The New Warehouse Weekly Vol 33

I'm continued to be amazed by how much technology is in our space. As I prepare to start another semester of teaching supply chain this week, I am reviewing what technologies I want to showcase to my supply chain students and honestly there is just so much to choose from.

As we are approaching 5 years of the podcast, I reflect back on all of the amazing advancements our industry has made in that time and how I have been fortunate enough to get some first hand exposure to it and dig deeper into it through my conversations.

So what do I think are some of the big technologies to look out for as we get fully into tradeshow season and look at the landscape of 2024?

Here are a few of my thoughts:

• I'll admit that I was not initially into the idea or understood the need for humanoid robots (why do they need to look like humans?!) but they seem to be here to stay and we are seeing new advances every week it seems. Even deployments happening now by Agility Robotics and Figure . I'm very interested to see where this goes.
• Tech coming to some of the "invisible" problems in the warehouse. There are many problems that happen too often in a warehouse operation but are not necessarily easy to pinpoint or understand the large impact that they have. These are "little" processes in between the "big" processes. Think asset check in/check out, forklift charging, stand work creation and organization. Problems in these areas don't necessarily jump out at you but I think there is interesting tech coming out that are addressing these problems. Check out the likes of Resonant Link Medical , Traka and Two Boxes .
• ASRS is going to have a big impact. With ideal markets for warehouses getting saturated and rents increasing, space utilization is a major concern and primary. Our industry is always about doing more with less and one of the only ways to do more with less space is to implement some type of ASRS system. I think we will see more companies embracing these and realizing that this is the way to gain storage density into the future. Pio has a great developing model utilizing AutoStore? technology, Fabric has a great approach as well that I got to see recently and we'll highlight on an upcoming podcast and Rapyuta Robotics has a very interesting flexible build solution that I want to see more of.

I could probably go on and on with more since there is just so much happening but these are the 3 that have been on my mind as of late and we'll continue to try and cover them on the podcast as the year goes on!

What technologies do you think will make a big splash this year?

Have a good week!

-Kevin

Moday Episode:

“Every return is a lost opportunity, not just in revenue but in building trust and loyalty with the customer.” - Spencer Kieboom

In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, we’re diving into the intriguing world of returns with Spencer Kieboom, co-founder and CEO of Pollen Technologies Inc.. Once a major league catcher, Spencer now tackles the challenges of the returns industry, striving to enhance the experience for both retailers and customers. Join us as we uncover the current state of returns and the innovative solutions Pollen Returns is implementing to revolutionize this essential yet complex sector.

Wednesday Episode:

“We became climate neutral certified… it became an advantage because people were like, ‘This 3PL cares about other things aside from the bottom line.'” - Yong-Soo Chung

In Wednesday's episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin speaks with Yong-Soo Chung ??, Founder and CEO of First Class Founders and GrowthJet, and more. The episode provides insights into Yong-Soo’s entrepreneurial journey, shedding light on his successful e-commerce ventures and innovative approach in the third-party logistics (3PL) sector. Be sure to tune into this informative and inspirational episode.?

You can also watch the episode in YouTube!

Thank you to our Sponsors!

• Check out Portable Intelligence's Smart Warehouse solutions.
• Check out CartonCloud to get 25% off your first 3 months!
• Check out Meter for all your facility wi-fi needs. Get a month free and a discount beyond that by heading to this link.
• Check out Newcastle Systems and their mobile-powered carts here.
• Wireless forklift charging is here! Check out Resonant Link for more.

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