Daily Video Recap #2: Ready to Catch Up on What You Missed?

Hooray for High Levels of Engagement!

“We are two days in and it has been great to see such a high level of engagement on the ProMatDX platform,” said Randell Mauricio, our ProMatDX daily recap host. 

MHI President Kevin O’Neill, president of Steele Solutions, Inc., also weighed in on the platform: “What I’d like to say is to all members, whether the sponsors or the attendees. I am excited to see them embrace this technology.” He said that, while he loves the in-person tradeshows, “One of the things we’ve all learned through the pandemic is that there are different ways and opportunities to meet up and do business with people and to have conversations with people and to communicate with people.”

Communication and resiliency were big parts of the keynote today—Beyond COVID-19: Building Supply Chain Resilience Is the Key to Recovery and Preparing for Future Disruption—and some of the highlights are included in this video recap by Mauricio. Also, see the summary and full video link in the dedicated article in this newsletter. 

Mauricio also gave us a sneak peek at some of the Sponsor Showcases, addressing such topics as fast-tracking operations, leveraging magnetic levitation and a trend that is growing exponentially. 

When talking about fast-tracking operations and trends, Christopher Steiner, vice president of development North America, at Dematic, shared that “everything this year is about fulfillment.” He said that COVID has driven different behaviors in how all of us work, shop and buy. When it comes to the supply chain, he said there are three hot topics: micro-fulfillment, mixed full-case fulfillment and dark stores. 

As for magnetic levitation, that is what Beckoff USA is known for. Doug Schuchart, material handling and intralogistics manager at Beckoff USA, said, “This a product that people are still marveled by when they see it because the movers are just millimeters above the base tiles.” No touching means “zero mechanical wear” too, which is a big plus with this technology. 

The trend that is growing exponentially is autonomous mobile robots, and Stefen Nusser, chief product officer, Fetch Robotics, addressed some of the advances there, especially the payloads. “They are capable of moving higher payloads now,” he said, including the autonomous cart transport solutions. These autonomous solutions are helping make workplaces safer and also helping by increasing productivity, he added.

Coming up tomorrow is the unveiling of the 2021 MHI Annual Industry Report: Innovation Driven Resilience. “Do not miss this highly anticipated presentation!” said Mauricio.

To see the full Day 2 video recap, click here.