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 […]
What does the gig economy mean to warehousing? The warehouse and DC industry has always had somewhat of a gig culture, owing to seasonal and temporary labor needs. 3PL companies especially are partnering with the gig economy to take advantage of its flexibility. A changing attitude towards work is driving the move to the gig economy. And technology has made it easier for individuals to connect with potential customers or employers and find work on a flexible basis. The growing rise in tailored or intuitive training has also fed into the gig rise as people can get trained and be up and running in terms of productivity very quickly[…]
The WMS market continued its persistent growth in 2022. In fact, growth in constant currencies was likley close to 10 percent. The WMS market continued its shift from perpetual licensing to SaaS licensing, with the SaaS revenue type being one of the market’s fastest growing segments. WMS suppliers indicated that their users continued to operate within tight labor markets and with a shortage of reliable workers […]
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 […]
The marijuana supply chain is an interesting market to follow. Like any agricultural product, there are ebbs and flows to its supply and demand. However, there is one caveat in the marijuana supply chain that makes things a bit trickier: in most states, cannabis products can only be sold and consumed within the state that […]
Today’s supply chain and logistics operations are balancing multiple competing objectives while contending with substantial uncertainty. Simply put, the disruptions of the recent past have exposed the vulnerabilities within supply chains. The operational impacts have been severe enough for executives to take action in support of supply chain resilience. At the same time, competitive forces have made supply chain operations more relevant to the customer experience and revenue generation. Executives are taking action to ensure […]
Raymour & Flanigan evaluated its warehouse software capabilities as part of a broader systems upgrade initiative. Raymour & Flanigan, in partnership with Alpine Supply Chain, uncovered great opportunities for productivity improvements that could be realized from system-directed put-away and picking, and from the introduction of opportunistic cross-docking. Furthermore, the insights […]
