Mathilde Collin

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…

BIG THINGS happening here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes from this week? If not, no worries! Check them all out here:   We started out the week wrapping up our last episode from MODEX 2020 with supply chain visionary Diego Pantoja-Navaja with Oracle.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Visionary: Diego Pantoja-Navajas with Oracle”   On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined by Enrique Alvarez and Adrian Purtill with Vector Global Logistics as they continued the Logistics with Purpose series with special guest Patrick Plonski with Books for Africa.   Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Patrick Plonski, PhD with Books for Africa”   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.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz: Week of April 27th”   Scott and Greg were joined by Bobby Holland with U.S. Bank and Lee Klaskow with Bloomberg Intelligence on Thursday as they discussed the key takeaways from the Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.   Supply Chain Now · “Analysis of Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment…