Terrell
How do you see Material Handling Distribution Operations in the next 10 years ?
What do you see yourself in the next 10 years ? #education A
2 answers
G. Mark Stewart
G. Mark’s Answer
I spoke to my sister, who is an engineer in this particular field. She described what they did. I also worked on a project for automating plant operations using various computer tracking techniques. The bottom line is that it will be entirely roboticized. Look at pictures of the inside of the Amazon warehouses. See the video on how the material is sent automatically to drones for delivery by the robot mini-plane. I believe the test be is in the UK, possibly around Surrey. Now with AI and Machine Learning, the robots will be able intelligently decide how to handle novel packages. Essentially all that will be left for human staff would be to teach the robots when necessary and provide maintenance. AI will also be able to do predictive preventative maintenance and minimize the number of staff required to monitor the system. Materials handling engineers will be predominantly maintenance techs and AI and ML engineers. Reprogramming the units for new products will also be minimized, and the machines will gradually build up a Big Data resource to allow it learn about a new product's characteristics autonomously. Voice interfaces and data interfaces to the system will allow it to request its own maintenance, most likely before an actual failure.
This will make "working in a warehouse" a truly high-skill and most likely very high-paid occupation. And what an individual learns on this job will be applicable to a tremendous number of other fields.
TLAUREN TLAUREN
TLAUREN’s Answer
“Digital transformation is now the overriding priority for most manufacturers and retailers, with the adoption of digital technologies aimed to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the shorter term while providing the opportunity to either disrupt their market segment or be resilient to others that may try, “wrote Ellis.
Prediction 1: By the end of 2021, half of all manufacturing supply chains will have invested in supply chain resiliency and artificial intelligence, resulting in productivity improvements of 15%;
Prediction 2: By 2022, firms will dedicate 35% of their logistics business process outsourcing services budget to process automation, focusing on order, inventory, and shipment tracking;
Prediction 3: By the end of 2020, half of all large manufacturers will have automated supplier and spend data analysis, resulting in a 15% procurement productivity gain;
Prediction 4: By 2023, supply chain micro-application extensions will account for one-third of all new technology investments in manufacturing and retail;
Prediction 5: By 2023, 65% of warehousing activities will use robots and situational data analytics to enable storage optimization, increasing capacity by over 20% and cutting work order processing time in half;
Prediction 6: To lessen stress on the service supply chain, by 2023, 25% of OEMs will leverage blockchain to source spare parts, improving the accuracy of usable parts by 60% and lowering expedite costs by 45%;
Prediction 7: By 2023, 60% of G2000 manufacturers will invest in AI-infused robotic process automation to automate tasks through increased productivity and address supply chain skills deficit;
Prediction 8: By 2024, 75% of all consumer-facing companies will have developed the ability to customize at scale within their supply chains, resulting in, on average, a 2–3 percentage point increase in market share;
Prediction 9: By 2022, the number of companies offering flexible warehousing options will have increased by 50%, which can help address seasonal demand challenges and lower fixed overhead costs by over 20%; and
Prediction 10: By 2024, for transparency and efficiency, 40% of customs agencies will join private blockchain and API-powered trade platform ecosystems to achieve a 50% increase in cross-border compliance.
Ellis said in an interview that the report’s overarching theme of digital transformation truly resonates with many of the key trends and themes in today’s supply chain, in the form of things like machine learning, AI, and blockchain, among others.
TLAUREN recommends the following next steps: