All of the problems experienced in e-commerce sales during the pandemic are continuing, says Paul Ambruso, VP and general manager, mobile robotics, at Berkshire Grey. The challenges, however, are opportunities for technology vendors.

"Flexibility" can be a vague term when it comes to logistics and distribution operations, explains Andy Williams, executive vice president of sales for North America with Exotec.

Michael Marcum, general manager of autonomous vehicles at Bastian Solutions, discusses the launch of the company's new automated guided forklift.

Today's highly complex supply chain has to contend with a lack of skilled labor, says Dirk Hejnal, CEO of Körber Supply Chain. That necessitates investment in automation technology.

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.

As the warehousing sector looks to evolve and keep up with rising consumer demand, significant investments are needed in transformative warehouse robotics.  

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

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

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