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Transcript
Dr. Thomas H. Evans serves as the robotics chief technology officer for Honeywell. In this role, he is responsible for providing the technical vision and development for robotics and AS/RS shuttle solutions. He works closely with the Honeywell Offering Management teams to target and develop robotic solutions to customer needs.
Evans has 20 years of combined experience in robotics and engineering research and development. In previous roles, he served as the chief technology officer for Orbital Engineering Inc. in Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he worked as a research associate professor at West Virginia University and did consulting research for various robotics projects for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Evans has received many notable awards and authored numerous publications throughout his career.
He obtained a Ph.D. and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. Evans also holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 00:01
Automating distribution. A skills gap in finding workers. And how can we tell when transportation will rebound?
Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast.
Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome.
Logistics Matters is sponsored by PERC, the Propane Education and Research Council. Propane is the safe, reliable energy for material handling. Propane-powered forklifts can improve air quality inside your facilities for a healthier, more productive workforce. See how propane can give your productivity a boost at propane.com/forklifts.
As usual, our DC Velocity senior editors Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be along to provide their insights into the top stories of this week. But to begin today: supply chains have been roughed up quite a bit this year, with transportation in a recession and many warehouse projects on hold throughout the industry, yet even with the current economic climate, buyers are still making investments in warehouse robotics, but possibly smaller investments than they would like. In this environment, what can logistics companies do to hit their long-term goals for automation? To find out more here is Ben with today's guest.
Ben.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 01:29
Business conditions are tough nowadays, with high inflation and interest rates, a low unemployment rate, and strict consumer demands for things like next-day delivery and free returns. Yet reports show that warehouse robotic platforms are still in high demand. Here to talk with us this week about why those two trends are happening at the same time, we have this week's guest, Dr. Thomas Evans, who is the robotics chief technology officer for Honeywell. Welcome, Dr. Evans.
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 02:01
Thanks, Ben. Appreciate you having me.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 02:03
Thomas to start off, maybe you could remind our listeners what Honeywell Robotics' role is in the industry, and, as automation becomes more and more necessary, to manufacturing? How do you see the role of Honeywell Robotics changing or evolving?
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 02:18
Yeah, good question. Just a little bit on the background and some of the things that Honeywell is facing right now in the industry and providing global solutions to our customers: we've seen the pressure that many other companies have seen over the years with the pandemic and a surge in the labor issues that a lot of companies are facing. We've had to answer that all the way through our supply chain, our global reach, and down into the product development side, and the R&D, which I'm focused in in robotics. So, with that, looking at what we've done recently and the conversations that we've had with our customers, there's been a lot of push for automation to mature quickly, but also meet the productivity, the cost points pricing, and be on the floor in customer facilities in accelerated timeframe. So, that has driven us in some of our perspectives and how we handle all of those pressures throughout the chain of getting solutions to our customers in a[n] accelerated fashion, and also in scrutiny on the robotics team to automate more quickly and facilitate what our customers are asking for. We do see a strong position in the industry still, with the request for automation and the conversations that we're having throughout multiple industries, so it's very interesting for us, and also one that we're really pushing on our development side and customer interfacing side to make sure we deliver.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 03:37
Let's dig in a little bit to the changing demand for warehouse robotics and automation. You say that under the financial pressures in the current economic climate, many companies are putting off plans to make major overhauls but they're still making smaller investments.
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 03:53
Yes, that's what we're seeing. We're seeing a reduction of it in the overall plan for new greenfield sites and warehouse expansion. However, that has focused more deeply on the operation side. There's still a demand, and a very strong demand, to answer the pressures that the operators are having in manufacturing, in e-comm and retail for the inconsistencies, but also the demand on the higher productivity. They're looking at the performance and reliability of automation, whether it's in the pick-and-place robotics to fulfill orders or induct cases or eaches, or move products from one location to another or fulfill a workflow using mobility robotics. Very much keen, interested on what we're doing in that area. So, that's a lot of the the demand that we're seeing in the conversation. So there's still those point solutions and requests from our customers to dive into the automation.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 04:50
Really interesting. You mentioned point solutions, and that sort of raises a question. That approach could kind of raise its own challenges, because even if you buy technology piecemeal to make those smaller investments, all those different components have to work together eventually, right?
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 05:07
That's true. That's true. When I came to Honeywell three and a half years ago, I looked at the landscape and the direction of which Honeywell was focusing in advanced automation. We focused in on the software platform. We focused in on what we call our Honeywell Universal Robot Controller, that at that time, it was prepandemic, but the vision of the company and the technology I was moving forward was to be able to get to a point to quickly interface not just with hardware, but other software interfaces and other point solutions, as we develop them organically through the entire process from inbound to outbound in any facility, but also be able to quickly interface in an interoperable fashion. So, that's what we created and started down the road of HURC — the Honeywell Universal Robot Controller — with that vision. Now that's becoming more important, and extremely valuable to our customers, as they see this reduced scope in automation, wanting to do the point solutions, wanting to make sure they can answer the labor constraints in individual applications, whether that's inbound trailer unloading, inbound to palletizing, movement and bulk flow from point A to point B, they want to make sure they can handle that at the point scale, but also interface to their WES, WMS, and other systems they may already have in play in automation, or be planning for the next step of their incremental automation plan.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 06:32
Now, of course, all this, in the end, it comes down to financials. So, whether they're automating single parts of warehouse and operations, as some of the things that you mentioned, or investing in those major systems we've seen previously, how are businesses looking to save money in that process?
