Technology

WHILE SOME COMPANIES embrace innovation, others still rely on aging infrastructure, manual processes or fragmented data systems that are no longer slow‑burning liabilities but direct threats to resilience, competitiveness and, ultimately, continuity. Companies that fail to adopt AI, automation, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and other technologies face blind spots, slower response times, rising costs and increased exposure to ...

Supply chains are investing heavily in AI, automation and advanced analytics, yet workforce skills are not keeping pace, limiting the return on technology spend. Leading experts from academia and research organizations share strategies for closing this gap, including designing targeted upskilling programs, avoiding common pitfalls and measuring real business impact. BY CAROL MILLER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, MHI SUPPLY CHAINS TODAY ...

Building high‑performing supply chains and achieving other key business objectives starts with a clear strategic vision, but even the most brilliant strategies often fail due to poor execution, stranding organizations short of their goals and leaving billions in unrealized value on the table. Experts see potential in leveraging artificial intelligence to overcome barriers to implementing strategy and close the strategy‑execution ...

  BY SANDY SMITH   AUTOMATION IS POWERFUL in theory, but when a material handler confronts irregular shapes or sizes, that theory can become difficult to execute. MHI member Freespace Robotics—winner of the ProMat 2025 StartUp Pitch Competition—aims to solve that problem with an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) designed to handle an unusually wide range of product dimensions. ...

IoT sensors and edge computing are transforming supply chains by enabling real‑time insights, predictive maintenance and faster operational decisions. As these technologies mature and integrate with AI and standardized systems, companies can achieve greater visibility, efficiency and resilience across their operations. BY SARA PEARSON SPECTER   IN TODAY’S ULTRA‑COMPETITIVE logistics landscape, data visibility alone isn’t enough. Companies must act on ...

BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI THERE IS NO doubt about it, the dawn of the artificial intelligence (AI) age is no longer approaching. It has arrived—in full force. As a result, end users must understand how predictive analytics and digital twins are influencing fundamental, traditional reliability practices. After all, they’re jointly strengthening reliability practices throughout the entire ...

How Physical Artificial Intelligence and Data‑Driven Robots Will Transform Warehouse Logistics   BY MARY LOU JAY   THE EVOLUTION OF robotic technology and artificial intelligence (AI) ‑driven warehouse management systems has paved the way for the next step in warehouse automation: physical AI. With physical AI, advanced technology can interact directly with the physical world through equipment such as robots, ...

Physical AI, Agentic AI, Digital Twins and the Dawn of Autonomous Logistics   BY CHRIS LEWIS   AS MIKE GEYER, head of industrial digital twins at NVIDIA, prepares for the future of supply chain operations, he believes they’re set to become “living ecosystems.” How so, you may ask? According to Geyer, each physical process will be “mirrored and optimized through ...

BY DEBJIT ROY, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT; PUNEET TIWARI, ARAPL RAAS INTERNATIONAL LLC, USA; AND MILIND PADOLE, ARAPL RAAS INTERNATIONAL LLC, USA   THE NEED FOR ORCHESTRATED FORKLIFT FLEETS IN A WAREHOUSE With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor fusion technologies, such as 3D vision and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems, the global autonomous ...

BY CAROL MILLER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, MHI FOR DECADES, SUPPLY chains have relied on spreadsheets, siloed systems and gut instinct to balance cost, service and risk. But as global networks have become more complex and data volumes have exploded, traditional tools are no longer enough. Today, structured data pours in from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, warehouse management systems (WMS) ...