I think the Modern readers who found themselves among the 37,000 attendees walking the floor of Modex 2022 in Atlanta would agree: It was great to be back in the thick of things. Indeed, it was one of those events where you could feel the energy, hear the buzz. While it really wasn’t a long-shot, at the beginning of 2022 we predicted the energy level would be high when we released the findings of our “2022 Warehouse/DC Equipment Survey.” As we reported, readers told us they were geared up and ready to embrace more automation and robotics—and they were adding…
The impact of digital commerce cuts across every retail, manufacturing and distribution operation, and is putting pressure on all the major modes of transportation and the distribution center (DC) and fulfillment operations that keep supply chains fluid. To help keep pace, savvy logistics professionals are applying more supply chain management software and technology than ever to better manage the increasing complexity—especially now as the world continues to emerge from one of the most disruptive periods in a generation. To help us better understand where we are on this ongoing digitization journey, we’re joined by Bart De Muynck, VP analyst at…
To say the pandemic has accelerated e-commerce might be the understatement of the decade. Everywhere you look data validates the idea that Americans are more comfortable than ever with point, click, buy—and it’s not stopping any time soon. According to Department of Commerce, e-commerce growth in the U.S. market was already up by 14.9% in 2019 year over year. The pandemic is adding to the online buying increase, with a recent analysis by Adobe Systems finding that during the two early months of the Covid-19 disruption—April to May—consumers spent $153 billion online, up 7% from online spending during the 2019…
In conversation after conversation, we continue to learn of the deep changes that e-commerce has ushered into logistics and transportation practices, from tightening up inventory and fulfillment management to elevating the importance of final-mile delivery and returns processes—and everything in between. To respond, logistics professionals now need to leverage diverse systems and new ways of thinking in an effort to improve carrier partnerships and increase speed and efficiency. With that in mind, the editorial staff of Logistics Management (a sibling site to Robotics 24/7) has put together a collection of features to help readers push that pace of change inside…
This month in Modern we offer the third in a series of three System Reports that examine the emergence of robotics in warehousing and distribution. Back in March, we featured a robotic layer-picking solution that L’Oreal is using to build mixed SKU pallets at its facility in Kentucky. Last month we went inside the operations of VSP, a high-volume optics lab, to see how it’s putting piece-picking robots to work in conjunction with automated storage to handle lenses and frames. This month, executive editor Bob Trebilcock visits Quiet Logistics, a third-party logistics (3PL) provider of e-fulfillment services for premium fashion…
