Will modular supply chains overtake monoliths? And, if so, why? We asked three experts from Infios to explain.

Don Mabry, SVP Global Trade Solutions:

“Supply-chain transparency is rapidly shifting from a competitive advantage to a regulatory expectation. What was once considered best practice is becoming the minimum standard, as regulators extend their focus beyond border clearance to the full lifecycle of goods. Increasingly, compliance is judged not by how quickly shipments move, but by how confidently organisations can explain where products came from, how they were sourced, what they cost, and why those claims can be trusted.

“This shift is exposing a structural weakness across global trade operations. Many trade processes were built to optimise throughput, not withstand audit-grade scrutiny. Paper documentation, email chains, and spreadsheets may still move goods, but they cannot reliably support multi-tier supplier visibility, cost validation, or origin proof at scale. As enforcement intensifies, the inability to produce accurate, timely, and traceable data is no longer an operational inconvenience – it is a compliance risk.

“At the same time, the physical dynamics of trade are changing. In-transit inventory is on track to surpass on-hand stock in value, effectively turning the ocean into the world’s largest warehouse. Longer transit times, buffer-stock strategies, and geopolitical volatility mean more working capital is tied up between origin and destination. Yet visibility often disappears once goods leave the factory or port, leaving organisations exposed during the most financially significant phase of the journey.

“The implication is clear. Future-ready trade operations will be defined by less-touch execution, automation by default, and data that can be verified rather than inferred. Compliance must be designed into trade processes, not reconstructed after the fact. The ability to prove origin, validate costs, model tariff exposure, and demonstrate compliance on demand will matter as much as speed or service levels.
“Ultimately, the organisations that succeed will not be those that move goods the fastest, but those that can explain – clearly and confidently – how their supply chains stand up to scrutiny. In a transparency-first world, velocity without visibility is no longer an advantage. It is a liability.”

Richard Stewart, EVP, Product & Industry Strategy:

“In 2026 and beyond, logistics will move decisively into a new era of precision and autonomy – powered by artificial intelligence. The question will no longer be whether AI has a role to play, but how deeply it can be embedded into everyday operations and decision-making.

“Clearly defined use cases will emerge as intelligent systems anticipate needs, optimize workflows, and manage complexity quietly in the background. Humans will remain in the loop – where their insight or approval truly adds value. This collaborative model between people and technology will make problem-solving faster, more accurate, and less reactive.

“As AI maturity deepens, pre-built solutions will evolve into configurable platforms that allow organizations to shape bespoke, AI-enabled operations tailored to their unique challenges. Each proven use case will spark new ideas and innovations, as customers begin to imagine and create what’s next.

“The most forward-thinking companies won’t just adopt AI – they’ll design it. And as this transformation continues to unfold, logistics will look increasingly intelligent, resilient, and self-optimizing: systems that learn continuously, adapt seamlessly, and empower humans to focus on higher-value, strategic work.”

Omar Akilah, SVP of Product Strategy:

“In 2026, modular supply chain execution will finally overtake the traditional monolithic platform. The era of 18–36-month implementations is ending, replaced by composable, fast-to-value architectures that let companies plug in capabilities exactly where they’re needed. Instead of ripping out entire stacks, organizations will fix specific pain points with targeted modules that deliver immediate ROI, eliminate shelfware and dramatically reduce transformation risk. Digital transformation will shift from a one-off overhaul to an ongoing operating rhythm – enabling supply chains to adapt faster, innovate with confidence and evolve continuously in real time.”

Peter MacLeod spoke to Ocado’s Andy Ingram-Tedd to hear how cutting-edge live digital twins remove the guesswork from warehouse operations.

Ocado Intelligent Automation (OIA) has never been shy about scale. But in my conversation with Andy Ingram-Tedd, VP of Advanced Technology, he makes the point that scale is not the story. The story is what you do with it. After nearly 25 years at Ocado, he has watched the company grow from a tight early team to a global organisation with thousands of people, and he is still struck by the same internal energy that drove the first deliveries.

“It just never slows down,” he says. “There’s always something happening, there’s always some new adventure, there’s always some new mission.”

That tempo matters because it shapes how OIA, the Ocado Group division that takes its technology to customers worldwide, thinks about automation deployment. Ingram-Tedd is candid about a familiar misconception: that robotics is simply the substitution of people with machines. His view is that a more accurate way to see it is as systems design, and the interplay between humans, software and hardware.
“A lot of people always ask me, you’re developing robots, you’re putting people out of business,” he says. “But we’ve got more people that we employ today than we ever had. We are doing more, and we’re becoming more efficient.”

Simulation, he adds, is the discipline that forces you to treat that interaction seriously.

