Will Toyota Industries Take Bastian to Tokyo?

First the Toll Group and now Bastian Solutions, Japan shores up gaping hole in logistics capabilities.

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is a mere four years off, and with it comes the witching hour for Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s promise, made in a speech to the Diet in 2015, that Japan would lead the robot revolution, which he then codified in New Robot Strategy. Japan’s Robot Strategy–Vision, Strategy, Action Plan.

So far, Abe’s Japan has good grades in manufacturing, what with FANUC and Cisco and ZDT and platforms like FANUC Intelligent Edge Link and Drive (FIELD) system, and all the other Factory of the Future goodies that have flowed forth since 2015.

See related: Factory of the Future: 2017 and Beyond

But when it comes to logistics, warehouses, and DCs, not so much. As a Prologis study revealed: “The vast majority of Japanese warehouses that exist today are cramped, tired spaces designed for storage and ill-suited for use as fast turnaround distribution facilities. MORE...