Tag Archives: supply chain

BY JOANNA LEON, DIRECTOR, WAREHOUSE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH COUNCIL (WERC) MEMBERSHIP & CHAPTERS AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, MHI‑CICMHE AS SUPPLY CHAINS become more complex, technology‑driven and essential to global economies, the demand for a skilled and adaptable workforce continues to rise. Meeting this demand requires more than traditional hiring strategies; it requires intentional collaboration between industry and academia. The College Industry ...

THE ERGONOMICS ASSIST Systems and Equipment (EASE) Council Industry Group of MHI is pleased to announce the release of its EASE 101 Document. The document provides a structured introduction to industrial ergonomics, beginning with the fundamentals—what ergonomics is, why it matters and how it applies specifically to industrial and supply chain environments. The EASE 101 Document also covers key ergonomic ...

BY SANDY SMITH IN AN INDUSTRY crowded with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs)—and even more crowded with unmet promises—Nick Saur, CEO co‑founder of MHI member USAMR, is blunt about what’s broken in the AMR market, and equally clear about what he intends to fix. “The idea of shelf‑to‑goods and shelf‑to‑person is not new,” he said. “The technology was proven by Amazon. ...

BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI   WHILE REFLECTING ON her past experiences, Amanda Vernaglia, director of target development at MHI member Rehrig Pacific Company, has found that “systems integrators know their designs and systems very well.” On the other hand, end users “know their processes and workflows” much better. When it comes to systems integration as a ...

BY JASON SCHENKER, PRESIDENT, PRESTIGE ECONOMICS; CHAIRMAN, THE FUTURIST INSTITUTE; AUTHOR, “COLD WAR TWO” THE U.S. AND global economic outlooks have darkened following the onset of the war between the United States and Iran and the accompanying rise in oil prices. Geopolitics and Cold War Two tensions remain the biggest risks to markets and the economy, increasing the likelihood of ...

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 ...

BY RICK FOX, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, FOX IV TECHNOLOGIES, AND MEMBER, MHI BOARD OF GOVERNORS   AT FIRST, I didn’t see the value of trade associations. Early in my career, a colleague invited me to join him at a trade association meeting. I was dubious, but he insisted that I would learn a great deal and quickly understand how a ...

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. ...