Factory automation projects can reduce dependence on repetitive manual work while creating a different staffing requirement: people who can operate, diagnose and restore the equipment. Ross Barnard, Chief Engineer at Chang Robotics, argues that manufacturers need to design those capabilities into their automation plans. His analysis places workforce development alongside equipment selection, rather than treating training as a final implementation step. Earlier comments from r

A successful robotic demonstration answers a narrow question: can the machine perform the task? A production deployment asks whether the operation can depend on it when products change, equipment wears and the next process is already waiting. The difference matters because a robot can complete its assigned movement while the wider operation still misses its target. A gripper may handle an item successfully but too slowly to justify the investment; an autonomous yard truck may

Autonomous vehicles enter facilities whose operating conditions were rarely designed around them. Floors vary, manually driven vehicles share routes, and material must arrive at equipment with enough precision to keep production moving. Retrofitting an existing vehicle adds another question: whether its condition and configuration make conversion practical. The commercial case depends on how those constraints are handled throughout the workflow, beyond the vehicle’s ability t

In 1968, the ecologist Garret Hardin wrote a paper on the “tragedy of the commons,” in which individuals acting in their own self-interest deplete a shared resource, contrary to the common good. Hardin’s example was a town pasture that is open to all. Each shepherd sends more and more animals to the pasture because they can graze there at low or no cost. Eventually, the pasture becomes bare, the animals do not have enough to eat, and both humans and livestock suffer. We are s

CSCMP EDGE 2026 is the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference and exhibition, held October 4–7 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. The exhibit hall, the Supply Chain Exchange, runs October 5–6. Organizer materials put the floor at more than 75 exhibitors, alongside keynotes, industry sessions, and an innovation program. The audience is supply-chain operators and executives, with carriers, 3PLs, software firms, and auto