Every order from an Amazon customer starts an elaborate dance between workers and robots at the company’s new warehouse south of Orlando International Airport.

The order is sent to an employee, who grabs a bin and waits for a Roomba-like robot to grab a shelf full of merchandise.

The robot carrying the 7-foot shelf moves over to the waiting employee, and white light flashes on the particular shelf where the item can be found.

By Bridget McCrea, Editor · February 8, 2019

Known for their organizational capabilities, rack and shelving help cut down on clutter while helping to maximize existing floor space in a warehouse or DC. They also allow workers to use that space in a safer and more efficient manner—both of which can boost operational productivity. In a business environment where labor and real estate are costly and hard to come by, these warehouse mainstays continue to prove their worth.

Focused on maximizing the capacity of their existing floor space, more companies are asking their rack and shelving suppliers to help them achieve that goal. “Everyone is under an increasing amount of pressure to get their products out the door as quickly as possible,” says Kelly Kamlager, Wildeck’s director of marketing.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to continue unabated in 2019 on the back of technological breakthroughs that hold the promise of improving the operational and client offerings for businesses.

AI represents the evolution of traditional computing devices and applications into those capable of performing tasks that would typically require human intelligence, by mimicking cognitive functions such as visual perception, speech recognition, language understanding, learning, reasoning, reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving.

Two Seattle City Council members are scheduled to appear Monday in New York City at a summit set up by unions and community groups that oppose Amazon’s plan to expand there and the billions of dollars in government subsidies that helped attract the company.

The day after Christmas, Amazon celebrated its own annual holiday tradition: announcing record-breaking sales in a very long press release that affirms its status as the largest retailer in the known universe. As such, Jeff Bezos’s Big Store said that in 2018, it surpassed its own sales records with “More Items Ordered Worldwide Than Ever Before.” Of course, Amazon announces some version of that milestone just about every year, as it continues to upend brick-and-mortar stores and march into new digital markets around the globe.

China plans to build 150 logistics hubs by 2025, with 30 of them built by next year, Technode reported, citing a plan released by China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Transport.

The hubs will come in several forms, including inland ports, cargo ports and airports, and will employ technologies such as automation and robotics to boost efficiency.

According to Technode, the government seeks to improve logistics efficiency in the country by developing parcel-delivery, high-speed rail, air transport and cold chain capacity.

Short-term industrial leases provide retailers with flexibility to help fulfill holiday gift-buying, a new report says

With warehouse space at a premium, some retailers are now looking to short-term “on-demand warehousing” to help them find much-needed industrial real estate.

The $200-million Molson Coors brewery, on a 14.5-hectare parcel beside the Trans-Canada Highway, will be the company's largest brewery in Western Canada.

“Demand for industrial in the US is off the charts,” said Revathi Greenwood, head of US research at Cushman & Wakefield. “That market is completely on steroids.”

Voxware, a leading provider of cloud-based voice and analytic supply chain solutions, today announced additional results from its fourth biennial holiday shopping survey. Today’s statistics highlight why consumers return items purchased online and how their experiences with the returns process affects their decision to make future purchases with retailers.

In 2019, more people will buy more hamburger, toothpaste and canned peas on the internet. And those purchases, among other online grocery purchases, will help boost the market share of online grocery sales, researchers say.

American companies rushed to invest in automation, but not the training needed to operate, maintain, troubleshoot and repair the equipment.

Karen Leavitt, chief marketing officer of Locus Robotics, explains why retailers and warehouse logistics providers are having trouble finding and retaining labor — and explores automation as a possible solution to the problem.

JD, China’s second-largest e-commerce company, introduced an artificial intelligence-equipped rolling robot in November 2018 that can deliver goods up to 5km from its base.

Omnichannel commerce operations provider Radial and third party logistics provider (3PL) Geodis both said this week they will enlist the warehouse automation provider Locus Robotics to provide autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in an ongoing effort to boost efficiency in their fulfillment businesses.

French logistics giant Geodis said Wednesday it would scale up its use of Locus' robots from 30 units deployed in a 2017 pilot to 175 robots in 2018. "It's really an exciting time to be in logistics and supply chain," GEODIS Americas Chief Operating Officer Mike Honious said in a release. "Our teammates really pride themselves as being Santa's elves—we've just traded reindeer for robots and the sleigh with trucks and vans."