Topic: Robotics

The controversy over reshoring has flared up again thanks largely to some research published by the managing consulting firm A. T. Kearney in December 2015.

Amid continued consolidation, rapid technological advancements and labor challenges point toward an ambitious new year.

The next four years are likely to see a re-imagining of the manufacturing supply chain amid changing customer demands and technological innovation.

For the third straight year, Armstrong & Associates, Inc. (A&A) convened its Annual 3PL Value Creation Summit in Chicago recently to identify key global industry trends. Investment specialists were also part of the blend, and contributed insights on how merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is reshaping the marketplace.

Half of large U.S. companies are bringing some of their manufacturing processes back onshore. But it’s not as simple as turning out the lights in one locale and setting up shop in another, says reshoring expert Rosemary Coates.

The era of driverless trucks – or autonomous vehicles, as they are known euphemistically – may be a lot closer to reality than many people think.

Fueled by NAFTA, trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is booming. But not knowing the nuances and fine print can be costly for U.S.-based business wishing to take advantage of burgeoning, neighboring markets. Here’s how to best play the NAFTA transportation game.

Supply chain management is evolving from a series of sequential links in the chain to a supply network. That may impact how the warehouse of the future operates.

Building on their success in 2013, the Top 20 sustained growth in 2014 and are on track for continued improvement this year.

Yard management systems (YMS) vendors are rolling out new capabilities and incorporating advanced technology to help logistics operations gain better visibility over exactly what’s going on in their yards at any time.

As automated data collection (ADC) technologies become affordable and ruggedized, a wider swath of logistics operations are turning to a range of equipment and software to gain efficiencies and meet the growing demands of their customers.

The wave that heavy e-commerce activity currently rides is not close to crashing anytime all that soon. And with that comes a heightened focus on the logistics-related aspects of e-commerce, specifically on the last-mile side of things.

Conveyors, shuttles and robots were on display, but as with last year's Modex, software is where the action is in today’s materials handling industry.

The results of the 2015 MHI Annual Industry Report were released at Wednesday’s ProMat keynote, with some of the biggest findings from the report’s survey being pricing pressure combined with ever growing customer expectations for a faster, better experience.

Following a mid-December announcement in which transportation and logistics bellwether FedEx said it signed an agreement to acquire Pittsburgh-based GENCO, a third-party logistics (3PL) services provider specializing in product lifecycle and reverse logistics, FedEx said late last week the deal has officially been completed.

Though often characterized by feast or famine, this year’s view into warehouse and distribution spending plans instead strengthens a pattern of deliberate investment. Today, readers are determined to get the most out of every dollar spent.

Celebrating 30 years as an industry mainstay, ProMat 2015 is set to open with more than 800 exhibitors and a comprehensive educational program. With an additional 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, this will be the biggest ProMat ever. Here’s a guide to every inch.

The technology is here. But, what does it take to convince the early adopters? A mobile robot pick pieces at RDC

The development of a piece picking robot began with a trip through the desert.

A pilot project in Rochester, New York, may be a precursor of what robots will look like in the warehouse of the future.