We love research

I don’t have a tattoo, but if I were to consider one it might read: I love research.

While that may sound extreme, research, especially in B2B media, is the single best way to jump in and take the temperature of a specific market on just about any issue or trend—and gather that feedback from the biggest sampling of readers available over a given period of time.

With a research blast, we gather hundreds of opinions and experiences from end users—your peers—in an effort to assess and measure where a broader issue or trend stands in reality.

What portion of Modern readers are actually investing in robotics and advanced automation? Hey, you’re about to find out. And keep in mind that what we often find through research can be sobering—what you think is happening isn’t really happening at the same pace you thought. Research is a reality check, a leveling mechanism that tells the story in a few charts.

Well, if you love research as much as I do, you’re going to flip over the March issue. This month, we put context around three separate research projects that our Peerless Research Group (PRG) had out in the field over the past couple months.

Executive editor Bob Trebilcock digs into the findings of our first-ever PRG survey of senior-level supply chain professionals on employee satisfaction. On page 26, senior editor Roberto Michel shares results of our long-standing Outlook Survey that reveals the current level of automation and software investment. And on page 56, editor at large Gary Forger shares the findings of our relatively new MRO Best Practices Survey that puts the current state of technical preparedness for technical jobs in warehouses/DCs into perspective.

We would like to extend a hearty thank you to Simon Rakosi, co-founder and CEO of Butterfly.ai, a developer of employee engagement tools to reduce turnover and improve employee well-being, for his insight and inspiration to launch the survey. The goal is to identify areas of focus for savvy managers who want to improve retention rates in a tight job market.

“The results of this survey were a surprise to me and Simon,” says Trebilcock. “We’ve both read so much about phenomena like quiet quitting. What we found was a remarkably contented bunch. How often do more than 75% of the respondents say they have a good relationship with the boss and think their colleagues are there to help?”

As for the technology tools that workforce needs to stay satisfied, Michel puts context around the high-level findings of our 2024 Outlook Survey, the most comprehensive investment study in the market. While the rapid growth of e-commerce during the pandemic saw off-the-charts investment numbers inside the four walls, he reports that spending has cooled a bit as it’s become more targeted on doing more with the labor force you have.

“We have to keep in mind that most DC operations are still heavily manual,” says Michel. “So, it makes sense that we’re seeing investments in areas like labor management, voice picking, and good-to-person robotics continue to be strong, since they all help drive labor productivity, and don’t necessarily require big upfront expense.”