Simulation vs. Digital Twins

If there is one thread Ingram-Tedd wants readers to take away, it is the distinction between simulation and digital twins, and why the two are often muddled. Simulation, in his definition, is a predictive model used before something exists in the physical world. A digital twin only becomes a digital twin once the warehouse is built and operating, because it is continuously aligned to reality using actual operational data.

Simulation is what you reach for when spreadsheets fail. Basic processes can be approximated with time and motion assumptions. But once you seek high throughput and high utilisation across many moving parts, you need discrete event simulation, modelling countless activities with start points, end points, process times and rules.

“We really do mean a discrete event simulation,” he says. “There are lots of things happening. They have a start point, they have an end point. You can’t just calculate that on a spreadsheet.”

Ocado’s own definitions are straightforward. Simulation is used before a system is built. You load assumptions, including orders, stock, layout, speeds and rules, then you run what-if scenarios to see outcomes and risks. The questions are practical: will this design work, what size should it be, where are the weak points. A digital twin, by contrast, is a digital representation of a real physical system that stays aligned to the live operation using operational data. Its value is decision support during operation, including testing changes safely and understanding what happens if you change something today or tomorrow.

Removing Guess-Work

Ingram-Tedd emphasises that simulation should not be about your best day. It should be about your worst day. That might mean modelling downtime, late inbound vehicles, or labour gaps, either individually or in combination. “We are operators of our own equipment,” he tells me. “We are not guessing. We know what the bad things can happen. They’ve happened to us in the last 25 years!”
Once a site is live, the inputs are no longer assumptions. They are measurements. You can take data from the real warehouse, feed it into the model, and test configuration changes, from item placement strategies to outload timing, pick speeds and resource utilisation. The goal is continuous improvement, driven by evidence rather than instinct.

I ask why does OIA build its own simulation tools. Ingram-Tedd argues that third-party packages are useful, but insufficient for modelling the complexity of Ocado’s grid-based system, where software determines where and when to store, retrieve and sequence stock, while bots navigate above dense storage. “We don’t use a third party and there’s a really important reason for that,” he says. “There isn’t an off-the-shelf simulation package that can do that.”

Ocado has developed its own simulation capability in-house since 2008. A key point, in his telling, is that the software powering simulation is identical to the software that powers the production site. That tighter link between model and reality, he says, supports better design decisions and more confidence before capital is committed.

Just as importantly, simulation is end to end. It does not stop at bot movement. It extends to conveyors, pallets, vehicles, people and robotic pick, because optimisation only makes sense at the level of the whole ecosystem.

“True optimisation only happens when you put all the subsystems and you model them all together,” he says. “Integration brings complexity, and simulation helps you understand the knock-on effect of every design choice.”

Infrastructural Optimisation

The practical value is that simulation turns design questions into testable scenarios. One slide example is the relationship between bot numbers and achievable throughput. Run a range of cases in parallel and you can plot where diminishing returns begin, identifying a sweet spot beyond which additional investment yields little benefit.

That same approach applies to pick stations. OIA’s stations are modular, and simulation can explore how layout changes affect both throughput and the way an operator performs. The aim is to avoid paying for human time while allowing the station to underfeed the operator with work.

In one demonstration clip discussed in the interview, Ingram-Tedd references a picking performance figure that he knows will sound implausible to many readers: 1,072 units per hour on a station. He is quick to caveat that it is not a sustained operating promise. Building a system around peak human performance risks waste if people cannot maintain it, and drives unnecessary investment in upstream resources. A more sensible operating target might be 600 to 700 units per hour, he suggests, still well beyond common industry expectations.

What often breaks automation is not the average case, but the exception: odd products, awkward presentations, or rare failure modes that still occur frequently at high volume. In robotics and automation engineering these are known as corner cases, unusual or extreme situations outside normal operating conditions that must still be handled safely and reliably. “You can’t have robots like this in a live site unless they can do corner cases,” believes Ingram-Tedd.

Future Looks Bright

Beyond grocery, OIA is applying its platform to other verticals. Ingram-Tedd highlights a major project with McKesson in Canada – not yet live at the time of the interview, but not far off – which he describes as a large system in Montreal designed to raise productivity while improving traceability, accountability and security. He argues that pharma distribution shares many traits with grocery, but with stricter compliance requirements, particularly around batch and lot traceability. He hints at significant productivity gains, while noting there are customer-specific adaptations that remain confidential.

He also brought to my attention that mutual exclusivity has ended in the majority of markets where Ocado operates its grocery technology with partners, opening the door for Ocado to bring its evolved product back to some of the world’s most developed e-commerce markets after a period of exclusivity agreements.

Towards the end of the interview, Ingram-Tedd briefly referenced a new picking technology planned for introduction in 2026, which he characterises as a significant step-change. Logistics Business was given an early look at the concept, but details remain under wraps ahead of public launch at MODEX in the Spring. We hope to return to this in a future edition, once OIA is ready to speak about it in full.

