This Month in Modern: ProMat 2015 is time for sound, thoughtful investment

The early buzz is that ProMat 2015 just may be one of the more active events ever in its 30 years of existence.

By “active” I’m referring to the fact that a record number of booths in Chicago next month will be gussied up to meet a massive amount of attendees who will be there with a specific purpose: sound, thoughtful investment for the future.

According to the findings of our just-concluded 2015 State of Warehouse/DC Equipment Survey, an annual report conducted by Peerless Research Group (PRG) across Modern and its sister publication Logistics Management, readers have thrown away the “feast or famine” rhythm of investment they adhered to during the recession years.

Instead, this year’s report finds that warehouse and DC professionals are now moving to a middle ground that finds them making smarter, more deliberate investments in solutions that position them for long-term growth—and they’re ready to shop their business around.

According to Josh Bond, our associate editor who’s preparing an overview of the report, not only are readers getting “smarter,” but they’re now measuring every investment to make sure the ROI is spot on.

“It’s great to see that readers are better understanding the right levels of technology that they need to support their specific volumes,” says Bond. “We’re seeing plenty of investment in automated fulfillment systems and software to make it more efficient, but we’re also seeing aggressive investment in lift trucks and good, old-fashioned flow rack.”

While nearly 40% of this year’s respondents tell us they’re ready to invest now (up from 19% in 2013), 60% say that they’re actively looking to take their business to a new vendor—yet another data point that implies the floor at ProMat 2015 will be busy.
“Users are looking around, and one can only assume that more innovation will come out of the conversations attendees have with their suppliers at ProMat based on this data,” says research director Judd Aschenbrand.

While the theme of more thoughtful investment runs through our findings, readers also tells us that they’re putting a more balanced variety of systems, software and equipment to work—from sophisticated to conventional—to solve even the most pressing challenges.

A perfect example of this balanced approach unfolds in this month’s System Report. Bond shares with us how The Home Depot has set out to completely restructure its supply chain, creating a network of DCs equally capable of handling store replenishment, direct-to-consumer fulfillment, and store pick-up for online orders.

However, while many retailers are talking about multi-channel distribution centers that fill all types of orders, the retailer has taken a different approach.

“They’ve created a network of fulfillment centers with a singular focus on delivering direct-to-consumer, wherever the consumer might be,” says Bond. “For this story, we focused on an entirely new type of facility at the center of that strategy, a facility that’s not filled with robots, driverless vehicles or drones, but with tried and proven solutions familiar to anyone in the industry.”