Victoria Kickham started her career as a newspaper reporter in the Boston area before moving into B2B journalism. She has covered manufacturing, distribution and supply chain issues for a variety of publications in the industrial and electronics sectors, and now writes about everything from forklift batteries to omnichannel business trends for DC Velocity.
Technology continues to transform the supply chain, especially on the warehouse floor, where innovations in material handling equipment are making it easier for workers to accomplish the daily tasks of moving inventory into, out of, and around facilities. Computer-enabled vision systems—which allow equipment and devices to essentially see, observe, and even understand their surroundings—are a key part of the trend. They are a central component in the robotic equipment that is quickly becoming a staple in warehouses across the country, and they can be applied in other ways to improve warehouse processes as well.
Computer-enabled vision systems are also becoming one of the industry’s hottest growth sectors. The market for computer vision systems is expected to increase nearly 20% between 2023 and 2030, according to recent data from market research firm Grand View Research, for example. And the development of vision systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is among the top eight strategic supply chain technology trends for 2024, according to Gartner research released earlier this year. These are advanced systems that combine 3D cameras, computer vision software, and AI pattern recognition technologies to autonomously capture, interpret, and make inferences based on the unstructured images the vision systems see in real time.
Those advances are translating into real-world results. In one recent example, industry technology provider Vimaan has developed an automated cycle-counting solution that combines computer vision and machine learning (ML) algorithms to speed and streamline inventory management in the warehouse. The system is helping warehouse managers get a better handle on the important but difficult task of regular cycle counting, with the end goal of driving higher inventory accuracy overall. Here’s how.
CYCLE COUNTING MADE EASIER
Vimaan is using its expertise in computer vision and AI to help third-party logistics service providers (3PLs), retailers, and others get a more accurate view of what’s in their warehouse. Once focused on using drone technology for cycle counting—which is the process of regularly auditing inventory to ensure recordkeeping accuracy—the company has morphed its drone solution into a new offering that company leaders say provides a better way to manage and track inventory.
“Our approach and experience with cycle counting has allowed us to gain significant insight into the shortcomings of using drones in the warehouse,” explains KG Ganapathi, Vimaan’s founder and CEO. He cites limited battery life and the inherent risk in having objects flying around warehouse workers as some of the main drawbacks.
The company’s StorTrack solution replaces the drone with a standalone hardware module (it looks like a pallet) that attaches to a piece of material handling equipment already in use at the warehouse—like a forklift, an automated guided vehicle (AGV), or even the cranes used in automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS)—and then captures images of the goods within the racks of a particular aisle or storage location, even densely packed ones. The images are then automatically uploaded to the facility’s warehouse management system (WMS), where they can be accessed for real-time analysis or stored in photo archives for future use.
The technology inside the StorTrack module was developed for Vimaan’s drone-based solution and works in much the same way, albeit with some improvements, according to company leaders. It combines computer vision and ML algorithms to capture and analyze data from the labels on pallets, cases, and boxes of goods. The system can read barcode data as well as label text, inspect for damage, and even identify open bays, allowing companies to maximize available storage space. The system stitches together multiple images for a complete view of the racks, pallets, and packages in the facility—creating a kind of “Google street view” of the entire warehouse, according to Ganapathi. This allows warehouse workers to easily zoom, pan, and scroll through images to spot and resolve inventory and storage utilization issues, which can improve inventory accuracy and give managers more control over stored goods.
“Warehouse managers have expressed that they would benefit from more contextual imagery that displays other goods found on a shared or nearby rack, or even on shared pallets,” Ganapathi says. “So [we] developed a solution to make that possible.”
Ganapathi says the system is easy to use as well. Warehouse associates simply pick up the hardware module with a forklift or similar piece of handling equipment, set out on their predefined path (as determined by the system’s user interface), and then follow instructions to complete the cycle count. As the module is carried down an aisle, lights illuminate the stored inventory, and the computer vision-powered camera suite captures the barcode data, reads label text, inspects for damage or problems, and even identifies inventory that might be in the wrong location.
FROM ONE WEEK TO ONE HOUR
As for potential applications, Craig Dowley, Vimaan’s vice president of marketing, says the system is ideal for any customer that requires thorough and fast cycle counting and that it is especially well suited for warehouses that store dry grocery items, high-volume industrial parts, home furnishings, medical devices, electronics, and other consumer goods.
Georgia-based luxury rug manufacturer Jaipur Living is one such customer: The company significantly improved cycle counting efficiency after implementing the StorTrack system, company leaders said in a case study on the project.
“We experienced a 40x improvement in time to scan our inventory,” said Ryan Schmid, Jaipur Living’s distribution center operation manager. “What used to take us a week to scan, now takes an hour. This has [led to] a dramatic improvement in the way we now operate in the warehouse. Before … we would have to break the aisle into sections and shut the area down for several hours. Now we get done with an entire aisle and open it up after one hour, allowing our team to have greater access to our inventory.”
Accuracy has improved as well.
“I can say without a doubt that StorTrack has almost doubled our inventory accuracy,” said Schmid, who reported that bin accuracy improved to 95% from an average of 50% within six weeks of implementing the system. “And it continues to improve each week. Additionally, our overall accuracy has improved from the low- to mid-70s to consistently reporting in the mid- to high-90s.Anybody responsible for inventory management understands the impact this will have on day-to-day operations.”
Such applications are likely to become more commonplace in the warehouse, and elsewhere, as the technology continues to advance. The Grand View research, for one, points to a widening scope for vision systems across a broad range of industries.
Warehouse automation orders declined by 3% in 2024, according to a February report from market research firm Interact Analysis. The company said the decline was due to economic, political, and market-specific challenges, including persistently high interest rates in many regions and the residual effects of an oversupply of warehouses built during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The research also found that increasing competition from Chinese vendors is expected to drive down prices and slow revenue growth over the report’s forecast period to 2030.