For now, his message is consistent. Whether the question is how many bots to deploy, how to design a pick station, or how to integrate the next wave of automation, the differentiator is not a single robot. It is the capability to model complex systems accurately, learn from real operations, and keep improving.

stow, a global supplier of industrial storage solutions representing the racking division of the stow Group, announces its participation in LogiMAT 2026. Taking place from March 24 to 26th at Messe Stuttgart, the event will see stow presenting its full range of racking, shelving, and semi-automated solutions at Hall 3, Booth 3B77. The company will be exhibiting alongside Movu Robotics, member of the stow Group, highlighting the Group’s position as a comprehensive provider from static to fully automated warehouse solutions.

As the demand for efficient warehouse space optimization continues to rise, stow aims to demonstrate why it remains an established and trusted partner for businesses seeking to maximize storage density and operational performance.

Comprehensive Racking Portfolio

The stow pallet racking portfolio provides a comprehensive suite of high-density storage solutions designed to maximize warehouse efficiency and optimize space utilization. Featuring conventional pallet racking, drive-in racking, pallet live storage, high-bay racking, and silo systems, these systems are engineered for flexibility, scalability, and durability.

Whether storing standard pallets, bulky goods, perishable products, or high-value items, racking systems allow warehouses to increase storage density without compromising accessibility or operational safety. With over 45 years of experience and thousands of successful installations worldwide, stow can deliver cutting-edge, trusted storage solutions for modern warehouses.

Semi-Automation Portfolio

stow‘s semi-automation solutions are engineered for businesses that demand performance, flexibility, and scalability without fully committing to full automation. These solutions offer a smart middle ground: significantly improving operational efficiency and warehouse capacity while keeping systems intuitive and adaptable.

In a rapidly changing market, solutions help businesses stay agile, compliant, and ready for the future. These solutions allow businesses to optimize space, lower energy and labor costs, and improve inventory control.

The semi-automated product range of stow features two distinct, high-performance pallet systems designed to optimize storage density and operational speed: the versatile stow Mobile system and the newly upgraded stow Atlas® 4.0, both equipped for ambient, chilled and frozen storage environments.

A key highlight of the exhibition will be the presentation of the latest stow Atlas 4.0. This next-generation pallet shuttle system is designed for high-density storage and features enhanced operational efficiency, superior serviceability, and connectivity options that prepare warehouses for future demands. Operating on a LIFO basis, this autonomous shuttle transports pallets within racking channels, significantly reducing forklift traffic and personnel costs.

This updated version delivers tangible advantages that make a real difference to daily operations: higher operational uptime, lower repair costs, and consistent performance due to reliable engineering.

Racking & Automation Offering

Philip Mylle, CSO of stow Group, emphasized the company’s enduring legacy and forward-looking approach: “stow has been a trusted, valued partner for nearly 50 years already. We are the largest in Europe, but still innovating every year, either in our products, such as the renewed stow Atlas 4.0, or in technologies that grow further alongside us, like Movu Robotics for warehouse automation.”

Visitors to the booth will experience stow’s diverse portfolio, including the newly enhanced stow Atlas® 4.0 pallet shuttle system. The joint presence with Movu Robotics underscores the Group’s ability to support customers at every stage of their growth, from manual operations to fully automated facilities.

“stow Group acts as a one-stop shop for all shelving, racking, semi-automated, and fully automated warehouses with Movu Robotics,” said Jos De Vuyst, CEO of stow Group. “We are continuously expanding, now also with a footprint in the United States in Adairsville, Georgia, where we are building a new 240,000 sq feet racking production site, planned to be operational as of April 2026. The launch of our new factory in the USA also enables us to extend the same exceptional service and dedication to our European customers operating in the United States.”

The exhibition will serve as a platform for stow to connect with logistics professionals, demonstrating how its locally manufactured, high-quality systems can solve complex storage challenges. From standard pallet racking to sophisticated semi-automated systems, stow provides scalable solutions tailored to the evolving needs of the global supply chain.

High-throughput sortation on a small footprint has never been possible – until now. Paul Hamblin spoke to EuroSort’s Gerbrand van Schooneveld about the company’s game-changing E-Sort, which will launch at LogiMAT in March.

Like most automation, sortation technology has always been about speed, efficiency and accuracy, enabling larger volumes to be processed cost-effectively to meet demanding customer needs.

Amsterdam-based EuroSort will this year celebrate 25 years of achievement in the arena. Its portfolio of Push Tray, Split Tray, Cross Tray and Push Bar sorters is established at over 500 global sites, and the company boasts a large North American presence and an office in Spain to add to its Dutch core, staffed by over 200 employees. Meanwhile, EuroSort’s in-house integrator DistriSort supplies solutions to end customers while EuroSort itself supplies many of the big European integrators.

