Thinking about the future in which our warehouses will need to operate. Part 1 of 2

March 7, 2023 10:26 am

With much conversation about the “warehouse of the future” and the operations that happen inside the walls of those warehouses, I believe it is also important to think about the future in which our warehouses will need to operate.

At WPSS, we have been thinking about the future warehouse from an operational perspective asking ourselves about the problems that might need to be solved in your future warehouse.

I share these thoughts in hopes you may find them useful to your own thinking:

Many facilities run 24/7 now.  As we move forward, we will have to secure alternative energy sources. Will we need to consider back-up energy systems apart from the grid.

Much North American infrastructure is aged. Think about the workarounds our warehouses will need to possess to respond to increasingly compromised highways, railways, and airports while we wait for repairs or the arrival of new construction.

Climate trends show increasing numbers of tornadoes, hurricanes, extremes in precipitation and in temperature; we will need to augment the structures of our current facilities or build new ones.  No doubt, we will need to anticipate new building codes.

The sustainability movement is lobbying for less packaging.  They will probably make some headway, so packaging is bound to change.  We’ve got to think about how this will impact the way bulk products are shipped and the possible new materials used for “boxing”. Innovations in storage have accommodated weight and size – how will we be required to account for the individual items within the boxes, crates, pallets, on up to the truckload? Should this happen, a solution for reducing/minimizing shrinkage could emerge.

Just 2 weeks from now at ProMat, as experts in “advancing efficiency”, we invite you to engage with us about the interior efficiency of your facility.

We look forward to listening.  ~Tom Rogers

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