Why Modex Matters More This Year

When it comes to really brand new technology, you do, though, have to ask yourself, can we afford to fail? And if we're talking about setting up a new greenfield centrally, see that's really the core of your supply chain. Note you cannot afford to fail. But we're running a project for a retail customer right now, for microphol film and for dark stores, and that customer runs hundreds of stores across the nation.

Can we put automation and brand your automation into a handful of stores, three stores, maybe five stores? Yes we can, right And if they fail, yes, there is a risk you're losing investment. But your business is going to continue to operate and you very much have the chance to beat out all your competition. Hello and welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain, where me bock experts from around the world unpack the real stories, strategies, insights and innovations shaping the future of supply chain.

I'm your host, Ellen Wood. Logiemount has come to a and the supply chain and logistics industry is preparing for another week of bold announcements, impressive demonstrations, and big conversations about the future of operations. With Modex just around the corner. Modex has become one of the largest stages for this innovation.

Every two years, thousands of supply chain leaders walk the floor in Atlanta to see the latest developments in automation, robotics, AI, and warehouse technology. But as exciting as the technology can be, the real challenge for many organizations isn't discovering innovation. It's figuring out what actually works, what technologies are ready for real world operations, what solutions will scale, and how do leaders translate all of this innovation into meaningful operational improvement.

To explore those questions and to talk about how Meebok is helping attendees navigate the show floor this year, I'm joined today by two of my colleagues you'll get to see at Modex, Bastjan Himmeroterer and Jack Wagner. Gentlemen, Welcome, Hey Ellen, thanks for having on. I think we have a lot of questions coming up, so we're all excited for Modex. Obviously there's a lot happening.

What trends are the two of you watching most closely. I think Modex is a great opportunity for supply chain leaders because there's so many different vendors that are there all of the big players in terms of automation or are not just there but also have you know, demonstrations or live showings of their technologies. So it's a great opportunity to be able to actually see the solutions in person and be able to not only talk to the to the suppliers, but also you know, see them side by side and be able to recognize some of the differences.

And I think also the great thing about Modex is it's not just like the big players, but there's also so many smaller booths that are you know, emerging companies or smaller technologies that are more specific in terms of solutions, so like AI solutions or modeling or things like that, that you can really branch out and go and find a ton of new technologies that can benefit your ear supply chain. Yeah, with over one thousand exhibitors on the show floor, you know you can find those super super niche suppliers and vendors that are going to have very specific technologies for different solutions.

I can also see that for many companies, maybe retailers very specifically, this is extra value this year because many of them are just coming up to a new investment cycle. We have a ton of companies out there, and including a lot of our customers, who went through a heavy investment cycle that was forced up on them during COVID, Right, everybody needed to really boost up their e comm capabilities, go into through omnichannel capabilities, and so when we got into twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five, people were pretty good with their supply chain setups, and we're kind of like improving on what they build upon.

What we're seeing right now is the next investment cycle is coming up, and the next big expansions and the next big green fields are now being designed. So while over the last year or two, many people could have gone to promote permit and modex and just see what's around this year, for many of them, it's more to really see what they will be installing next year and the year after it. That's an interesting point that after COVID, we had this explosion in e commerce, and it was simply out of necessity that companies had to adopt a lot of these types of technologies, and now as it's become a core part of their business with the e commerce and dealing with returns and I mean, it's it's just table stakes at this point.

That's how logistics needs to happen. And it's interesting that you point out that this is this is the cycle that they're going to be in, and that this will be a big year. I hope you're right. Yeah, we're basically five years after this, after this big wave.

Yeah. So yeah, And I think, like Fashion was saying, I think a lot of the you know clients that we are working with now have a much more specific target when they're looking at technologies. I think before you Know we were we were doing a lot more of just you showing what's out there and kind of doing more concept design, And now I think a lot of the projects that we're doing are much more about that next step and and and really coming in and having a specific solution that they're looking for and and uh and wanting to get those next steps and implementation.

What trends are you personally watching most closely? When I went over the shop floor last year, what stood out to me is that there were so many new names, but a lot of them were really around three technologies. So we saw a lot of auto store style systems that all looked very much the same trying to really kind of jump on the big success crain of train of that of that technology. We saw the same with reclimbing robots, right, you couldn't even count how many reclimbing robots they were on the shop floor last year.

