The CEO of OTTO Motors, a provider of autonomous mobile vehicles (AMRs), has some provacative ideas about what is occurring in the AMR market. Mr. Rendall also pointed out that the automated guided vehicle market in the U.S. has grown to less than $200 million in thirty years. Bolted to ground warehouse automation has its limitations. “There is a pressing need for flexibility.”
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In October 2015, Asteroid 2015 TB145, dubbed the Halloween Asteroid, passed within 302,000 miles (just over 1 lunar distance) of the Earth. The asteroid is an estimated 2,297 feet in width, making it the largest object to pass that close to the Earth since 2006. The asteroid is expected to pass by the earth again just after Halloween this year, but this time will be an estimated 25 million miles from the Earth. What makes […]
Read More →Walmart that was pursuing RFID as an evolutionary step to manage inventory throughout the entire supply chain. However, the interest subsided until the 2010’s, when RFID technology was reignited by the fervor of Industrie 4.0 and the rise of IIoT in manufacturing.
Read More →Maersk confirmed last week that is intends to sail the containership Venta Maersk through the Northeast Passage from the Far East to St. Petersburg. The route runs along the Russian Arctic through what the Russians call the Northern Sea Route. This will be the first container ship to traverse the passage, although COSCO has sent LNG tankers through the route a number of times over the last couple years. The story piqued my interest due to the […]
Read More →Historically, companies looking at a technology solution would put together a detailed business plan, and then only implement the technology if the forecasted financial returns exceeded their return on investment (ROI) target. But more companies are experimenting with next generation robots and other digital technologies, regardless of whether the ROI is there or not. HIROTEC AMERICA, part of the HIROTEC Group, is one such company.
Read More →It is the bane of my work week. Each week I waste more time there than anywhere else. What is this place that is the sinkhole of my productivity? I’ll give you a hint – it’s the sinkhole of productivity for much of the East Coast of the US. Yup, that’s right – Interstate 95. There is a stretch of I-95 in the metropolitan Boston area that is always congested and always under construction. It […]
Read More →Electric trucks have been in the news a lot lately, especially as Tesla has made multiple announcements regarding the highly anticipated release of its Class 8 semi-truck. However, the state of Tesla’s supply chain, along with the skepticism regarding the design of the truck, had the public wondering if it would actually come to fruition. But Tesla is clearly not the only company working to get an electric truck to the market. There are also […]
Read More →LLamasoft has developed a maturity model related to supply chain design solutions. As a leading supplier of supply chain design solutions, this is a natural extension for them. Developing a maturity model, however, is not for the faint of heart. The model explicity ties ROI from a design project to the maturity level.
Read More →According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), total spending for K-12 schools and college combined is projected to reach $82.8 billion, nearly as high as last year’s $83.6 billion. The top four categories for back to schoolers (not back to college) are clothing ($236 million), electronics ($187 million), shoes ($138 million), and supplies ($122 million). While I still need to bring my kids shopping for a few new articles of clothing and shoes, our school […]
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What’s in Your Transportation Execution Solution Strategy?
Transportation execution solutions and, in particular, visibility solutions, are hot. There are a number of macroeconomic factors driving the adoption of transportation execution systems. Technological innovations such as cloud computing, logistics networks and real-time GPS are increasing the importance of transportation execution solutions and redefining how transportation is managed. With all these new capabilities, how can transportation execution solutions help? Here are 6 points to consider. 1. Think “TMS+”. Most transportation management systems (TMS) provide limited execution capabilities (e.g., rating, booking, tracking, document management and settlement) in breadth or depth.
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