Warehouse DC

Innovation is a journey. The 2021 MHI Annual Industry Report looks at where we are and where we’re going with automation and emerging technologies.

Even though the most-dire days of the COVID-19 pandemic may be in the past, that, by no means, has pumped the brakes on the frenetic pace of e-commerce activity, driven by the steady drum beat of consumer demand. That was evident in the findings of a report recently issued by Los Angeles-based industrial real estate developer CBRE.

This white paper aims to show how smart glasses in combination with vision picking technology allow for a hands-free work environment.

A perfect storm of factors is making employee recruitment and retention particularly difficult in 2021. Here’s how warehouse and distribution centers can position themselves as “employers of choice” in this challenging environment.

The days of LMS being used as a narrow measuring stick are over. Today’s warehouse labor management software is highly mobile and provides metrics to change performance as work unfolds. The integration of LMS and WES is nascent and may vary by solution specifics, but it is a frontier to watch.

“Today we’re seeing LMS being integrated with enterprise systems through mobile user interfaces that create more advanced analytics"

Research recently published by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Blue Yonder (formerly JDA), a provider of AI-driven and end-to-end supply chain management services, takes a long look at the mindsets of top-level logistics executives, regarding how they address e-commerce- and labor shortage-related disruptions, and fulfillment options, among others, as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic begins in earnest.

Cookeville, Tenn.-based freight transportation and logistics services provider Averitt Express said this week that it has opened up a new 400,000 square-feet Dallas area-based distribution and fulfillment center for handling the flow and distribution of domestic and international freight and cargo in close proximity to its Grand Prairie, Texas service center.

See what they are, how each works, and why the industry has moved on from AGVs & VGVs automation to fully autonomous, high-capacity AMR equipment.

The leading smart video solutions for logistics parks add several layers of intelligence compared to traditional security cameras, helping operators to enhance personnel management, vehicle management, site management, and goods management.

For manufacturing, ISM is estimating a 7.2% in 2021 revenue gain, topping the 6.9% projection made in its previous report, and services revenue is pegged to increase 5.4% in 2021, topping the previous estimate of 1.6%.

The most recent edition of the Industrial Business Indicator (IBI), which was issued by San Francisco-based real estate investment trust company Prologis points to the need for more warehouse, due to various factors, including rising consumer confidence, retailers restocking inventories, and higher sales numbers. The IBI was featured in the firm’s report, entitled “Customer Activity Surges on Strong Retail Sales and Inventory Restocking.”

In its “Q1 Industrial Outlook,” JLL Director of U.S. Industrial Research Mehtab Randhawa wrote that e-commerce continues to be a trending topic of discussion, with demand from this industry driving the bulk of industrial leasing, with the caveat that leasing volumes are starting to normalize following an anomaly year.

Logistics Management Group News Editor recently spoke with Malcolm Wilson, CEO of XPO Logistics, Europe, and incoming CEO of GXO Logistics, soon to be XPO's standalone global contract logistics group. Wilson provided Berman with an overview of current market conditions, how XPO has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and what is in store for GXO Logistics.

In its “Q1 2021 U.S. Industrial & Logistics Figures,” CBRE explained that the United States industrial market “shows no signs of slowing down with record-high asking rents and in-process development activity, low vacancy levels, and 44 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption” (which CBRE views as a proxy for demand).