And then the third one was pellet fourway shutouts. They all looked very much the same, very similar, very much trying to really get into the market and gain market share on that technology. So this year, I'm really interested to see these players still there. Did they all make it through the year?

Right? Did more more additional players show up to further delude kind of like the vendor scope over there, or does it some more harmonized? Soell for me, like for these for these three technologies which make up just a big share, right, the cube storage, the red climbing ones. And then tell at fallway shot us from an automation standpoint, how does that vendor set up look like this year?

That's that's one of the topics that all close to be looking at. And do we see the next big thing that nobody has been expecting? Right? Is there like an actual true invention this year or is it more trying to enter the market.

That's already been invented, you know. To Bastian's point, I think last year there was a lot of kind of he was saying, what the auto store kind of twins or similar solutions, And I think what I'm interested in seeing is the differentiators between these different vendors. I think, you know, we have another year that there's more use cases and more examples that they can kind of point to of these solutions. And I think that that's interesting to me to see, you know, how where are they trying to fit themselves into the market and if they're finding you know, trying to I guess, attach themselves to you know, one industry or or if they're trying to play kind of all across.

So I think there's I think there's that kind of aspect that I'm I'm interested in seeing. Yeah, I think specialization could be a way that these multiple players in each of these spaces find a way to differentiate themselves and still retain part of that market share through specialization by industry or industry vertical for their clients. So a lot of people walk around Modex and as you said, there's all of these moving parts. The technology is just amazing to be able to watch.

It's inspiring, but when it comes to implementation, a lot of times they struggle with getting that project over the finish line. What are some of the most common pitfall that you see when clients are trying to implement these large technological systems. I think one of the most common pitfalls that we see is, you know, especially when you go to modex, all these different solutions and like you see the mini auto store and the and the ASRS solutions and all the AGVs on the floor, and it's very easy to kind of get really excited about all these cool technologies that you can implement.

And we see supply chain leaders in our projects that are, hey, we want AGVs and and they approach the problem a little bit differently than I think that we typically do with our projects. And what I mean by that is they're they're not starting with the problem. They're starting with we want AGVs, So how do we get AGVs? But the the real way to kind of make sure that these technologies are going to be beneficial and successful and that there's going to be the right rois to start with the problem and to find what are the what do we need within you know, within our buildings that uh that these solutions can can help us with.

And and then once you define, I think it's it's then looking at what are the the kind of the key things we're trying to solve. Is it are we trying to densify our storage? Are we trying to you know there is it purely to you know, a better ro o I or is it is there you know, safety concerns with the material that we're moving things like that that I think, uh, you know, when you're looking at all these cool technologies, you can't forget the problem that you're trying to solve, and that needs to be the first thing that you define, or you're never really going to be able to get to, uh that implementation phase or you're going to struggle to get there because you're not starting in the right place.

Yeah, I can really uh really double down on what Jack said here. Right, So if you go to a trade fair, you're basically going to just a fashion show, right, just for technology. Right, So this but this is not the real world. What you see, oh there looks great, looks very shiny.

It's the same as when you're going to YouTube and see those things. Right, everything looks really great, but you're in an extremely controlled environment that's not the real world. So something that looks really awesome and performs really well on the shop floor may work really well for you, but it's not an automatism. Okay, Yeah, I can maybe just keep adding on to that that, Like in a you know, current projects that I'm working on, we've run through kind of that cycle of the initial phase or the initial start was, hey, we want to automate because almost for automation, and we've had to work with the client to kind of start back and start fresh.

And the answer still can be automation, but how we get there really changes. You know, there's so many different AGVs and different AMR styles and and things that it's it's important to again to not do the solution in the wrong order to be able to get to the right the right automation or right technology for your uh specific issue. Yeah. When I was talking about this about logimat with our colleague Sasha in Germany, he called it technology tourism, and I really liked that that.

You know, when you're going to these trade shows, you know, a fashion show, technology tourism, whatever word you use to describe it, it's the it's the flashing lights, it's it's the advertising. It's meant to distract but attract you. And if you're if you're distracted from the reason that you're there in the first place, the reason you're considering these things, then you can get really caught up in the the excitement and the flashiness of these solutions. They are very, very interesting, but that's to your point.

