity is for current and aspiring executives seeing the disruption at their doorstep but not knowing how to break through the cloud of uncertainty. So, dog-ear the pages and create a company built to stay ahead of the curve.
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