Global macro-economic factors such as high interest rates, political uncertainty around elections, and the Chinese real estate crisis have “significantly impacted sales cycles, slowing the pace of orders,” according to the report.
Despite the decline, analysts said growth is expected to pick up from 2025, which they said they anticipate will mark a year of slow recovery for the sector. Pre-pandemic growth levels are expected to return in 2026, with long-term expansion projected at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% between 2024 and 2030.
The analysis also found two market segments that are bucking the trend: durable manufacturing and food & beverage industries continued to spend on automation during the downturn. Warehouse automation revenues in food & beverage, in particular, were bolstered by cold-chain automation, as well as by large-scale projects from consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers. The sectors registered the highest growth in warehouse automation revenues between 2022 and 2024, with increases of 11% (durable manufacturing) and 10% (food & beverage), according to the research.
The Swedish supply chain software company Kodiak Hub is expanding into the U.S. market, backed by a $6 million venture capital boost for its supplier relationship management (SRM) platform.
The Stockholm-based company says its move could help U.S. companies build resilient, sustainable supply chains amid growing pressure from regulatory changes, emerging tariffs, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency.
According to the company, its platform gives procurement teams a 360-degree view of supplier risk, resiliency, and performance, helping them to make smarter decisions faster. Kodiak Hub says its artificial intelligence (AI) based tech has helped users to reduce supplier onboarding times by 80%, improve supplier engagement by 90%, achieve 7-10% cost savings on total spend, and save approximately 10 hours per week by automating certain SRM tasks.
The Swedish venture capital firm Oxx had a similar message when it announced in November that it would back Kodiak Hub with new funding. Oxx says that Kodiak Hub is a better tool for chief procurement officers (CPOs) and strategic sourcing managers than existing software platforms like Excel sheets, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, or Procure-to-Pay suites.
“As demand for transparency and fair-trade practices grows, organizations must strengthen their supply chains to protect their reputation, profitability, and long-term trust,” Malin Schmidt, founder & CEO of Kodiak Hub, said in a release. “By embedding AI-driven insights directly into procurement workflows, our platform helps procurement teams anticipate these risks and unlock major opportunities for growth.”
Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.
For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have seen slow and steady growth, as the vehicles continue to gain converts among consumers and delivery fleet operators alike. But a consistent frustration for drivers has been pulling up to a charging station only to find that the charger has been intentionally broken or disabled.
To address that threat, the EV charging solution provider ChargePoint has launched two products to combat charger vandalism.
The first is a cut-resistant charging cable that's designed to deter theft. The cable, which incorporates what the manufacturer calls "novel cut-resistant materials," is substantially more difficult for would-be vandals to cut but is still flexible enough for drivers to maneuver comfortably, the California firm said. ChargePoint intends to make its cut-resistant cables available for all of its commercial and fleet charging stations, and, starting in the middle of the year, will license the cable design to other charging station manufacturers as part of an industrywide effort to combat cable theft and vandalism.
The second product, ChargePoint Protect, is an alarm system that detects charging cable tampering in real time and literally sounds the alarm using the charger's existing speakers, screens, and lighting system. It also sends SMS or email messages to ChargePoint customers notifying them that the system's alarm has been triggered.
ChargePoint says it expects these two new solutions, when combined, will benefit charging station owners by reducing station repair costs associated with vandalism and EV drivers by ensuring they can trust charging stations to work when and where they need them.
New Jersey is home to the most congested freight bottleneck in the country for the seventh straight year, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.
ATRI’s annual list of the Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks aims to highlight the nation’s most congested highways and help local, state, and federal governments target funding to areas most in need of relief. The data show ways to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth, according to the researchers.
The 2025 Top Truck Bottleneck List measures the level of truck-involved congestion at more than 325 locations on the national highway system. The analysis is based on an extensive database of freight truck GPS data and uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations, to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The bottleneck locations detailed in the latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 325 freight-critical locations, the group said.
For the seventh straight year, the intersection of I-95 and State Route 4 near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the top freight bottleneck in the country. The remaining top 10 bottlenecks include: Chicago, I-294 at I-290/I-88; Houston, I-45 at I-69/US 59; Atlanta, I-285 at I-85 (North); Nashville: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East); Atlanta: I-75 at I-285 (North); Los Angeles, SR 60 at SR 57; Cincinnati, I-71 at I-75; Houston, I-10 at I-45; and Atlanta, I-20 at I-285 (West).
ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2024, found that traffic conditions continue to deteriorate from recent years, partly due to work zones resulting from increased infrastructure investment. Average rush hour truck speeds were 34.2 miles per hour (MPH), down 3% from the previous year. Among the top 10 locations, average rush hour truck speeds were 29.7 MPH.
In addition to squandering time and money, these delays also waste fuel—with trucks burning an estimated 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel and producing more than 65 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions while stuck in traffic jams, according to ATRI.
On a positive note, ATRI said its analysis helps quantify the value of infrastructure investment, pointing to improvements at Chicago’s Jane Byrne Interchange as an example. Once the number one truck bottleneck in the country for three years in a row, the recently constructed interchange saw rush hour truck speeds improve by nearly 25% after construction was completed, according to the report.
“Delays inflicted on truckers by congestion are the equivalent of 436,000 drivers sitting idle for an entire year,” ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster said in a statement announcing the findings. “These metrics are getting worse, but the good news is that states do not need to accept the status quo. Illinois was once home to the top bottleneck in the country, but following a sustained effort to expand capacity, the Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago no longer ranks in the top 10. This data gives policymakers a road map to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth.”