Manhattan Associates made significant enhancements to their warehouse solution. They have changed the rules of automation, employed significant forms of optimization not currently used in warehouse management systems (WMS), and greatly improved the ability to fulfill e-commerce orders.
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Archive for Warehouse Automation
ARC Advisory Group released its updated Warehouse Automation & Control (WAC) market study last week. This research is an evaluation of the market with detailed analysis of the 2017 base year and a five-year forecast through 2022. I would like to take this opportunity to communicate some of the prominent themes I observed during the research process. 2017 – A Stellar Year The market’s growth in 2017 was substantially greater than I had expected. In fact, I […]
Read More →It seems no matter where we look these days, robots and other uses of artificial intelligence are not hard to find. From our cars and smart appliances to Alexa and Siri, the rise of AI technology has permeated our daily lives and is changing the way we operate. Warehouses and distribution centers are no exception. In recent years we’ve seen a dramatic increase in intelligent automation across the supply chain, a necessity to keep up […]
Read More →In the United States, 250,000 manufacturing plants and warehouses support the activities of 4 million retail stores and e-commerce websites – and all of these operations carry inventory. But in the warehouses, less than 10 percent are using automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) to manage and move their inventories. That means the vast majority are still using racks and other storage solutions that require a lot of floor space (read: high real estate costs) […]
Read More →ARC Advisory Group’s supply chain team believes that autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) in the warehouse is a high-growth and potentially transformative logistics technology. Therefore, we are devoting substantial effort into tracking the progress of the solutions within this rapidly developing market. On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting 6 River Systems’ facility and receiving a personal demonstration of its collaborative autonomous mobile robotics system (AMR). The 6 River Systems Solution The 6 River Systems […]
Read More →Warehouse management systems (WMS) and warehouse automation systems have long been complementary technologies with adjacent and sometimes overlapping functionality sets. The relative importance of the systems to an operation depends on the activities and throughput profile of the given warehouse. Public discussions about the convergence of WMS and warehouse control systems (WCS) into what has been termed a warehouse execution system (WES) is more recent, but also not new. However, insights from my concurrent research […]
Read More →Last week’s MODEX show in Atlanta contained many more exhibits than I could possibly have viewed in the short time that I attended. But I did view many of the exhibits and experienced the overall vibe of the show. “Technology adoption and acceleration” is the closest I can come to a common thread that captures the overall messaging and vibe of the show. There was a substantial number of autonomous mobile robotics solutions on display […]
Read More →ARC Advisory Group’s supply chain team believes that autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) in the warehouse is a high-growth and potentially transformative logistics technology. There is a handful of start-up companies currently offering AMR solutions to meet the challenges presented by the high-volume, high-labor requirements of e-commerce fulfillment. Each of these robotics start-ups is addressing the challenge in a different manner. For example, Locus Robotics‘ solution coordinates autonomous mobile robots to work collaboratively with warehouse workers. […]
Read More →Amazon opened its check-out free Amazon Go convenience store to the general public last week. This high-tech low-touch store is a busy urban introvert’s dream. The opening triggered a second wave of media coverage that included descriptions of user experiences and a number of possible explanations about how Amazon is able to manage this high-tech customer experience. Amazon states on its website that this shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies […]
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Supply Chain Brief
Voice – The Interface Between Supply Chain Tech and Humans
It’s the era of the new consumer. We must adapt supply chains rapidly to meet customer expectations. Trends like reverse logistics, same-day-delivery and mobility result in new business models, stressed logistics systems and deconsolidating networks. We’re also in the midst of a shrinking talent pool. Competing with rising wages and attractive employment alternatives for this generation is pivotal in landing the top talent. How do we handle this? By evolving our operations with the tools […]
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