automation Archives - Material Handling Wholesaler

Episode 597: Making Warehouse Automation More Accessible with iAutomate

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:29:36 +0000

Warehouse automation doesn’t have to be a mystery or a million-dollar risk. In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin chats with Christoph Buchmann, Co-founder and Managing Director of iAutomate, live from ProMat 2025. Together, they explore how iAutomate is bridging the information gap for companies looking to implement automation without the usual guesswork. Christoph shares live insights from the ProMat show floor and discusses the changing landscape of entry-level automation solutions. Whether you’re a small warehouse exploring automation for the first time or an enterprise looking to scale smartly, Christoph’s perspective offers a grounded view on what’s happening and what’s next. Entry-Level Warehouse Automation Is Having a Moment It’s not just the big players looking at automation anymore. According to Christoph, “automation has become more accessible, more available because there are a lot of new technologies and solutions that are just more entry-level.” The shift is evident on both fronts: companies are seeking scalable solutions that can start small and grow, and the iAutomate app is reflecting this trend in real-time. “We can see which technologies are how popular, what’s the frequency of usage… The trend is definitely going towards scalable entry-level automation solutions,” Christoph said. This “crawl-walk-run” approach enables companies to build momentum without incurring massive costs or committing to extensive infrastructure. Accessibility doesn’t stop with the technology itself. iAutomate gives users visibility into “size, capacity, price,” and even helps them validate whether a solution fits their needs, before they ever walk into a demo. From Guesswork to Guided Strategy One of the most significant barriers in automation has always been the answer to a simple question: What does it cost? Christoph put it bluntly: “The answer should not be ‘it depends.’” He likens the experience to configuring a car online—you should be able to get a ballpark number for your automation investment without calling an engineer. That’s the value iAutomate brings to the table. Users can explore viable technologies, narrow down their options, and arrive at ProMat ready to ask more informed questions. “They can now engage at a much more accelerated level,” Christoph explained. Instead of wandering the expo floor overwhelmed, users come prepared with knowledge and intent. This shift benefits solution providers as well. As Christoph noted, “It creates a win-win situation between those looking for automation and those providing it.” Navigating the Realities of Warehouse Automation After Go-Live Despite the excitement surrounding new technology, many companies still face harsh realities after implementation. “They bought automation for the right reasons,” Christoph said, “but we’re really struggling to get the performance out of it.” In some cases, customers feel abandoned post-installation, facing maintenance and troubleshooting challenges on their own. Others are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options available, unsure of what will deliver actual return on investment (ROI). To help with both, iAutomate doesn’t just serve as a validation tool; it also helps foster peer-to-peer connection. “We want to connect people who’ve done automation with those who are trying to do automation,” said Christoph. Looking ahead, he believes that automation will only become increasingly critical. “If you don’t start looking at ways to automate your supply chain now… You might get caught off guard.” From real estate constraints to labor shortages in cold storage, the macroeconomic drivers are intensifying. And iAutomate is betting that innovative, scalable solutions, plus access to trustworthy information, will lead the way. Key Takeaways Listen now to EP 597: Making Warehouse Automation More Accessible with iAutomate

The post Episode 597: Making Warehouse Automation More Accessible with iAutomate appeared first on Material Handling Wholesaler.

Dematic names new Vice President of Americas Software in Atlanta

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 18:04:45 +0000

As part of its continued commitment to strengthening its Americas leadership team, supply chain, and automation solutions provider, Dematic announces the appointment of Sowmya Ananthachary to vice president of Americas software. In this role, she will lead a team of more than 400 professionals responsible for driving Dematic’s software strategy to propel continued success for customers. “With her extensive experience in developing transformative technologies and ability to inspire and lead high-performing teams, Sowmya embodies the innovative spirit that drives our business forward,” says Mike Larsson, President, Dematic, and KION Group Executive Board Member. “Software will continue to grow in importance as the supply chain ecosystem adapts and evolves. Leveraging her expertise, Sowmya will create a vision for this team and our solutions that is deeply rooted in our Project First culture and empower our customers to deliver exceptional results.” Ananthachary brings more than two decades of experience in the supply chain technology sector to her new role at Dematic. Most recently, she served as vice president of product development at Blue Yonder, where she led the development of cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS model for critical supply chain products. These advancements drove significant improvement in Blue Yonder’s warehouse productivity and efficiency for some of the world’s leading logistics providers. “Joining Dematic presents the opportunity to help shape a company that is redefining the future of supply chain innovation through software,” adds Ananthachary. “In today’s dynamic supply chain landscape, software gives customers better visibility and control over their increasingly complex supply chain. I look forward to identifying the right solutions for our customers to help improve productivity and throughput.” Ananthachary earned a Master of Business Administration in computer information systems from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur. She will be based at Dematic’s global headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

The post Dematic names new Vice President of Americas Software in Atlanta appeared first on Material Handling Wholesaler.

