Warehouse automation is moving quickly from a specialized investment to a core component of modern distribution strategy. Automated storage and retrieval systems, or AS/RS, are increasingly central to that transition, helping companies increase storage density, improve throughput, reduce manual travel,…
The proposal could turn the Strait of Hormuz crisis into a direct cost on global trade, adding new uncertainty for energy, shipping, insurance, and supply-chain planning. President Donald Trump said today that the United States would seek reimbursement equal to…
Welcome 2024! This year, as with years in the past, there is a broad and deep line-up of supply chain and logistics conferences to attend. We have assembled the following list of conferences that my ARC supply chain colleagues and I consider to be the premier industry conferences scheduled for 2024. Feel free to save this webpage to your favorites list for reference throughout the year. This list of events with embedded links is broken into two categories – industry association events and technology provider events. The accompanying map below displays [...]
The extreme volatility in volumes, prices, and disruptions that have occurred over the recent past are almost unprecedented. I would like to put a stake in the ground and state that I expect (and hope for) a year of relative stability along with a “migration to the mean.” I believe that conditions are poised for a bit of a return to normal, with the supply chain function retaining its increased level of importance in the eyes of the public and C-level suites. Here are some data that support my view.
OTTO Motors’ business is focused on production logistics– as opposed to warehousing and fulfillment. Production logistics has different requirements with respect to variability by operation and integration needs. OTTO Motors focuses on large manufacturing plants with large numbers of vehicles and substantial integration requirements. Large plants such as these are high cost-of-failure environments where [...]
An interesting paradigm is playing out in the warehouse automation landscape of China. It appears that mobile warehouse robotics adoption has accelerated rapidly in China. This is surprising because logistics technology adoption has historically occurred initially in North America and Western Europe, and then other economies adopt the technology after a substantial time lag. I attribute the rapid adoption of mobile warehouse robotics in China to three factors: Global rapid technology diffusion; China’s explicit emphasis on digitization; and ROI decisions and the role of the status[...]
