Merchandise fulfillment variability has been on the rise for a number of years, due in large part to the growth of e-commerce. But all bets were off in 2020 as variability went off the charts. As you can see from the two included images charting the quarterly change in US e-commerce sales (year over year) […]
Covid-19 vaccine distribution is headline news across the country. Operation Warp Speed, the umbrella term for the public-private partnership responsible for the development, distribution, and administration of Covid-19 vaccines, is incredibly large, complex, and important to the well-being of the US population. The US government, private entities, and news outlets provide select insights and periodic […]
The logistics industry continues to outperform macroeconomic growth rates due to a number of factors. GDP aggregates, international trade, and manufacturing and logistics service activities remain strong. Growth rates and activity remains robust due in part to the acceleration to e-commerce and direct-to-consumer fulfillment. Although growth continues, activity levels across a number of indicators remain below pre-Covid-19 levels. World Trade Organization (WTO), US GDP, and purchasing managers indexes all suggest […]
The “red stuff.” That’s what my four-year-old daughter calls it. She had it at her grandparents’ house a couple weeks ago for the first time and now mentions to me on a daily basis that she wants it on Thanksgiving. Yes, I’m talking about that Thanksgiving staple cranberry sauce. And I am a big fan […]
Warehousing megatrends are primarily driven by the long-term, sustained, global growth of e-commerce. Today’s customer experience depends on warehouse activity more than ever before. But these warehouses must fulfill more orders of smaller handling units, at higher costs with more required tasks. Furthermore, fulfillment horizons have become compressed while variability in throughput requirements has increased. These pressures have encouraged greater […]
The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) hosted its virtual Autonomous Mobile Robot Conference earlier this week (October 26 – 27). I personally kicked off research on the global mobile warehouse robotics market earlier this month and therefore chose to attend conference sessions that provided insights on the broader context of mobile warehouse robotics, namely the concepts of ecosystems, integration, and interoperability. Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) interoperability as a concept found its way into many sessions but it was the main topic of the session presentation by Aaron Prather of FedEx. A unifying architecture as the mechanism to scale AMR adoption…
The Oracle Live: Cloud Applications event highlighted the supply chain function due in part to the extensive supply chain disruptions caused by the global coronavirus pandemic. A key premise, global supply chains have depended on a certain level of predictability that is no longer available. This requires a multidimensional value framework that places increased emphasis on supply alternatives, risk exposure, tariffs, and channel complexity.
