Welcome and Axia Overview
John Hatfield, Executive Director, The Axia Institute 

As a premier value chain innovation center, The Axia Institute® is dedicated to improving Healthcare, Food & Agriculture and Advanced Manufacturing value chains through industry collaboration, applied research and education. Established by Michigan State University in 2013 in Midland, Mich., The Axia Institute and its Axia Lab are part of MSU’s Office of Research and Innovation.

More than 30 companies are member partners who align to three industry-specific consortia groups to collaborate and solve grand challenges that would be difficult to resolve alone. Developing sustainable and revolutionary solutions is driven by our expertise in value chain digitization, value chain optimization, traceability, circular economy, packaging design, fundamental R&D, and talent development.

Demystifying Supply Chain Visibility and Traceability with GS1
Presenter: Andrew Meyer, Director, Global Standards GS1 US

The globalization of complex supply chains creates challenges of visibility and traceability across industries. GS1 will present how they are creating a common language of business and standards to identify, capture and share data for effective supply chain visibility.

A New Era – GS1 Standards for Modern Visibility Systems
Presenter: Ned Mears, Sr. Director, Global Standards GS1 US

Tracing steps from the first electronic product code to digital identity, participants will, through Deep Dive questions and discussions, help design a visibility system using Automatic Identification Data Capture (AIDC) and Electronic Product Code Information (EPCIS).

Welcome
John Hatfield

Executive Director 
The Axia Institute

Keynote Address
Frank Yiannas

Food safety executive and Former Deputy Commissioner, Food Policy & Response, U.S. Food & Drug Administration

When Axia started planning “Traceability Across Value Chains” in the spring, our keynote speaker was on the short list of potential speakers. We are thrilled he is able to join us. Frank Yiannas is a renowned food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, past president of the International Association of Food Protection, and advocate for consumers.

Most recently, he served under two different administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a position he held from 2018 to 2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with two industry giants: Walmart and the Walt Disney Company. Throughout his career, Frank has been recognized for his role in strengthening food safety standards in new and innovative ways, as well as building effective food safety management systems based on modern, science-based, and tech-enabled prevention principles.