EuroSort Technical Strategic Sales Manager Gerbrand van Schooneveld has a dual role, overseeing the Poland and Baltics region in addition to supporting the company’s other sales managers with technical aspects of the sales process. The duality assists the customer in making the right choices for their business and ensuring that the best EuroSort concepts to meet their needs are selected.

Quarter-century of delivery

“Our focus has always been consistent over 25 years,” he reflects. “It’s about high-throughput replenishment and sorting solutions to meet the customer’s needs as closely as possible.”

The dazzling growth of e-commerce has re-modelled the needs of logistics providers, motivating EuroSort engineers to seek innovative solutions to meet those needs.

“E-commerce sortation requires special handling because you are dealing with relatively small orders,” he explains. “To do this effectively, that means you need a large sorter with a high number of exits to enable cost-efficient wave picking – and in traditional sorting, if you have a lot of exits, you need a large footprint to accommodate those exits. So, our customers asked us to find ways to reduce that large and expensive footprint.”

To meet this need, EuroSort ingenuity first created the Chute Pitch Reducer, a simple yet effective idea which enabled narrower chutes thanks to the addition of doors which helped to control items at exit routes and ensure they were not mis-sorted. It reduced the width of the chute for push trays and cross tray sorters by 30%.

“But we wanted to create more exits on a smaller footprint, and still provide that vital increased throughput,” Gerbrand (pictured, below) continues.

LogiMAT launch

The result will be unveiled at LogiMAT at the end of March 2026. Called E-Sort, the company says it can increase the number of exits in a system by 70%, with the double wins of increasing throughput and a much-reduced footprint.

It achieves these aims by combining a put wall with a loop sorter.

“What we have now done is to connect a high-throughput loop sorter to a Smart Wall concept,” he explains. “And the number of exits can be multiplied within a small footprint – for example, on a 3m space we can create almost 100 exits.”

Crucially, the E-Sort concept is modular, which makes it both scalable and cost-effective. Versatility is built in, with the number of exits configurable to the customer. It’s for this reason that the product is squarely aimed at entry-level and medium-sized e-commerce customers as well as the traditional larger players. “We see a lot of growth for E-Sort with customers using semi-automated or fully manual put walls,” he reveals.

The modularity enables each system to be assimilated appropriately with the sortation process preferred by the customer.

“The customer might have a wide range of SKUs, from very small to much larger, and those bigger items would need correspondingly bigger pockets in the put wall,” he points out. “We therefore create the put wall based on those demands. For instance, a half-metre wall might accommodate eight exits, but one requiring larger parcels or items might reduce to four or five larger pockets.”

Another key deliverable for E-Sort is omnichannel suitability.

“The great thing is that we can combine the E-Sort with a conventional sorter for bricks-and-mortar store replenishment so that you can execute both e-commerce, shop replenishment and returns on the same machine. This is the first solution on the market that allows e‑commerce, store replenishment and returns to run on the same machine.”

Retail and e-commerce differences

As a sortation expert how would he describe the differences between e-commerce and ‘standard’ retail sorting procedures?

“There are two main areas to consider,” he replies. “The first is order size. With shop replenishment, you might be looking at 40 to 50 items per order, a big picking wave in a single order, and a fairly efficient process. With e-commerce you are likely to be looking at much smaller orders, perhaps one to five items for a single customer, all needing to be packaged and labelled.

“Then you will have different packaging and labelling needs to suit each order. So the sortation solution needs to provide for that. The E-Sort provides two ways of doing this: the first by packing directly at the sorter exit, with a packing table and packing materials adjacent to it. The second is via a mobile put wall, mounted on a trolley or a cart, kept away from the packing area and moved there when it is full. Different customers have different preferences – it’s their call on how they want to do it and we’re ready for both.”

The specifications of the E-Sort make it appropriate for both established large-scale needs as well as those of entry-level customers. Weight limit is 5kg, dimensions are 400mm x 600mm x 250mm.

Given the versatility, how does he work with a new customer to determine the right concept for them?

“I’d say to you, give me current figures, what’s your throughput, how many orders are you looking to process per day, how many operators do you need for your picking? If I know your annual volumes and the number of operators you have, I can explore ways for you to save costs on your picking, and move many more items, all in a small footprint.”

As well as the modularity and component standardisation of the technology, he also highlights its ease of use. “It is simple technology, made for easy and quick maintenance. Reliability and maintenance costs are very low, and almost everything can be done on site by the customer.”

The explosion in e-commerce volumes is changing the air cargo market. While many long-established airports have robust cargo facilities that leverage technologies, including powered roller beds to safeguard both cargo and workers, the same cannot always be said of the smaller airports gearing up for additional air cargo, or the fast expanding second line locations being set up specifically to support cargo growth.

The challenge is not only the rise in air cargo volumes, but the highly time-sensitive nature of operations. Companies are under pressure to meet tight deadlines and customer expectations, while there are also clearly defined regulatory processes for handling air cargo. An ever-growing volume has led to congestion at major hubs, creating possibilities for smaller airports to expand into air cargo, or shift from handling cargo in warehouses further away from airports.

