Articles » The New Warehouse

Warehouse Automation Has Raised the Technical Ceiling. What About the Brownfield Floor?

Before a warehouse introduces its first robots, it needs to establish how the operation currently works and what makes sense to automate. An apparent picking bottleneck might originate in replenishment, misplaced stock or exceptions that never appear properly in the data. By the time the operator has identified a suitable application, checked its systems and building and planned installation around live orders, considerable work may already have taken place. Very little of that preparation is visible in a photograph of the finished installation. Yet it may explain why the second investment feels quite different from the first. I think of

By Cecilia George|November 5th, 2026|Automation, robotics|0 Comments

Shared Autonomy Brings Human Judgment to Autonomous Forklifts

Warehouse leaders are no longer debating whether automation belongs in the operation. According to Arshan Poursohi, CEO and co-founder of Third Wave Automation, the conversation has moved on. “The question is almost never ‘should we automate?’ Everyone has already answered that.” What he hears instead is, “Where do we start?” And beneath that is another concern: “Is our facility even the kind of place where this works?” Automation looks flawless on a demo floor. The real test happens when the routine breaks down: a pallet blocking an aisle, an oversized load, or a loose shrink wrap. In autonomy, those

By Mike Huff|October 16th, 2026|Automation, Forklifts, robotics|1 Comment

Why Warehouse Technology Companies Increasingly Need Logistics People

Warehouse automation may dominate industry headlines, but Prologis Research estimates that only around 30% of modern logistics space globally incorporated some form of automation in 2025. More advanced fixed systems remain much rarer, with automated storage and retrieval systems present in just 3% to 5% of warehouses. Turning the remaining opportunity into working systems will require a workforce the industry does not yet have at scale. When Locus Robotics chief executive Rick Faulk tells the company’s origin story, he begins with a warehouse problem. Quiet Logistics, the 3PL from which Locus emerged, had automated its operation with Kiva robots. After

By Cecilia George|September 24th, 2026|Blog, Space for Thought|3 Comments

Big Joe Expands Autonomous Material Movement and Simplifies Adoption

For 3PLs and manufacturers, some of the best opportunities for automation may also be the least complicated. Moving pallets from receiving to storage, transporting components to production, feeding staging areas, and hauling material across a facility are necessary tasks. Still, they can also consume valuable labor without requiring much human decision-making. The AP44 Lets Operations Scale Autonomy Task by Task Big Joe Autonomous Solutions is targeting these workflows with four new vehicles. First, the AP44 autonomous pallet truck, ATC100 autonomous tugger, ASC40 autonomous stacker, and ACV40 autonomous three-wheel forklift. At the center of the lineup is the AP44. It

By Mike Huff|September 4th, 2026|Automation, Continuous Improvement, Forklifts, Material Handling|0 Comments

The First 100 Feet: Where Most Warehouse Delays Begin

This guest post was submitted by Chris Thompson of FMH Conveyors. Most warehouse delays start at the dock rather than in storage aisles or picking zones. The first 100 feet, starting at the trailer nose and continuing to the point where inventory enters the system-directed flow, creates friction that ripples through the downstream process. When teams struggle with dock scheduling, staging discipline, labor handoffs, and equipment flow, they are off schedule before the first ticket of the day prints. High-performing facilities treat those first few steps as a critical transition zone by standardizing truck turnaround expectations, designing staging

By Mike Huff|August 27th, 2026|Space for Thought|1 Comment

Stop Racking Up Costs: Transforming Warehouse Storage Health with Dexory

One of my first jobs in warehousing wasn't a glamorous one. I would get lifted by a forklift in a cage and manually count inventory on the upper levels. What made this particularly unpleasant was doing this in the freezer and getting blasted by the chillers. I wasn't just counting up there; I was finding damaged pallets, identifying risks, locating loose product, and, in hindsight, building character. The higher the racking goes, the harder it is to see what's happening from the floor. For instance, a damaged pallet creates problems across safety, inventory, labor, compliance, and customer service. Floor

By Mike Huff|August 13th, 2026|Continuous Improvement|0 Comments