Modex 2018: Positive vibes abound

If you’re planning on making the trip to Atlanta for Modex (April 9-12), there’s a pretty good chance you’re doing so with a spring in your step.

By all reports, the majority of the U.S. leading economic indicators are pointing to a fairly robust year, as manufacturing is growing; consumer confidence continues to climb; and the National Retail Federation just projected 2018 retail sales to head up 3.8% to 4.4%, adding that e-commerce sales are projected to jump up 10% to 12% during the next 12 months.

And, when you add in the findings of our recently concluded “2018 Warehouse and DC Equipment Survey (Industry Outlook),” conducted on behalf of Modern by Peerless Research Group (PRG), there’s even more reason to believe that this edition of Modex should be buzzing with fruitful activity.

“As we put context around the data, it became clear that the high confidence in the economy appears to have eased reluctance when it comes to investing in materials handling equipment and systems,” says editor at large Roberto Michel, the author of the report that we will share in our next issue.

Just a quick glance at some of the high-level findings really tells the broader story. For example, this year only 29% of respondents said they’re taking a “wait-and-see” approach on spending given the current state of the economy, down from 35% in early 2017—and the lowest measure for this question in four years.

On the very top line, 42% of Modern reader respondents indicated they’re “proceeding with investment” this year, up a healthy 7% from last year. But of more importance, the investment outlook in some of the newer technologies—like robotics and mobile robotics—is trending up at a healthy clip, signally that more operations are willing to give innovation a try, especially in the face of the growing labor issue.

“When you combine the healthy economic indicators, a tighter labor market and the unrelenting operational pressures around e-commerce fulfillment, you find that many operations are more than willing to move forward with focused investments in automation to help address this specific challenges,” says Michel.

However, if these operational pressures are keeping you back at your facility, no problem. The issue you’re holding right now features 23 pages containing more than 100 products that will be featured at this year’s Modex—the broadest pre-show collection available. But that’s just scratching the surface of our coverage.

Modern will once again be producing the official Modex Show Daily during the event, with print editions being distributed Monday thru Wednesday at the entrance to the show and online editions blasting the entire week to your inbox if you can’t make the trip.

We’ll have a force of eight editors on the ground to produce the Daily, covering more than 40 press conferences and dozens of booth visits—delivering, by far, the most comprehensive show coverage available in the market.