Bart Sloot (pictured, below), Sales Manager, Air Cargo Equipment, at Joloda Hydraroll, explains the importance of efficient and safe air cargo handling systems at these airports to improve productivity and build a scalable business operation.

Expanding Market

The explosion in e-commerce business from the Far East continues to increase air cargo, with the Airports Council International’s latest dataset revealing air cargo volumes climbed 9.9% year on year to a record 127m tonnes in 2024. This boom is changing the dynamics of the air cargo industry, especially across Europe. In addition to significant new facilities, which include extensive air cargo facilities, existing airports are also ramping up to support this new business.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has clearly defined global standards for air cargo operations, including handling procedures and safety protocols. Yet while there is widespread understanding throughout global aviation about the safe way to process ULDs (Unit Load Devices), such as to meet and manage the demands created by e-commerce, and significant investment from air cargo handlers to increase front line facilities, these often fall short – and demand exceeds capacity.

The result is inevitably slower and reduced throughput, as well as heightened risk of pallet/cargo damage. Efficient ground handling is vital to improve productivity and create the scalability required to maximise profitable growth.

Compliant and Efficient Air Cargo Handling

Effective ground handling is also key to ensuring the safety of both operators and goods. Manual handling of air cargo specifically breaches IATA guidelines, which specify that ULDs should never be moved directly by a forklift truck, for example. They should also never touch the concrete floor to reduce the risk of damage. With the pressures created by increasing volumes, tight turnaround times and the need to ensure a safe working environment, it is vital to use the right material handling equipment and systems. Safe, compliant handling of ULDs requires both powered and unpowered roller beds and a height-adjustable truck dock that uses motorised rollers to accelerate and streamline operations. Installed at the critical interface between the land side and air side, powered roller beds automate the movement of ULDs, improving both the speed and consistency of air cargo transfers. Modular roller beds with powered drive motors can also be retrofitted to existing trailers to propel air cargo continuously and safely between warehouses and trailers.

To manage the movement of air cargo around the warehouse, handlers can use mobile workstations (also known as slave pallets) to allow safe movement. These mobile workstations, which can be moved or removed easily when not in use, allow ULDs to be transported with little effort across the warehouse floor. This minimises the physical strain on workers and speeds up the manual positioning of air cargo units.

Consultative Approach

Adapting to the demands of rapidly escalating e-commerce volumes requires a different approach for air cargo handlers. It requires a risk assessment to ensure processes are undertaken in line with both IATA requirements and, potentially, airline audits. In addition to adopting systems such as roller beds, working with an experienced partner can ensure environments are optimised for efficiency and safety.

This process reduces handling steps and improves process flow, whilst also supporting compliance with health and safety protocols. The consultative approach can also assess the potential for additional innovation, allowing companies to make the best use of busy or constrained warehouse layouts.

It is, of course, operationally possible to handle air cargo at any location. Is it, however, the most efficient approach? Or cost effective? Or scalable? Any processes that place a limit on the volumes that can be handled will inevitably constrain expansion, potentially add workforce risk and challenge regulatory compliance. Ensuring the correct handling equipment and systems are in place is mission critical, underpinning not only safety and efficiency but also compliance with IATA standards.

Adding powered roller beds and mobile workstations to the air cargo handling process can not only transform productivity and throughput, it can also protect staff, equipment and ULDs while providing the foundation for rapid expansion to support new business opportunities.

Edward Hutchison, Managing Director of BITO Storage Systems UK, has announced his retirement, effective at the end of February.

Hutchison has led BITO Storage Systems since 1 January 2001. During his 25-year tenure, the company has grown into one of the UK’s leading providers of innovative storage and intralogistics solutions. As one of the few single-source suppliers in the sector, BITO offers racking, shelving, bins and containers, as well as picking and transportation systems for customers across a wide range of industries.

BITO Storage Systems is the UK subsidiary of BITO-Lagertechnik Bittmann GmbH, the internationally operating manufacturer of storage and order-picking systems. With more than 70,000 customers worldwide, the BITO Group is among Europe’s leaders in its field. Headquartered in Meisenheim, Germany, the family-owned company has been in existence for over 180 years and is guided by strong core values of quality, service and long-term partnership, placing people at the centre of its business philosophy.

BITO established its UK subsidiary in 1999. Following his arrival in January 2001, Hutchison built the business from the ground up, creating a robust and sustainable operating model. This included enabling customers to order via catalogue or online and supplying storage solutions to logistics operations across all UK sectors. Under his leadership, the business achieved consistent growth, recording its highest ever UK sales turnover in 2024 and establishing BITO as a recognised name for innovative storage technology.

