Is the warehouse technology being deployed by "fast-fashion" apparel sellers up to the challenge of meeting customer demand? Supply chain professional Leslie O'Regan details some of the problems that stand in the way of successful tech adoption.

Along with the arrival of the “fast-fashion” industry comes a corresponding “need for speed” in warehousing and fulfillment, O’Regan says. Apparel supply chains must adopt to seasonal changes and executive inventory turns at a much faster pace than in years past. The rise of e-commerce, driven in good part by the “Amazon effect” of near-immediate delivery, has all apparel providers scrambling for technology that can allow them to compete with that behemoth.

The situation cries out for the best and latest technologies to drive distribution operations, whether in the form of software such as warehouse management, control and execution systems, or the conveyors and other types of equipment that move goods through the facility.

To a certain extent, O’Regan says, industry executives are aware of the need to acquire new systems and, in the process, save money on fulfillment. Where they’re falling down, she adds, is in a lack of understanding about the corresponding need for humans who can support and maintain the robots that are playing an increasing role in physical distribution. “That is a gap that we’re seeing in most executives everywhere,” she says. “They don’t understand the cost of maintaining automation solutions from a hardware and software perspective.”

Even as robotics systems gain popularity, people are still needed on the warehouse floor. “Today, the human element is sometimes still faster,” O’Regan says. When it comes to handling a variety of different products and packaging, for example, robots are still too slow and inflexible. They lack the ability to “pivot” in a way that’s second nature to humans.