Inbound Logistics | February 2026

HOW AUTOMATION BUILDS RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAINS

To meet these challenges, supply chain automation is changing shape. To start, it’s moving beyond addressing isolated challenges, Musson says. While many organizations begin automation initiatives by targeting specic pain points, such as throughput constraints, more are considering how solutions can work together to support resilience, exibility, and efciency. The need for exibility also inuences the solutions chosen, says Reuben Scriven, research manager with Interact Analysis. Given unpredictable demand and growth trends, companies are opting for congurable systems that they can adapt, scale, and modify. As ecommerce has grown, so has the prevalence of smaller handling units, such as “eaches” and cases, creating exponentially more complex logistical operations, Scriven says. Sophisticated hardware and software are needed to manage these processes. handling units, cases, creating Solutions are “going up in the air, as opposed to just going wide,” or using both vertical and horizontal space within a warehouse, says Steven Simonson, senior managing director with Alpine Supply Chain Solutions. The more efcient use of space is key in smaller facilities, such as micro-fulllment centers, and in urban locations. Browneld implementations, or retrots of existing facilities, currently are outpacing new, or greeneld initiatives, says Dan Calahan, sales director with Swisslog, a logistics automation rm. As a result, automation solutions often need to work effectively within existing facilities. Automation solutions will continue to evolve and advance, as both technology and supply chain operations themselves change. Currently, automation impacts numerous processes within supply chain operations. Putaway and Picking Solutions such as goods-to-person systems, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) can bring signicant value to challenges, supply chain changing shape. To start, addressing isolated says. While many automation targeting solutions support resilience, efciency. exibility also inuences says Reuben manager with Interact unpredictable demand companies are opting systems that they that they can modify. grown, so has the

Warp, which applies AI to transportation. In several years, an employee should be able to say, ‘I want my robot to do this,’ and the AI solution will gure out how it should do that, he adds. Orchestration Layers Warehouse orchestration solutions can synthesize data from multiple sources, such as the WMS and inventory management solution, to create optimized plans for a facility. sources, such as the management solution, optimized plans for For instance, if learns about an unscheduled For instance, if a warehouse manager learns about an unscheduled rush order that’s arriving in 20 minutes, they may drop other work and reprioritize staff to accommodate the order, Moore says. But how many employees should move? Pulling more workers than necessary might cause service failures, detention charges, or overtime. A single move? Pulling more necessary might cause might cause detention charges, decision can encompass dozens of smaller, interacting decisions, and all need to be considered to effectively run a site, Moore says. An orchestration layer can inform this decision. Warp, which applies In several years, an able to say, ‘I want and the AI solution should do that, Orchestration Warehouse solutions data that’s arriving in 20 drop other work and accommodate the But how many

putaway and picking processes, says Jeff Peterson, senior director of warehouse with Ryder. Because they slash the time workers spend walking, employees can concentrate on specic functions, such as picking or putting away. Taking Orders and Rerouting Shipments Agentic articial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that are capable of independent decision-making and autonomous behavior. These solutions are well suited to automate both analytical and transactional tasks in logistics, says Sri Sripada, managing director of the supply chain and operations practice with West Monroe. In an order capture operation, for instance, AI agents can ingest orders from multiple channels, validate the data, check credit and inventory, and create or update orders in operational systems like a WMS, all without manual intervention. Moreover, even employees who aren’t engineers or computer scientists often are able to use AI, says Daniel Sokolovsky, co-founder and CEO with Newcastle mobile work stations enable workers to complete critical tasks directly on the warehouse floor.

26 Inbound Logistics • February 2026