They this is not reality. The show floor is not the environment where this will be implemented, and it does give one a false sense of just being the right solutions simply because it is working smoothly right in front of you on the show floor. So that that's an interesting and interesting perspective. So how would you balance all of that exciting new technology with those real world complexities of operations.

I think again, it's approaching with understanding what it is that you're ultimately trying to solve. I think it's it's coming in knowing the kind of the parameters and some of the key information for what you're looking for, so that when you get into the show floor, you uh, you can have the right questions to ask these different vendors and be able to differentiate between the people we're talking to there. I think that there's a lot of requirements that we see with clients when you're trying to do an automation project that can kind of bog down or slow the startup of these initial phases.

When it comes to you know, having the right data and things like that, I think I think understanding what's what needs to be done to even define, you know, what the technology is going to be is important. Especially if it comes to to really brand new technology. A lot of customers are there are already somewhat careful, right and many of our customers are telling us whatever we're building in we do not want to be the guinea pig. We want to see several references in this market, in our industry.

And you do have to balance this a little bit, right, because if if you're going to conservative, A, we know, no new technology would ever be invented because nobody would ever want to be the first, and B you also want to make sure that your competitors are not running away from you. That is the real risk. Now when it comes to really brand new technology, you do, though have to ask yourself, can we afford to fail? And if we're talking about you know, setting up a new Greenfield centrally.

See that's really the core of your supply chain. Note, you cannot afford to fail. But we're running a project for a retail customer right now for micro fulfilment for dark stores, and that customer runs hundreds of stores across the nation. Can we put automation and bring new automation into a handful of stores, three stores, maybe five stores?

Yes we can, right And if they fail, yes, there is a risk you're losing investment. But your business is going to continue to operate and you very much have the chance to beat out all your competition with something very exciting and customer attracting. So just balance out where do you want to be on the leading edge or bleeding edge with brand new stuff that's coming out. And if you do feel like you're ready to take that risk, make sure it's a risk that you can control.

Do it in a small portion of your supply chain, or do it in the lab, right if you can afford to have one in a small and scale and controlled environment before you actually roll it out. Yeah, I've noticed that phased rollouts have become much more popular when it comes to these types of implementations just because of that risk because of that risk of continuity within the business and having a small test environment to be able to run that and verify and get proof of concept prior to a full scale implementation.

Yeah, and a lot of these tests lab environments. You know, customers actually buy the shop fraw technology, right, So if you see something that you like, you could literally ask the people if they're willing to tell that specific model after the after the show is over to them, because chances are they want to show something different next year and have no more use for it, and you get it for a penny on the dollar. So that is a real possibility and many people are actually doing that.

So we've established that the show floor can be overwhelming and flashy and exciting. What advice would you give someone to try who is trying to get their the most value for their time at the event. The first thing is just having a plan when going to a show like Modex. When you are going to you know, these large convention centers full of thousands of vendors, it's important to know where you need to go, who you need to talk to, and what are the key questions that you are going to ask these these different vendors we at Meebok offer a concierge service for our different clients where we will do a lot of that pre work for you, so we will help you define the problem that you're trying to solve and then pre select vendors that will take you to and set up a conversation with them prior to the show so that they know you're coming.

You're walking with us and cut out a lot of the noise and a lot of the wandering around on the show for and get you directly to the vendor that you need to speak with. And it really is something that we've done now a couple of years in a row and helped a lot of our clients to be able to really efficiently and effectively go to these shows and get the answers that they need and talk to the vendors that they need to talk to and lead to successful projects and successful implementations.

I love the concierge service that we have at these trade shows because it is such a compacted version of what it is that we do every day anyway. You know, we're we're a consultancy, we're we're advisors, and so we when we approach a trade show environment, this is just like a mini Knebok experience where you know, well, we'll start with your business requirements, you know, and then we select the vendors that are the best fit for what it is that you're trying to do, and then enable those conversations so that you know you're not getting bored by the same sales pitch that every other person in a line at this booth has gotten all day.

