This Month in Modern

Modex will mark the first in-person materials handling trade show of its size since early March 2020.

While the stories this month delve into a few unique niches of materials handling, it’s fascinating to see that the current operations environment is the common denominator.

This month in Modern, we offer the second of back-to-back System Reports that take the temperature of where we are in the continuing tale of the application of robotics inside the warehouse/DC operations of small to mid-sized companies.

This month in Modern, two features take the temperature of where we are in the application of robotics in warehouse/DC operations. Executive editor Bob Trebilcock takes us inside Top Notch Distributors, a leading supplier of architectural door hardware

“We can now digest the data and grow from here.”

It’s now clear that one of silver linings of the past year is that the pandemic has hastened the adoption of the software and automation necessary to streamline operations to meet rising e-commerce demands—especially in the face of shrinking labor availability.

. Our editorial team designed sessions to help operations harness the tools available—automation, software, robotics, mobility, advanced technologies—to help manage through disruption and prepare for what comes next.

While Modern readers are feeling the strains that the astonishing growth of e-commerce have placed on operations, a summary of statistics recently shared with me by Ian Hobkirk, founder and managing director of Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors, put that explosiveness into context.

As this level of accelerated innovation continues to evolve, we’re going to start seeing more System Reports like this month’s featuring Bergen Logistics , an operation benefiting from early robotics and automation investment.

While some equipment category plans were a bit off from last year, this year’s respondents appear ready to invest in solutions that will help them get orders out the door quickly and more accurately—a silver lining indeed.

In conversation after conversation, we continue to learn of the deep changes that e-commerce has ushered into warehouse and distribution center operations, from implementing game-changing automation, robotics and software to tightening up labor and inventory management to elevating the importance of final-mile delivery and returns processes—and everything in between.

Gary Forger, who spent 23 years on the Modern editorial staff, offers us a terrific history of Modern through the years and reflects on the evolving composition of the materials handling equipment, technology and automation markets that the publication continues to invigorate and inspire.

This marks our 10th-annual Lift Truck Issue where we take readers inside an operation putting the latest lift truck battery innovation to work.