A well-orchestrated, automated warehouse requires a smart fulfillment software platform that can tie together all the data-management systems that go into warehouse operations, says Akash Gupta, chief technology officer and co-founder of one-stop warehouse automation provider Grey Orange.

Terence Leung, senior director of solutions with Blue Yonder, offers a vision of the future for logistics.

Warehouse work has been transforming at an amazing rate over the past several years and operators are constantly looking for new, innovative ways to deliver immediate, impactful improvements in productivity and accuracy.  

Buying land is a major shift for Amazon, which historically relied on a handful of developers to find property, build fairly simple warehouses and rent them back to the company. Now, Amazon is increasingly taking parts of the development process in-house — often bidding against long-time partners for the best space.

The definition of a warehouse is evolving rapidly, and automation must keep pace with the change, says Jayesh Mehta, industry group manager with MHI.

The number-one labor challenge for supply chains today is worker availability at the retail level, says Pete Blair, vice president of marketing with Berkshire Grey.

Automating inventory tracking has become a mandate for companies striving to achieve supply chain excellence, but it is no easy task.

Supply chain and warehouse leaders recognize that robotics improve their fulfillment performance and productivity. But the array of options leads to confusion.

Even in our brave new world of pandemic disruptions, the most important steps to improve import and export performance are the ones that focus on the fundamentals.