You're able to elevate that conversation that much faster because it is very targeted, it is very specific to exactly what you're trying to achieve, and it just allows us to be able to demonstrate that in real time on the floor because everybody's there, everybody's already there. We don't have to do along RFP process, We don't have to have multiple vendors come in and give demonstrations. It just happens all right there while you're while you're on the show floor. So it's it's really exciting for us, but I think it's also and a really exciting and interesting way for our clients or our prospects or or anybody else who would like to you know, have this service from me back, you know, participate in it.

At Modex, I think just also to add like some of the real experiences of the concierge, because I we've had a variety of clients and what they're looking for, so it's it's not you know, I think we've had experience where a client came in and they had one technology that they really wanted to look at, and so we said, Okay, we're going to take you to these these three different vendors that offer that particular solution, but we also know that this this other type of solution can solve your problem as well.

So we've got two other ones that we want to take you to. Well, we started with one of the ones that they had pre selected, and then we went to one of the ones that we had kind of recommended, and and they said, don't take us to the old solution. We want to just see what you guys have to recommend because we weren't even aware that this is a technology or an automation that's that's out there. So that's that's one use case.

But also another use case for the concierge is someone that's coming in and saying, hey, I I just I don't know what automation like. It's brand new. We're very manual solutions so far, but we want to do these, uh you know, take that next step in our supply chain, show us, show us the big players, show us, let us have those conversations so we can ask the questions because we just don't know. So we've had that experience as well.

I think that you know, you know, the concierge is meant to be a way to cut out the or make it very direct for you to talk to the right person on this show and whether it's it's a one solution or you just want to see what's out there, I think that we have that capability to make that that happen for the. For what would be the one takeaway you hope supply chain leaders leave with after experiencing this, this concierge service and the show overall. I think the biggest takeaway is that the clients that experienced the concierge are going to feel that they've had a successful modex if if it was efficient and they got the answers that they needed and they didn't waste time talking to, you know, the the initial person at the at the front of the booth that's just trying to get your information, scan your tag, but they have the real, real conversations that led to immediate results for them that they can take their projects or to that next step very quickly.

So I think, yeah, the big message is uh efficiency, and I guess that is the big messages efficient show that you got in, got them the information you needed, and were able to leave with the answers. I think, you know, perhaps beyond efficiency, it's just you know, was was this show successful because you found what you were looking for? You know, if you wandered the floor for four days or even just two days and looking around. There's three different hauls at Modex this year, So if you didn't find what you're looking for, then that feels like a wasted effort.

So I agree, that's jan. What do you think what do you hope supply chain leaders will leave with after experiencing mode X in all its grandeur? Yeah? Same thing, right?

And you really got to be prepared, right if you have if you have an actual prora, if you have nothing going on, you just want to see fancy things cool, but you can just as well do this on YouTube, right, But if you have projects coming up, if you have investment decisions that you need to be doing. You need to have a plan. You'll be x times more efficient if if you approach it and you are pre pay art and the people that you are talking with know that you are coming, they will be waiting there for you and then know which topics you have in mind.

That's the right way to approach the trade for if you actually have stuff that you need to get out of it. All that said, we certainly want to encourage our listeners to attend Modex. It remains one of the most important industry events for seeing where supply chain technology is heading. But as we just heard, the real value of an event like this isn't just discovering the newest and latest and greatest technology.

It's understanding how that technology fits into the broader operational landscape. It's about separating promising concepts from proven solutions. It's about understanding where automation, software and robotics can truly deliver value, and it's about translating innovation into supply chains that actually perform in the real world. So if you're attending modex this year, we encourage you to include Meebok on your agenda.

Our team is available throughout the show to help attendees interpret what they're seeing on the floor, connecting emerging technologies with real operational strategies, and you can learn more about the event at modexshow dot com. If you would like to connect with our team, including Jack, who is heading up the concierge service ahead of the show, feel free to reach out and schedule time with us during that week. And thanks again for listening to Speaking of Supply Chain. You've been listening to Speaking of Supply Chain a meboch podcast.

Keep connected with us by subscribing to the show in your favorite podcast player. If you like what you've heard, please rate the show that helps us to keep delivering the latest in supply chain information. Thanks for listening, until next time.