InPerson interview: Stanislas Normand of Exotec

Stanislas Normand is managing director of Exotec North America, where he works to drive the adoption of the company’s warehouse robotics solutions in the North American market. During his time at Exotec, Normand has held multiple positions and played a key role in the company’s rapid international expansion. He holds a master's degree in economics and finance from École Polytechnique in France.

Q: Stan, how would you describe the current state of the material handling automation market?

A: Customer demand for everything from faster year-round shipping to consistent order accuracy is expected to continue to grow despite the long and ever-changing list of challenges warehouses are facing now and in the future. 

We’re seeing that the main challenges confronting brands right now are labor shortages, pressure for cost reductions, and uncertainty:

• Labor shortages: Despite supply chain challenges easing up, the availability of labor is still a huge issue.
• Cost reduction: In this uncertain environment, customers are increasingly looking to reduce costs to shore up against macroeconomic fluctuations.
• Uncertainty: Customers increasingly are looking for flexibility because they want to be reactive to changes in their business and external factors.

Supply chain disruptions and labor shortages aren’t going away anytime soon. Since companies can’t control these mounting challenges, it’s important to focus on the control you do have, and that’s finding a solution to combat them. Warehouse robotic solutions lead the fulfillment industry in delivering the optimal mix of performance and flexibility to ensure customer order expectations are met and exceeded.

Q: What are your hopes for Exotec in the North American market now that you have been appointed managing director?

A: With the increase in demand for warehouse automation, my team and I are focused on growing our NA presence and delivering solutions that create warehouses where people work smarter, not harder, through robotics.

In March 2023, we reached a milestone of 5,000 robots built in record time—just three months after hitting the 4,000-robots milestone. This achievement is representative of Exotec's rapidly growing manufacturing capabilities and the growing demand for Exotec’s products. We have already made significant strides in making warehouse jobs less physically demanding. Exotec robots have saved warehouse workers from having to walk more than 16 million miles.

In December 2022, we officially opened Exotec’s North American headquarters in Atlanta, which supports and facilitates our growing business in North America, which is expected to represent as much as 40% of Exotec’s global business by 2025. We’re focused on growing our company in the region, which includes a goal of doubling our headcount by 2024.

Q: Your background is in economics and finance. How are you able to leverage that experience in your current role?

A: A background in economics is an asset in any industry, but particularly for a position in sales and operations. It gives you a set of tools to understand the market’s mechanisms and the drivers behind its growth, and companies can leverage that knowledge to their benefit.

With the current post-pandemic supply chain disorganization, worldwide inflation, and labor shortages, being able to understand how, despite that uncertainty, we can still leverage those challenges as business opportunities for Exotec is important for leading our business in North America.

My five years of experience with Exotec across different roles has also allowed me to develop a strong technical understanding of our products and understand how our solutions can be impactful for our customers. This helps me make quick decisions in a fast-moving and competitive environment. 

Q: Does the approach to automation differ between the European and North American markets?

A: While there are differences in culture and business norms, many warehouses across the globe are facing similar challenges. They’re looking for reliability, efficiency, and adaptability in their warehouse, and robotic solutions can help to achieve that. Our solutions are equipped to adapt to any warehouse, regardless of its needs or size, so while our approach to automation does not change from region to region, our ability to customize solutions to our customers’ needs allows us to conduct impactful business across the world.

Q: What advice would you give someone looking to launch their first automation project?

A: Warehouse automation helps customers find answers for common issues within their supply chain. Those problems can range from a lack of resiliency in an unsure environment to difficulties with scaling in a fast-growing market. My advice for someone looking to build more automation into their operations is to really put effort into understanding what problem they’re looking to solve. Is it inadequate storage capacity? Is it throughput limitations? Is it labor shortages? Robotic systems provide a versatile and all-around solution for many typical operations shortcomings, but they don’t all address the same issues. So, it’s important to ensure that the selected solution will be the best fit for your specific needs.

The second piece of advice I can offer is to look for a solution that will minimize disruption to your operations. The initial automation project can be challenging for organizations that have to adapt to new technologies while also adapting to new ways of working. This often requires a strong change-management approach. With that in mind, the best solution will often be one that leverages technology to its full ability, to deliver massive improvements while implementing simple interfaces and an intuitive user experience. Shorter installation times can also be a huge plus to limit the impact of that disruption.

Q: How will the rapid developments in AI and machine learning affect future automation and robotic designs?

A: Rapid advancements in AI and machine learning have impacted many industries, and robotics is no exception. It’s easy to see how AI/ML has the potential to create more intelligent, adaptive, and effective robots. What’s hard to tell now is whether AI has a real purpose or place in warehouse robotics today, where perfection is so important. AI may not be at a place yet where it’s stable enough for business-centric use cases, like warehouse robotics.