CHECKINGIN Warehouse Location Automation
Vol. 43, No. 6 June 2023 THE MAGAZINE FOR DEMAND-DRIVEN ENTERPRISES www.inboundlogistics.com
STAFF PUBLISHER Keith G. Biondo
publisher@inboundlogistics.com
I f a robot told you where to go, would you listen? Choosing a domestic distribution site is a well-honed science with several schools of thought. Some supply chain practitioners favor the mega-DC approach, while others use retail locations to do double-duty as eful llment centers. Other practices include a blended approach to match evolving customer demand. The cardinal rule, at least in days gone by, was that you’d locate your DC or warehouse near your customers
EDITOR Felecia J. Stratton
editor@inboundlogistics.com
SENIOR EDITOR Katrina C. Arabe
karabe@inboundlogistics.com
MANAGING EDITOR Robert Fee
rfee@inboundlogistics.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Merrill Douglas • Thomas Gresham Karen M. Kroll • Richard Osborne
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jeof Vita
jvita@inboundlogistics.com
Keith Biondo, Publisher
DESIGNER Nicole Estep
nicole@inboundlogistics.com Amy Palmisano apalmisano@inboundlogistics.com
to keep transport costs low, speed ful llment, and optimize inventory investment. Does that rule still hold? Maybe not. While current approaches have been monumentally successful and offer bene ts for those who follow the rules, logistics automation—speci cally new developments in warehouse automation—gives forward-thinking supply chain managers some counter-intuitive choices on warehouse or ful llment center locations. Three factors drive that counter-intuitive thinking. 1. Products follow people and some centers of American consumption are reshuf ing. “Where are my customers now? Where will they be in 5 years?” That’s hard to know. But smarter, and in some cases older, consumers who hanker for less crowded, less congested, less contested, and more clement climes are moving elsewhere as a result of the pandemic, work from home, high taxes, social challenges, onerous regulations, and other factors. Companies are planning and building a new wave of distribution assets to serve that mini migration. 2. Warehouse labor shortages in many areas. Conventional thinking was to locate a new facility in larger, more urban centers of population to gain access to a good and reliable labor pool. Yet many modern and automated DCs are less labor intensive and more labor light, meaning product can move with fewer hands on the boxes. That also means you don’t need to locate your distribution facility in traditional urban areas. Consider that those locations are typically more highly taxed, have higher energy costs, and, in some cases, a more stringent regulatory environment, prompting the question: What am I doing here? 3. A new wave of available warehouse automation and robotics. Lower- cost, hard-working automation solutions enable you to locate your facility in sites more distant from your nal mile. While it’s true that automation costs are high, amortizing those investments over time is likely to offset the costs associated with traditional locations, even accounting for higher transport costs. New choices are here. You don’t have to be a robot whisperer to listen to where your robot tells you to go.
DIGITAL DESIGN MANAGER
PUBLICATION MANAGER Sonia Casiano
sonia@inboundlogistics.com
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Carolyn Smolin
SALES OFFICES PUBLISHER: Keith Biondo
212-629-1560 ¨ FAX: 212-629-1565 publisher@inboundlogistics.com WEST/MIDWEST/SOUTHWEST: Harold L. Leddy
847-446-8764 ¨ FAX: 847-305-5890 haroldleddy@inboundlogistics.com Marshall Leddy
612-234-7436 ¨ FAX: 847-305-5890 marshall@inboundlogistics.com DIRECTOR, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING, SOUTHEAST/MIDWEST/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Joseph Biondo 516-578-8924 jbiondo@inboundlogistics.com NORTHEAST: Rachael Sprinz 212-629-1562 ¨ FAX: 212-629-1565 rachael@inboundlogistics.com MEXICO & LATAM: Guillermo Almazo 212-629-1560 mexico@inboundlogistics.com FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS www.inboundlogistics.com/free
Inbound Logistics supports sustainable best practices. Our mission is rooted in helping companies match demand to supply, eliminating waste from the supply chain. This magazine is printed on paper sourced from fast growth renewable timber.
Inbound Logistics welcomes comments and submissions. Email us at editorial@inboundlogistics.com; call (212) 629-1560. For advertising or subscription information, call (212) 629-1560, or e-mail publisher@ inboundlogistics.com. Inbound Logistics is distributed without cost to those qualified in North America. Interested readers may subscribe online at bit.ly/get_il. Subscription price to others: in North America: $95 per year. Foreign subscriptions: $229. Single copy price: No. Amer. $10, foreign $19, back issues $15.
4 Inbound Logistics • June 2023
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