Board cases for warehouse automation usually stop at labor inside the four walls. The cost that moves is often outside them. A partially automated building that creates a new bottleneck does not only idle pickers. It produces detention, missed pickups, redeliveries and expedited freight. Those charges rarely appear in the model sold upstairs. The pressure is not theoretical. A Descartes study of 1,000 supply chain and logistics decision-makers found that 76% reported notable

# Seasonal Hiring Gaps Push Warehouses Toward Automation According to ManpowerGroup's 2025 Talent Shortage Survey, 77 percent of Asia-Pacific employers report difficulty filling positions, the highest rate of any global region, while a rece...

Distribution centers operating under tight e-commerce delivery windows are facing a structural limit on throughput. As third-party logistics providers rapidly expand capacity, the operational bottleneck has shifted from physical space to th...

Regional distributors can absorb rising order volumes only for so long before warehouse processes begin to restrict the wider supply chain. The warning signs are often gradual: longer picking routes, inconsistent inventory information, growing spreadsheet use and more time spent coordinating warehouse, purchasing and sales teams. These problems extend beyond the distribution centre. Picking delays affect inventory availability, order accuracy, carrier cut-off times and custom

Third-party logistics providers rolling out collaborative palletizing robots are discovering that capital expense is only half the transition cost. The operational challenge lies in retraining warehouse associates accustomed to repetitive m...

The rush to deploy artificial intelligence in warehousing has shifted from generative software tools to physical applications. Sensor-connected intralogistics systems are generating massive data streams on the packaging line, offering immed...

Warehouse operators entering peak season are managing a structural problem that seasonal hiring alone cannot solve. The US warehousing and storage sector shed 34,700 jobs year-over-year through mid-2026, according to Bureau of Labor Statist...

Warehouse operators entered the week with developments spanning network expansion, automation, consolidation and an increasingly physical form of supply chain risk. Walmart is considering another enormous fulfillment investment, Ocado has taken its automation platform into a major Asian market, DP World is expanding its warehouse footprint, while the latest attack on Wildberries demonstrates that logistics facilities themselves are becoming strategic targets. Here are seven d

Lithium-ion forklift battery life is measured in cycles, not hours. Here’s why hours-based promises mislead, and a simple formula to calculate real battery lifetime for your operation. The average human life expectancy in the USA is about 687,000 hours. That number is accurate, but it is also completely useless for estimating your individual lifetime. Car makers don’t warrant engines in years of ownership; they warrant them in miles, because a delivery van and a leisure car c

For years, warehouse and logistics teams invested heavily in visibility platforms. The goal was straightforward: know where inventory, containers and shipments are at any given moment. That investment delivered significant improvements, particularly during the supply chain disruptions of recent years. Yet many operators are discovering a frustrating reality. Knowing a problem exists does not necessarily help solve it. A delayed container still needs a receiving slot. A missed

Modern enterprises are not short of data. They are short of usable data. Information sits locked inside multiple warehouses, poorly documented, inconsistently governed and difficult to locate. Analysts waste hours hunting for sources. Data science teams rebuild pipelines that already exist. Compliance officers struggle to prove residency and lineage. The result is slower decisions, higher costs and growing operational risk. ThinkData Works has introduced an automated warehous