John Conte

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…

At MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Scott Luton sat down with Josh Cloer, General Manager, North America for Nomagic, to discuss the next phase of warehouse robotics and the growing role of AI-driven automation inside modern fulfillment operations. While transportation costs and economic uncertainty continue to pressure supply chains globally, Cloer sees a major opportunity emerging inside the four walls of the warehouse.   The Next Wave of Warehouse Investment According to Cloer, many organizations spent the last decade investing heavily in core warehouse infrastructure: automated storage systems, shuttles, and tote-moving technologies. Now, the focus is shifting toward connecting and expanding those systems. “What they’re moving forward with now is doing the rest of their warehouse,” Cloer explains. That includes: automated forklifts, robotic picking systems, mobile robots and AI-driven item handling. At the same time, smaller operators that may not have justified large-scale automation investments in the past are increasingly turning to more flexible robotic solutions. This evolution reflects a broader industry trend: warehouse automation is no longer reserved only for massive enterprises. More scalable and adaptable technologies are opening the door for a wider range of operators.   A Different Approach to Robotics One of the most interesting parts of…