In 2016, Hutchison oversaw the company’s relocation to its purpose-built headquarters at Helmsdale Business Park in Nuneaton. The modern facility includes a showroom, experience centre and distribution hub, housing a comprehensive range of intralogistics solutions such as pallet racking and ‘Carton Live’, alongside a wide selection of fast-moving stock items including shelving, bins and containers. The site also provides a high-tech, modern workplace and offers customers the opportunity to experience and test solutions first-hand.

Edward Hutchison commented:

“It has been an incredible 25 years, and I am extremely proud of everything the BITO team has achieved during my time with the company. I would like to thank my colleagues in Nuneaton and the BITO Group management in Germany for their continued support, as well as our suppliers, partners and customers with whom we have delivered many outstanding storage and picking projects over the years. As I approach my 67th birthday, and after more than 50 years in work, I am grateful to be in good health and very much looking forward to the next chapter of my life with my wife and family.”

Winfried Schmuck, CEO of BITO-Lagertechnik Bittmann GmbH, said:

“On behalf of the entire BITO Group, I would like to sincerely thank Edward for his outstanding leadership and significant contribution over the past 25 years. He has built a highly capable and committed team in Nuneaton and has consistently driven growth in the UK business. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and the lasting impact he has had on BITO’s values, vision and long-term success. We wish Edward all the very best and a thoroughly enjoyable retirement.”

The BITO Group has already secured a successor for the UK Managing Director role and looks forward to sharing further details shortly.

META Storage Solutions, a provider of engineered warehouse storage solutions, will be exhibiting at MHI’s MODEX 2026 in Atlanta. Attendees are invited to visit the META team to learn more about storage systems designed to support efficient, scalable, and automation-ready warehouse operations.

With a strong and growing footprint across North America, META Storage Solutions supports distribution centres, manufacturing facilities, energy providers, and third-party logistics operations throughout the United States and Canada. Through its North American operations, META delivers localized project management, engineering expertise, and installation support, ensuring customers receive responsive service and solutions tailored to regional building codes, operational requirements, and industry standards.

MODEX is one of the supply chain industry’s premier trade shows, bringing together professionals focused on innovation, efficiency, and future-ready technology. META Storage Solutions’ presence reflects its commitment to helping organizations optimize warehouse performance through intelligent design, structural integrity, and flexible storage solutions that evolve alongside automation advancements and business growth.

At Booth #B13957, attendees can explore:
• High-density storage systems that maximize cubic space and improve operational flow
• Automation- and robotics-ready storage designs engineered to integrate seamlessly with AS/RS, AMRs, and conveyor systems
• Scalable solutions for distribution, manufacturing, and energy-focused facilities across North America
• Expert consultation on engineered racking, mezzanines, multi-level systems, and custom storage configurations

MODEX 2026 will attract supply chain and logistics leaders from around the world, offering valuable insights into the future of material handling and warehouse design. META’s participation underscores its dedication to delivering structurally sound, forward-thinking storage systems that help North American operations increase capacity, enhance safety, and prepare for long-term growth.

META has built and refined its core competence in metal working for over 100 years. Our main products, a wide variety of shelving and racking systems, are ‘Made in Germany’ and are successfully marketed worldwide. META develops designs, produces and installs stationary and dynamic shelving and racking systems tailored to specific project needs. META’s product range includes shelving systems,
long-span, pallet and cantilever racking systems, as well as mobile racks and flow racks.

With a full range of storage solutions and the modular nature of its systems META and its partners provide complete logistics systems for warehouses, distribution centres and manufacturing facilities. From the initial concept and the customer-focused determination of requirements to the planning and customer support, through to the delivery and implementation, META always offers its customers complete and sophisticated solutions.

Peter MacLeod attended Jungheinrich’s launch event in Hamburg last week to witness not just five new electric forklift truck developments, but to hear of a clear articulation in the company’s long-term portfolio strategy, which spans from simpler entry-level products to high-voltage heavy-duty alternatives in areas traditionally dominated by ICE trucks.

At one end sits the newly introduced purple-coloured ‘AntOn by Jungheinrich’ brand, designed to address a segment Jungheinrich had not previously targeted with its traditional yellow trucks.
“Typically, these are small to mid-sized customers,” explained Nadine Despineux (pictured with Peter, above), Member of the Board of Management at Jungheinrich, speaking exclusively to Logistics Business at the event. “They buy two, three, four, five units. They don’t have 24/7 high-performance applications. It’s important for them to have a truck available when they need it, but they don’t use it all the time.”

AntOn’s trucks are manufactured in China by electric specialists EP Equipment. Unlike Jungheinrich’s highly configurable core range, AntOn trucks are standardised and built to stock, making them well suited to distribution partners and e-commerce channels. “When you need consultancy and tailored configuration, you typically go through direct sales,” Despineux said. “Jungheinrich is predominantly direct. AntOn is predominantly partner and distribution business.”