KION with NVIDIA and Accenture to optimize Supply Chains with AI-Powered Robots and Digital Twins

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 13:28:43 +0000

KION Group, the Supply Chain Solutions Company, is working with Accenture to optimize supply chains using NVIDIA’s advanced AI and simulation technologies. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the three companies are showcasing1 how clients can both define ideal set-ups for new warehouses and continuously enhance existing facilities with Mega, an NVIDIA Omniverse blueprint for large-scale industrial digital twins. This includes a digital twin powered by physical AI – AI models that embody principles and qualities of the physical world – to improve the performance of intelligent warehouses that operate with automated forklifts, smart cameras and the latest automation and robotics solutions. “At KION, we leverage AI-driven solutions as an integral part of our strategy to optimize our customers’ supply chains and increase their productivity,” said Rob Smith, CEO of KION GROUP AG. “With NVIDIA’s AI leadership and Accenture’s expertise in digital technologies, we are reinventing warehouse automation. Bringing these strong partners together, we are creating a vision for future warehouses that are part of a smart agile system, evolve with the world around them, and can handle nearly any supply chai n challenge. This collaboration underscores our commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of industrial automation to usher in a new era of supply chain efficiency.” “Modernizing supply chains to make them more resilient and agile, with real-time flexibility, is the next digital frontier,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “This collaboration with our long-term client KION and partner NVIDIA will break exciting new ground in not only reinventing the warehouse, but also in raising their performance standards with technology, data and AI, helping our clients operate autonomous, safe supply chains that better serve their customers and consumers, enhance productivity and efficiency and create new value.” “Future warehouses will function like massive autonomous robots, orchestrating fleets of robots within them,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “By integrating Omniverse and Mega into their solutions, KION and Accenture can dramatically accelerate the development of industrial AI and autonomy for the world’s distribution and logistics ecosystem.” Taking Advantage of Digital Twins to Plan Warehouses and Train Robots Today’s warehouses and fulfillment centers combine workers, autonomous vehicles, and fully automated systems. Managing these complex environments requires a delicate balance of precision and adaptability—a challenge compounded by fluctuating demand and shifting inventory needs. Using NVIDIA Omniverse and Mega, KION will be able to provide digital twins of warehouses that allows facility operators to design the most efficient and safe warehouse configuration without interrupting operations for testing. This includes optimizing the number of robots, workers, and automation equipment. The digital twin provides a testing ground for all aspects of warehouse operations, including facility layouts, the behavior of robot fleets, and the optimal number of workers and intelligent vehicles. The digital twin doesn’t stop at simulating and testing configurations. It also trains the warehouse robots to handle changing conditions such as demand, inventory fluctuation and layout changes in the best possible way. Integrated with KION’s warehouse management software, the digital twin assigns tasks like moving goods from buffer zones to storage locations to virtual robots. Powered by advanced AI, the virtual robots plan, execute, and refine these tasks in a continuous loop, simulating and ultimately optimizing real-world operations with infinite scenarios. For the CES showcase, Accenture developed an interactive application that tracks how digital robot fleet and facility planning and testing enhances warehouse key performance indicators, such as throughput, task completion time, safety incidents and error rates. As a next step, the partners are working to integrate the digital twin with a fine-tuned vision language model to capture real time insights from warehouses, reducing the risk of bottlenecks, accidents and other unforeseen events, pairing cameras, robots and NVIDIA NIM, a set of services for deployment of foundation models to edge devices in the warehouse. In essence, the warehouse of the future will create an environment where both human workers and machines can collaborate seamlessly and safely. It predicts, visualizes and adopts to potential issues and generates data-driven insights for operators. This ultimately helps clients design warehouses that are not only more efficient but also more resilient. 1The AI and robotics-powered warehouse is showcased at CES at the Accenture Innovation Hub in Ballroom “F” of The Venetian Convention and Expo Center, 201 Sands Ave, Las Vegas. Please contact jennifer.francis@accenture.com to receive a demonstration.

The post KION with NVIDIA and Accenture to optimize Supply Chains with AI-Powered Robots and Digital Twins appeared first on Material Handling Wholesaler.