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 06:48
I think it's looking at the ROI. That's first and foremost. And we dive through simulation, our costing and estimating, to show with the deliverable, with the products that we have, knowing what they can do from a productivity standpoint. That's one way in how they're looking at the investment and how they're planning for it. The second, the conversations around the financing models. Do they want to take on the capex, with their capital expense? Would they rather defer that through a RaaS [robots as a service] model? Those two, in combination, I think the ROI and the productivity expectations. The FTE [full-time equivalent], or the personnel that they can offset in their workforce to be at a more valuable position in the warehouse or distribution center, or fill in the gaps of the labor that they don't have right now, are all in the ROI calculation. And then looking at what's the best model for them financially, to bring that in as soon as possible. Those are two things that they're really saying.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 07:43
Gotcha, that makes sense. So, you know, it sounds like there's some great point solutions, and there's the ROI on it. I'm curious how you're seeing businesses kind of stay on track to reach their long-term goals when they're buying smaller systems. Yeah, if you could dig into that a little.
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 08:02
Yeah, really good question. There's one thing that I can speak to with the VOC, working with our customers, voice of customer, in the last year or two is, what is their solution path and long-range vision roadmap? And how do you create and enable that vision roadmap from taking on point solutions, but every point solution you make and deliver to your customers and your partners is one that is going to enable that long-term vision. That's something that we take in a new conversation on with bigger entities, and even some of the smaller midmarket customers with how we do that. But hearing the customer and understanding what that roadmap is is first and foremost, and their overall corporate objectives. What's it mean for the company, but also, what does it mean for that individual site and individual operation and driving success throughout the entire chain of our customer base? Some of the conversations when we talked about the transition have been, how do I get to this point in one, three, five years, because of the projections and resiliency they want in their business with uncertainties that we face ahead. They know that they have to be resilient to a changing workforce and know they have to be resilient to changing demands in the economy and the uncertainty that's being seen there around pricing structures and the supply chain. Those are the conversations that have broadened with our bigger customer base globally. And I think we are positioning ourselves with what we had discussed earlier, with the software platforms, with the point solutions, the integrated solutions, and then a solution path for our customers to really be able to help this automation journey that they're seeking.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 09:40
Really interesting process. We've learned a lot here today, and I really appreciate your taking the time to come on the show.
Thomas Evans, Chief Robotics Technology Officer, Honeywell 09:49
Excellent. Thank you.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 09:49
Our guest this week has been Dr. Thomas Evans from Honeywell. Back to you, Dave.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 09:56
Thank you, Dr. Evans and Ben. Now let's take look at some of the other supply chain news from the week. Victoria, you wrote a story this week on some new research that shows that a lack of job skills is making it difficult to find good workers for our industry. Can you share some details?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 10:14
Absolutely, happy to. Yeah, so it's getting harder to find the right talent in the supply chain, and this is especially true when it comes to filling leadership roles and developing the next generation of corporate supply chain managers. That's according to a recent survey by Alcott Global, a Singapore-based supply chain and logistics recruitment and talent-management firm. The company surveyed more than 300 senior executives in supply chain from around the world, and they found that a current talent shortage is among the top challenges the industry is facing over the next 12 months. Half of those surveyed listed the lack of talent as a key problem, and it's a factor that came in just behind issues such as rising inflation — that was 54% — and changes in geopolitics, trade policies, or customs regulations — that was 57%. And it came in ahead of issues such as rising labor costs — 36% — emissions regulations and the like, which is something we hear about a lot — 31% — and capacity constraints, which just over a quarter of respondents said was a top challenge. But on top of all that, the survey showed that the talent that is available out there lacks the right skill set needed to succeed in supply chain management, and 64% of survey respondents listed finding candidates with the right skills as their biggest hiring challenge right now. And that was followed by things like a shortage of talent in areas like data analytics; optimization and automation; the need to reduce time-to-hire for open supply chain positions; retaining talent and reducing turnover; and a lack of diversity in the talent pool. So, the skill set issue was far and away the biggest issue that these survey respondents pointed to
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 11:58
Victoria, did the study address what companies can do to help solve this problem?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 12:03
Not specifically, no, but it does recommend what candidates can do to hone their skills so they can advance their careers. The report identifies a set of hard skills and soft skills that supply chain professionals need in order to fill the gaps, so to speak. The hard skills, which are essentials for doing the mechanics of the job, include understanding end-to-end supply chain operations; mastery of data analytics; being up to date with supply chain technologies; and understanding risk management, which has certainly been a big issue the last few years. The soft skills, which are more behavioral in nature, include the ability to problem solve; collaborate; be adaptable; be influential; and have a customer-focused mindset. Now, all this is part of a white paper that Alcott Global released in conjunction with the survey, and it includes some strategies for developing both sets of skills. Our listeners can find a link to information on all of this in the story, which was posted this week, as you said, to our website news section.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:05