Quality control, she stressed, remains non-negotiable. An OEM centre in Shanghai oversees supplier management and compliance, while vehicles are tested again in Germany. “Trust is super relevant. Safety is super relevant,” she said. “If customers cannot build on that trust, there is no reason they would ever move from AntOn to a yellow truck.”

That yellow portfolio is now undergoing one of its most comprehensive electric renewals in years. The redesigned 1i pallet and double-deck truck series focuses on compactness, lithium-ion scalability and integrated safety features, with vehicle fronts shortened by up to 152 mm for improved manoeuvrability in tight warehouse environments.

In the 48-volt counterbalance segment up to 2.0 tonnes, the fully redesigned EFG 2/2i and 3/3i models deliver up to 15% improved space efficiency through reduced turning radii and compact design, alongside enhanced ergonomics and AI-supported assistance systems.

For heavier applications, the new EFG 5 series provides up to 15% higher handling performance via a two-motor drive system and SRM+ lift motor, positioning it as a fully electric alternative to diesel trucks in the 4.0–5.0 tonne class.

High-bay productivity is addressed with the ET

V 4i reach truck, offering what Jungheinrich describes as market-leading lifting and lowering speeds and fully integrated lithium-ion technology to minimise downtime in multi-shift operations.

Looking further ahead, the dramatic (and currently unpainted) new FalcOn prototype showcases high-voltage architecture in a 5-tonne counterbalance truck capable of ultra-fast DC charging up to 150kW, underlining Jungheinrich’s ambition to electrify even the most demanding heavy-duty segments. This truck has been introduced to offer the performance of a diesel equivalent, but with a much cleaner environmental profile.

Despineux positioned the combined portfolio as a strategic continuum rather than separate product silos. Customers today, she noted, sit at different stages of operational maturity. “They are on this tipping point: when does it make sense to invest into automation? What is the right solution? They are searching for partners who can help them on that journey.”

That journey increasingly includes rental and refurbishment models designed to enhance flexibility and reduce carbon impact. “Many customers prefer OPEX over CAPEX,” she said. “Optimising a complete fleet is a huge leverage.” Refurbishment and reintroduction into the market “closes the cycle of sustainability”.
From entry-level purple to high-voltage yellow, Jungheinrich’s message is clear: whatever stage customers are at, be it manual, mid-tech or fully automated, the company intends to offer a solution.

“As a company, if you have the opportunity to say yes, there is a solution that is powerful,” Despineux concluded. “Having somebody you can trust is super relevant.”

The road transport markets in Europe and the United States have shown clearly divergent developments since 2024. And while both regions experienced similar capacity movements in 2022, they have taken distinctly different courses in recent years. Christian Dolderer, Lead Research Analyst at Transporeon, a Trimble Company, analyses the market and explains the reasons behind these trends looking ahead to 2026.

The capacity index, based on transactional data, reflects overall market sentiment regarding available road freight capacity. Comparing developments across both regions provides deeper insight into the underlying dynamics of supply and demand.

In 2022, both Europe and the US experienced expected capacity constraints, followed by a rebound a few months later. However, the US market experienced this cycle approximately four months earlier than Europe. In 2023, available capacity in both regions reached its highest level in years, after which the markets began to diverge in the first quarter of 2024.

In the US, available capacity remained high through the fourth quarter of 2025, creating a favourable market environment for shippers and brokers. In contrast, capacity in Europe steadily declined, a trend that, after a brief stabilisation in 2025, has continued into 2026.

According to Dolderer, this development can largely be explained by differences in market response on the supply side: “European carriers reacted relatively quickly to declining margins and sharply rising operational costs by reducing their fleets. The increasing number of bankruptcies in the sector accelerated this process. Combined with declining transport demand in 2024 and the first half of 2025, this explains the continued capacity contraction in Europe. As a result, the market climate for shippers and brokers is significantly less favourable than in the US.”

In the US, a recent decline in capacity has also become visible. In addition to increased transport demand, Dolderer points to external factors: “Severe weather conditions have had temporary impacts, but we also see clear signals on the supply side. New heavy truck registrations fell sharply in 2025, making it clear that the decline is continuing. Reduced investment in fleet expansion and modernisation could indicate a structural shift toward consolidation after years of overcapacity.”

Despite the recent decline, trucking capacity in the US remains historically abundant. Dolderer therefore, describes the trend as more of a psychological correction than a fundamental shift: “After years in which demand exceeded supply, markets react strongly to signs of tightness, even when actual capacity remains relatively high.”

Over the coming weeks, Dolderer expects a slight easing of capacity in both regions due to seasonal factors. However, he anticipates different dynamics for 2026: “In the US, capacity is expected to decline further. This development is driven less by demand growth and more by carriers’ reactions and bankruptcies. In Europe on the other hand, I expect that a recovery in transport demand will put further pressure on capacity.”

