Lorraine Balog

Uncertainty Is the New Baseline At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton spoke with Romain Moulin, CEO and co-founder of Exotec, to discuss how warehouse automation is evolving in an era defined by volatility. “The big trend of last year was uncertainty,” Romain said, reflecting on 2025’s tariffs, economic tensions, and shifting trade dynamics. “Anything that would be done needed to deal with uncertainty.” Rather than waiting for stability, companies are designing operations that assume change is constant. “Anything that is going on now must be projects that are able to reorganize themselves,” he explained. Warehouses must be robust, agile and flexible as to whatever the next disruption brings.   From Conveyors to Configurable Robotics Exotec is known for inventing 3D warehouse robots (Skypods) that move across the floor and climb racks up to 14 meters (46 feet) to retrieve totes and deliver them to operators. But beyond the visual wow factor, the real transformation is simplification. “The time of bespoke complex warehouses tailored to a very specific need is over,” Romain said. Customers are moving toward more generic, adaptable warehouses. Exotec replaces hardware complexity with intelligent software. “We don’t program the solution,” he noted. “We let the software find the best…

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, no worries! Check them all out here: We added a special Saturday episode on May 2nd and featured the first of three speakers from the 2020 AIAG CR Summit and their insights from the conference. First up was Michael Wurzman…     …Then on Monday we featured Tolga Yaprak with iPoint…     …And then on Tuesday, we featured Bruno Sarda.     On Wednesday, we published another episode in the fantastic Logistics with Purpose series sponsored by Vector Global Logistics. Our special guest was Lauren Noce with Hungry.     Then we published the new and improved Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.     And to wrap up the week, Scott chatted with the Resilience360 team about their upcoming webinar about the 2020 Hurrican Season.     Which was your favorite episode? Make sure you tune in next week for more great conversation, timely topics, and exceptional guests on Supply Chain Now!