Guest: Don Hicks of Optilogic on new port congestion; The self-managed warehouse of the future; Autonomous forklift shipments are on the rise

Our guest on this week's episode is Don Hicks, CEO of Optilogic. We saw during the pandemic how badly our ports were jammed with all of the many imported goods we needed and wanted to keep us happy while stuck in our homes. The congestion had eased a bit in the past year or so, but now things are beginning to jam up again. What’s causing that congestion? Our guest has some answers as well as advice on how to deal with these new problems.  Software giant Microsoft Corp. and the German supply chain management and e-commerce solution provider Arvato  plan to team up to develop plans for what they call a “self-managing warehouse of the future.” They call this the “Moonshot” research project, and say it will be powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and cloud computing.Shipments of autonomous industrial lift trucks are expected to double from 2024 to 2025 in North America and Europe, driven by a declining industrial workforce and related demand for automated and tech-connected equipment. That’s according to data from global technology research firm ABI Research, which was released earlier this month. We discuss their projections and what's behind trend. Supply Chain Xchange  also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane.  It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.  Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:OptilogicDemand for automated forklifts to grow as warehouse labor issues persistMicrosoft and Arvato to design self-managing warehouse of the futureGet episode transcriptsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to [email protected] is sponsored by: Equipment DepotOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts