Guest: Melinda McLaughlin of Prologis on the industrial real estate market; Walmart commits to building microfulfillment centers inside its stores; Study shows increasing demand for good-to-person technologies

In this episode, guest Melinda McLaughlin, vice president, global head of research for Prologis, discusses the market for industrial real estate. The lack of new construction last year, especially during the early phases of the pandemic, has left capacity very tight and rental costs high. What is the outlook for 2021, and how are trends such as e-commerce and urban fulfillment designs affecting the  real estate market for warehousing?Walmart is partnering with three industrial suppliers to build automated microfulfillment centers within many of its stores. The automation will allow it to more quickly process online orders for pickup or delivery. Will this type of concept be able to expand the reach of brick-and-mortar retailers and allow them to better compete with large online retailers like Amazon?Demand for goods-to-person technologies, where robots or automation systems bring products directly to workers, are growing in popularity. What are the factors driving this demand, and is this the future of distribution center design?Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:PrologisWalmart launches plan to build micro-DCs inside dozens of retail storesDemand for robotic goods-to-person systems to quadruple through 2023DC VELOCITY's Covid-19 coverageVisit DCVelocity.com for the latest news. Send feedback about this podcast to [email protected] sponsored by DCV-TVOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts