Events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by project management and advisory firm Siecap have tackled big questions around the impacts of automation and robotics on the future of supply chains and logistics.
Leading Australian automation expert Graham Bingham presented at the breakfast seminars in late September, which brought together more than 150 industry representatives from across the country. The events were introduced by Siecap’s CEO David Irvine and Director Advisory Geoffrey Knowles, discussed emerging trends in supply chain automation and their implications for organisations.
Geoffrey’s presentation dissected:
- What has changed?
- Why has it changed?
- What should you be considering?
“The rise of automation and robotics is both exciting and challenging for businesses,” said Mr Knowles. “We are already seeing the impacts on supply chains worldwide. As demand for automation continues to reconfigure the supply chain landscape, organisations who can keep pace with changes are going to come out on top.”
Graham Bingham is currently Director of Solve Logistics in Melbourne and during his career has managed distribution for Australian giants including Parmalat, Super Retail Group and Coles. He shared case examples of automation and robotics in practice, discussing changes to costs and lead times, as well as the ways in which automation is creating more flexible solutions for organisations.
Mr Bingham’s insights on how to scale up and solve the ecommerce and omni-channel challenges of today included:
- how autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) can be used to reduce cost, increase velocity, and improve efficiency and accuracy
- how goods-to-person automatic storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) shuttles for totes and cartons can offer flexible, scalable, efficient, economical and precise solutions.
“Industry gatherings such as these hosted by Siecap are invaluable. It’s important for us to share insights now, so that organisations are able to plan effectively for the future,” Mr Bingham explained.