Great. Well, we do hear the same concerns emerging from a lot of different industries, with not being able to find people with the right skills, and of course, we know that you have to have good people to run any organization.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 13:16
Very true.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:17
Thanks, Victoria.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 13:19
You're welcome.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:21
And Ben, the freight industry has continued to struggle this year, and you wrote a story this week that shows further slowing in the industry. How can we tell if we've hit the bottom of this current cycle?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 13:32
It has struggled. Exactly. And that's something that we've been reporting on for a few months now. That pressure has, you know, had a real impact on many companies, even major fleets like XPO Logistics have seen their quarterly revenue drop. We saw those numbers a few days ago. And of course, we saw the complete collapse of Yellow, who just declared bankruptcy. That's generally, you know, had some silver linings for shippers, because it makes it less expensive to move their goods, but we've lately been seeing some hints that the freight down cycle could be nearing the bottom of its downturn, and that means the trucking industry could be getting ready for its cyclical rebound. One sign of that specifically came from the latest Logistics Managers' Index, which Victoria covered just last week, and that showed that economic conditions in the logistics industry overall had slowed again in July, but some transportation metrics, particularly, had started to improve. But aside from pointing to sort of broad variables, like diesel prices and excess capacity, I realized, in all this reporting, I wasn't really sure to tell exactly when this turnaround will come. But then a new report came out just the other day that answered a lot of those questions, and that was called the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 14:52
Ben, did that report give any predictions about when they feel that the freight recession is about to end?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 14:59
I wish did give some specific predictions. I think we'd all be a lot more wealthy if we could put our finger on the date on the calendar there, however, it did find, not specific to a date, but, so it said its shipments and its spending metrics that it measures had showed both quarterly and yearly declines for a second consecutive quarter. This was the second-quarter report, so that's covering from March to June. So that indicates that it was, you know, still on the way down, but softening. But of course, now we're all living through the third quarter at the moment. We're in August here, so, you know, we'll have to see, that rebound could be happening as we speak; these measurements, you know, look backwards, of course. But to tell specifically when it's going to happen, what caught my eye is that there were four specific details that the U.S. Bank report examined. First, as we mentioned, they did mention the broader economy, the multiple headwinds that we've all been noticing of late, but more specifically, they said that consumers are continuing to spend more right now on services, versus goods. Of course, that circumstance punishes the trucking sector in particular, because service transactions require moving a lot less freight than goods does. Another way to tell specifically when things might turn around is that they said that manufacturing activity, and specifically housing starts, were down in the second quarter. Of course, both of those are significant contributors to truck freight; you have to move all the construction equipment. The third one is an interesting thing. They said that shippers are concerned starting to consolidate their freight by waiting on a full trailer. It makes it more efficient, from the shipper's point of view, but it reduces the overall number of truck trips that goes around. Fourth one in the list was that they pointed to weaker international trade, and that's reflected in less cargo coming into seaports; obviously, fewer containers for your trucks. So, for me that was an interesting thing to keep an eye on, those four variables, as we all track the logistics markets, and maybe that'll help us to see exactly when transportation conditions will start to change.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 17:09
You know, those are some good indicators. I think once the glut of inventories are depleted, we should see some demand rising again. Hopefully that'll be sooner rather than later.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 17:18
We'll be sure to keep an eye on it.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 17:20
Yep. Thank you, Ben. We encourage listeners to go to DCVelocity.com for more on these and other supply chain stories, and check out the podcast Notes section for some direct links on the topics that we discussed today.
Again, we'd like to thank Dr. Thomas Evans of Honeywell for being our guest, and we welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us at podcast@dcvelocity.com.
We also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform. Our new episodes are uploaded each Friday.
Speaking of subscribing, check out our sister podcast series Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It's coproduced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Supply Chain Quarterly. The current series is on transportation tech. Check out Supply Chain in the Fast Lane wherever you get your podcasts.
And a reminder that Logistics Matters is sponsored by PERC, the Propane Education and Research Council. Propane is the safe, reliable energy for material handling. Propane-powered forklifts can improve air quality inside your facilities for a healthier, more productive workforce. See how propane can give your productivity a boost at propane.com/forklifts.
We'll be back again next week with another edition of Logistics Matters. Be sure to join us. Until then, have a great week.
Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:
- Honeywell
- Report shows that labor shortage and skills deficit are hampering hiring efforts
- Trucking freight challenges persisted in second quarter, US Bank says
- Visit Supply Chain Quarterly
- Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
- Listen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcast
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