A well-orchestrated, automated warehouse requires a smart fulfillment software platform that can tie together all the data-management systems that go into warehouse operations, says Akash Gupta, chief technology officer and co-founder of one-stop warehouse automation provider Grey Orange.

Terence Leung, senior director of solutions with Blue Yonder, offers a vision of the future for logistics.

Buying land is a major shift for Amazon, which historically relied on a handful of developers to find property, build fairly simple warehouses and rent them back to the company. Now, Amazon is increasingly taking parts of the development process in-house — often bidding against long-time partners for the best space.

The definition of a warehouse is evolving rapidly, and automation must keep pace with the change, says Jayesh Mehta, industry group manager with MHI.

The number-one labor challenge for supply chains today is worker availability at the retail level, says Pete Blair, vice president of marketing with Berkshire Grey.

Even in our brave new world of pandemic disruptions, the most important steps to improve import and export performance are the ones that focus on the fundamentals.

The trend in small-sized orders is likely to continue, and that will pose challenges for warehouse operators and e-grocers, says Colman Roche, vice president of e-commerce and retail with Swisslog.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are optimizing warehouse operations, says Chad Zollman, chief sales officer at TGW Logistics Group.