Guest: Jeff Burnstein of A3 on the state of the robotics market; A rise in supply chain AI investments; Walmart squeezes more costs from its distribution operations

Our guest on this week's episode is Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the world’s largest trade group for robotics & automation companies. Robotics have impacted supply chains in ways few other technologies ever have. From filling orders in warehouses to loading and unloading trucks, robotics and automation are making our supply chains run more efficiently and accurately. And while the use of robotics has seen steady growth in the industry, what is the near-term outlook? Supply chain leaders are bullish on generative AI, with most saying they expect to reap returns on their investments in the technology this year and that they plan to invest even more in the future. This is according to an Accenture survey of C-Suite executives worldwide, released this week Walmart is famous for making its supply chain as efficient as possible. This week we learned about another way they squeeze cost out of the system. The company opened a high-tech consolidation center in Illinois. This is a 490,000-square foot facility that uses automation to flow three times more volume of goods through the building than a manual version. They have about 10 total of these consolidation centers, but most of those are manual; this is actually the third one of these high-tech ones they operate, following the first one which opened in California in 2019. 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:Association for Advancing Automation (A3)Supply chain AI investment applications are on the riseWalmart opens third consolidation center in its US networkGet 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: Yale Lift Truck TechnologiesOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts