If any technology is making up for the labor shortage and boosting productivity in the warehouse, it's robotics, says Jake Heldenberg, head of solution design, warehousing, North America, for Vanderlande.

Light industrial business sector leaders feel more confident about labor supplies in 2023 according to Instawork's “State of Warehouse Labor Report.”

A technology refresh, while yielding big benefits to the warehouse, can also be highly disruptive to day-to-day operations.

The impact of underlying demand takes time to show up in warehousing, because of industrial real estate’s long lead times for planning and multiyear leases.

Warehouse workers are getting harder to find, hire and retain. What do they really want? 

Data out April 4 showed U.S. supply-chain activity fell to the lowest in at least 6 ½ years in March, with low transport prices for goods driving the decline in the Logistics Managers’ Index.

Smart glasses have been slow to catch on with consumers, even among the earliest adopters of technology. Not so in the warehouse.

Because the labor shortage is expected to continue, warehouse operators must consider investment in robotics, says Stanislas Normand, managing director of Exotec.

Supply chain leaders can measure, analyze and segment data across the workforce as they would any other aspect of the operation.