Beverage Industry is gearing up to welcome the attendees of the 16th annual BevOps Fleet Summit to fabulous Las Vegas. The BevOps Fleet Summit will take place April 11-13 at the M Resort Spa & Casino in Henderson, Nev. The conference will address the business challenges and industry trends of today’s beverage marketplace and how operators can prepare for what’s next.

Those who attend the BevOps Fleet Summit are able to obtain a competitive advantage by learning directly from industry leaders about current trends and challenges; making connections and expanding their industry network; get hands-on experience at special live events; enjoy relaxed networking events; and discover the newest products and services applicable to the industry.

For some, the conference will kick-off with a golf tournament at 11 a.m. on April 11. For those not attending the golfing event, the conference will begin with a welcome reception slated from 6 to 8 p.m.

At 7:30 a.m. on April 12, the exhibit portion of the event will open, allowing attendees to see the latest solutions that support beverage warehouse and distribution operations. The education portion of the conference is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. with a keynote address from Scott DeFife, president of the Glass Packaging Institute. DeFife will present a State of the Packaging Supply Chain, offering an update on recent supply challenges, as well as a lay of the land on state-by-state recycling efforts that impact every tier of the beverage distribution landscape.

Following the address at 9:30 a.m. will be the State of the Industry panel discussion. Speakers on hand will be Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association; Gary Hemphill, managing director of research for Beverage Marketing Corporation; and Jeff Cioletti, editor-in-chief of Craft Spirits Magazine, The American Craft Spirits Association.

The center stage presentations will continue at 11 a.m. with the Define ‘Optimization’ panel with Andy Yananich, director of consulting service at PDC, and Mat Witte, vice president of Ortec. The panelists will ponder what it means for your operation to be truly optimized.

Attendees will later board the buses at noon to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to attend the coveted Ride and Drive.

The next day of the conference will begin with a keynote address from Andrew Levy, senior vice president of strategy and corporate affairs at Provi. Levy, will dive into the rapid growth of the online beverage alcohol market. 

Before the next panel, will be the presentation of the Beverage Industry Awards for Wholesaler of the Year and Fleet of the Year.

For the final center stage presentation, Matt Boykin, senior vice president of sales and marketing of CirrusTech, and Dylon Graham, operations director of Long Beverage, will take part in the Importance of Distributor Collaboration and Automation panel. The panelists will discuss the importance of collaborating with the distributor on designing the best solution for their business plan.

Following a break for lunch will be the targeted break-out sessions focused on the operations and distributing trends impacting beverage operations.