FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Warehousing revolution: Moving your supply chain forward
DETAILS: Warehousing has changed more in the past five years than in the previous 70 years. Chris Riemann and A.K. Schultz discussed the role of automation in this warehousing revolution and how organizations can move their supply chains forward during this e-commerce boom and COVID pandemic.
SPEAKER: Riemann, managing director of Deloitte Consulting
BIO: Riemann is the managing director of retail and consumer product for Deloitte Consulting. He has more than 35 years of experience in supply chain operations in both consulting and industry. He also has extensive experience in RFID for retail and consumer product companies encompassing manufacturing, distribution and store operations.
SPEAKER: Schultz, co-founder and CEO of SVT Robotics
BIO: Schultz co-founded SVT Robotics in 2018. His company is revolutionizing robot deployments in warehousing and manufacturing industries. SVT’s software platform enables companies to easily connect their enterprise systems to any robot or automation in a fraction of the time, empowering them to be highly competitive within the marketplace.
KEY QUOTES FROM RIEMANN:
“Over the past five years warehousing has changed more than in the past 35 years and possibly the 35 years before that.”
On automation explosion: “I think there are several factors that are influencing this and one is it’s a labor shortage. I think the other one is the one- to two-day shipping expectations. When I first started, if you would order something … it was typically five to seven business days. Now you order something on your smartphone and you expect it there the next day, so picking and shipping need to happen a lot quicker.”
The COVID impact on supply chain: “COVID has accelerated online ordering 10 years in 10 months. Where online ordering was big before COVID, it’s now expanded into other areas — you are starting to see more stores, restaurants and supermarkets really have to pick up the pace on online ordering.”