REINVENTING THE SUPPLY CHAIN: THE FUTURE OF FULFILLMENT VISION STUDY

This Study by Zebra as linked below has many key forecasts and insights that relate to our own vision and roadmap investments.

E-commerce has given way to a dramatic rise in distribution centers  and  warehousing  operations  placing  enormous  pressure on the already scarce supply of skilled labor resources. To counteract the labor concerns, supply chain decision makers are forecasting that automation will offset the shortages. Survey executives  identified  the  most  highly  disruptive  technologies  as drones,  driverless/autonomous  vehicles  and  augmented  reality. Next-generation supply chains will utilize robotics and automation to perform traditionally manual tasks such as picking, sorting,  inspecting,  storing,  handling  and  classifying  products to improve overall efficiency, worker productivity and speed to market.  Some  warehouses  are  turning  to  autonomous  vehicles to bring merchandise to sortation and packing areas. Others are using drones and RFID for inventory management.

The opportunities  are  seemingly  limitless  and  include  wearable technology,  which  enables  truly  hands-free,  multi-modal workflows that result in greater worker efficiency and increased productivity. The market for enterprise wearable devices is expected to skyrocket with projected growth of 75% by 2021.7 Interestingly,  while  supply  chain  executives  have  highlighted key disruptors, they seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach when  it  comes  to  actually  investing.  Indeed,  these  technologies are being implemented more as tests to determine their return on  investment  rather  than  a  full-scale  rollout. Industry  players  also  face  the  challenge  of  managing  these next-generation  technologies  across  the  many  moving  parts  of the supply chain for an effective omnichannel strategy, while implementing them to work seamlessly with existing legacy systems — which is no easy feat. 

https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/zebra_new_ia/en-us/solutions-verticals/vertical-solutions/retail/vision-study/fulfillment-vision-study-report-en-us.pdf