Matt Marshall

At MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Scott Luton caught up with Mike Harris, VP of OMRS at Ocado Intelligent Automation, to explore how robotics, software, and evolving customer expectations are reshaping modern warehouse operations. While robots may grab the spotlight, Harris makes it clear: the real value lies beneath the surface, as in the intelligence that powers them.   Rising Expectations and the Cost-to-Serve Challenge Warehouse operators are under increasing pressure from both ends of the supply chain. Costs continue to climb, while customer expectations are rising just as quickly. “Cost to serve is continuing to increase and customers expect things faster and completely accurate” Harris explains. This dynamic creates a constant balancing act. Organizations must improve speed and accuracy while controlling costs, a challenge that requires more than incremental improvements. It demands smarter, more adaptive systems.   Flexibility and Long-Term Thinking Take Center Stage In today’s volatile environment, Harris sees a clear shift in how companies approach automation investments. “We’re finding that customers are looking to invest in technologies and partners that they want to stay with for a while,” he notes. Rather than chasing one-off solutions, organizations are prioritizing long-term partnerships and scalable platforms that can evolve with their…

What a week! Five episodes, four livestreams, and so much to listen to and watch! Did you catch all the episodes? If not, listen here! On Monday, we featured another great episode in This Week in Business History, where Scott looks back at some of the biggest historical events in business history for the week ahead. This week, he spoke about the business legacy of the Apollo missions.   Supply Chain Now · “This Week in Business History for July 20th: The Legacy of the Apollo Program”     Then on Tuesday, Chris Barnes proved that Supply Chain is in fact anything but boring with a cross-over episode of Supply Chain is Boring with Data & WMS Pioneer, special guest John Hill.   Supply Chain Now · “Data Collection is Boring: Data and WMS Pioneer John Hill on Supply Chain is Boring”     On Wednesday we published the Supply Chain Buzz, where Greg and Scott discussed the top supply chain news of the week, and were joined by special guest David Shillingford, Chairman of Resilience360.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz for July 20th Featuring David Shillingford with Resilience360”   On Thursday, we shared another great…