In no time in my 30-year career has there been more innovation fighting to get into our mature but reliable supply chains. The MODEX show in Atlanta was a great way to see some of this in action and, more importantly, to talk to people who are developing it, using it, and assessing it. It’s time to talk about the feasible future in digitalization and automation.
At Crimson & Co, part of Argon & Co, we are working hard to assess the latest trends and the trends that become best practices. There are so many emerging digital ideas to get ahead of, and we are working hard so we may assist our clients. Our global team is actively visiting with incubators, talking to entrepreneurs, interviewing academics and touring working sites all around the world to sort out the technologies with traction versus the ideas that likely aren’t going anywhere.
Some of the more exciting technologies like telerobotics and robots you can program in five minutes. We had a robot on hand in our booth for visitors to see up close and personal. We have a lot more research not on display, but just as exciting on new technology such as lidar-camera, live-motion-pace-rating, flow management software, robotics process automation or augmented reality supervisor glasses. We have seen many of these in pilots and labs and believe they will be successful supply chain innovations that emerge soon. We also had some video showcasing some of this integrated into actual working sites we have designed.
Crimson & Co consultants are doing more than staying on the edge of all this new technology. We are staying engaged in helping develop state-of-the-market supply chain networks and fulfillment center designs that leverage proven and tried technology. We also regularly help optimize existing sites by clients and for those who have invested. For those that have invested, but find they are not getting all they thought they would or possibly are struggling to just get their new material handling system, WMS, or facility to work properly, we have a thriving practice that helps firms get the most out of systems that are not delivering what they promised.
– Steve Mulaik, Crimson & Co USA part of Argon & Co