My colleague Fox Chen and I just kicked-off the update to ARC Advisory Group’s research on the global mobile warehouse robotics market. Fox is located in Singapore, and I am in Boston. With a solid 12-hour time zone difference between him and me, together we should be able to speak with any robotics provider at […]
ARC Advisory Group’s research on the global WMS market has revealed many of the perennial factors influencing demand for WMS solutions – such as e-commerce fulfillment needs. However, there is one dynamic that became ubiquitous across market segments this year. I refer to this dynamic as demand for “WMS-plus.” Today’s WMS selection is substantial determined by the core WMS-plus the ability to integrate and support complementary processes and technologies. WMS capabilities such as waveless fulfillment or other business rules to prioritize orders while still efficiently handling high volumes are central to customer demands. The ability to offer, support, and integrate adjacent and complementary technologies has escalated […]
Kiva Systems was absolutely fundamental to the germination of the robotics community in Boston. The organization and its culture spawned many knowledgeable people and served as a feeder for Mass Robotics and many successful robotics start-up companies in the greater Boston area, and actually, globally. Prior to his time at Kiva, Mark Messina, currently CEO of Addverb Americas, began his career as a mechanical engineer working in the medical device and consumer products fields. It was this experience working at Philips – a company with and amazing process and dedication to quality, that attracted Kiva to Mark’s capabilities. In a meeting shortly after the acquisition, an Amazon senior executive bluntly said that anyone below director level exit the room. He then explained […]
Note: Today’s post is part of our “Editor’s Choice” series where we highlight recent posts published by our sponsors that provide supply chain insights and advice. Today’s article comes from the team at KNAPP and explores the use of warehouse robotics. Does this sound familiar to you? Customers want their goods ASAP as competition and […]
ProMat 2023, for those that could not attend, this is a great overview of some of the exhibitions I found most interesting, including Pickle Robot’s container/trailer unloading robot, HAI Robotics 32 ft ACR, Addverb’s extensive robotics portfolio previously unknown to me, and the warehouse optimization capabilities of Manhattan Associates, Blue Yonder, Lucas Systems, Koerber Supply Chain, and […]
Note: Today’s post is part of our “Editor’s Choice” series where we highlight recent posts published by our sponsors that provide supply chain insights and advice. This article is from KNAPP and it discusses the micro-fulfillment center operations of French food retailer Intermarché. Intermarché now offers all products sold in their supermarkets in their online […]
ARC’s research on the warehouse automation market shows (once again) that the fulfillment requirements from the ongoing, widespread growth in e-commerce continue to be the most prevalent factor stimulating demand growth for warehouse automation systems. However, recent activity suggests that capacity has been overbuilt by some large e-commerce providers –leading to select project cancellations and postponements. Going forward we […]