There is a new term in the AI lexicon. Paul Hamblin asked Manhattan Associates’ Raphaël Hervé to explain Agentic AI and its potential to transform warehouse process execution.

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Generative AI – the buzz phrases keep coming. “That’s the world of today, concepts are developed so quickly,” smiles Hervé (pictured, below), Senior Director, Technical and Support Services at supply chain technology leaders Manhattan Associates.

The latest term is Agentic AI. Let’s get straight to the point – what is it?

“If we look at AI in its original definition, for several decades it was about the ability to understand complex algorithms,” he begins. “We then developed IT systems able to make predictions on a very high number of data sets and then even improve those data sets, which we can call ‘Machine Learning’. Then two years ago, Chat GPT arrived along with the phrase ‘Generative AI’, which I would describe as the capacity to make sense of content – whether text, music, sounds, or pictures – and also create this type of content. When you can make sense of language you can begin to ‘push’ these systems to execute tasks for you.

“AI Agents take this a stage further. They are geared towards actually achieving a specific goal, rather than simply making a response.”

Autonomous capability

A key breakthrough is autonomy, he says.

“Operationally, AI Agents are empowered to make decisions and act on those decisions. They also have the ability to interface with the user in normal language. Agents take the instructions in natural language and show the decisions made and steps taken in natural language. Remember, it has an ultimate goal and is able to derive the steps it should follow to reach that goal autonomously.”

As a layman, like many others I’m as nervous of AI’s much-feared potential for chaos as I’m dazzled by its transformationally positive capabilities. Does the autonomy of Agentic AI not make it more likely that repetitive mistakes might become wired into the system?

“Good question, but just like every system it needs to be tuned and optimised,” says Raphaël Hervé. “Let me turn it around. When a complex IT system NOT based on generative AI, or not trained to operate autonomously, makes an error, it is actually very hard to understand why. Because you have to debug, analyse, go into source code. With an agent, you just need to tell it, ‘I think that’s wrong. Why did you say that?’ And the agent will say, ‘I did this for this reason’ and it is therefore far easier to derive the source of the anomaly. Agentic AI is a lot more dynamic in terms of fine tuning than was possible in the past. And unlike your dog or your child it will not resist your instructions,” he adds.

The clarity of AI Agents in explaining what steps they take and why they are taking them is reassuring. “They are very efficient in making adjustments, should you need to,” he promises.

There are several logistics contexts in the Manhattan Associates portfolio of solutions.

An examples is Labor Agent, which is not actually a fully 100% autonomous agent that reaches a goal on its own. Think of it more as an assistant to manage your labour efficiency.

“But it can autonomously sift data, analyse, and procure advice on your labour optimisation,” Raphaël explains. “A typical use case might be a warehouse manager asking Labor Agent if that day’s packing deadlines are likely to be met in terms of human resource. If Labor Agent replies that the team is likely to be late because three people are lacking, it can explore the opportunity to take capacity from elsewhere, for instance from Picking. That team might be able to supply up to five people, so Labor Agent might perhaps select the top three resources with highest ratings and performance on packing. It can then message all parties and reassign via text. The agent is working autonomously and speaking to the user in natural, normal language.”

Time-saving benefits

The question all warehouse managers – and finance leaders – will want answered is, how will we see the benefits manifested in day-to-day use?

One precious win is time, invaluable in any warehouse context.

“The example we just gave is perhaps a 30-second conversation via text, which would have been 15-20 minutes in the past. If packing is late because it lacks three people, it is a complex calculation without the assistance of Labor Agent. You’re looking at process, schedules, performance of packers. There can be big variables, which you then need to compare with what you’re expecting to achieve. The agent can do this for you in seconds.”

Manhattan’s transportation portfolio offers AI Agents with similar benefits.

“Our Freight Invoice Agent is capable of picking up any form of document – PDF, email, spreadsheet – used as carrier invoice materials, and will automatically reconcile actuals with the expected cost of that shipment. This is a role traditionally carried out by manual resources, who spend time receiving documents, comparing screens, shipping costs, taxes, driver hours, and it’s a process that can eat up 15 minutes per invoice. We have built an agent that will automatically ingest anything that comes up, recognise the shipment, align it with expectations, and explain any anomalies. What used to take multiple people hours a day is managed in a few moments.”

Manhattan formally released AI Agents in January of this year, and are marketing the technology to all customer segments, large and small. It even includes Agent Foundry, a developer workspace for customers to build their own agents to their own specifics, either from templates or from scratch.

Raphaël Hervé is brimming with confidence about the prospects.

“We believe Agenti AI is very powerful in terms of productivity gains for our customers. It will drastically improve human-machine interactions, and it will make access to data and functions faster and easier. Customers will enjoy acceleration in project implementation, because integration, mapping, and development are all so much faster.”