The Warehouse Underground Podcast

"If you gave a user a gold bar, they'd complain about how heavy it was." 😂 That's Wes Coleman, Industry Principal for Warehousing at Zebra Technologies, on change management. And he's earned the right to say it: 36 years in the industry, from UPS to FedEx Ground to running operational excellence, and now 30+ weeks a year inside customers' warehouses. Always happy to chat with folks like him that are right there on the front lines of the industry! 🔹 User acceptance now sits ABOVE throughput, quality and efficiency for a lot of companies. Retention changed the math.🔹 Your team has great tech in their pocket, car and home. They expect it at work too. If yours is good, use it as a recruiting tool.🔹 Bolting good technology onto a bad process makes things worse. Fix the process first.🔹 Bring a new hire AND a legacy employee into the decision, not just your rock star.🔹 Warehouses don't always "automate." They augment, one small piece of a process at a time. And of course this: "The biggest challenge in your DC today isn't moving pallets. It's moving data."

I sat down with Brian Fielkow, former CEO of Jetco Delivery, now EVP of Risk Resources at Acrisure, and author of the new book "Making Safety Happen". A WEALTH of knowledge in many areas but certainly safety. We got into: → Why safety should never be a "priority". Priorities compete and shift, but core values are non-negotiable. → How the C-suite sets the tone for safety culture (and why they can't delegate it!) → Why "unconditional respect" for process matters because often safety rules are written in blood. → The football helmet analogy that reframes how you think about PPE as your *last* line of defense, not your first. If you lead a warehouse, DC, or FC or in charge of those who do, this episode isn't a check box.

Technology and leadership are often treated as two separate things.  That's shifting some though. TrailPath Workplace Solutions isn’t simply putting another technology tool in the hands of ops leaders. It’s making improvement part of the work not just something that happens in a workshop and fades when everyone returns to the floor. Floor leads gotta know: Who needs my attention? Where should I focus? When should I coach? When should I step back? Experience helps answer those questions, we all know this, but new supervisors don’t have years of experience yet. Enter TrailPath!!!  They can help not by replacing leadership, but by helping leaders see what matters, build better habits, and improve every day. Habits shape behavior. Behavior shapes results. The question is: How do we help more leaders build those habits?

  Pete Allen is Managing Partner at Birch Advisors. And he knows his way around the world of warehousing and distribution quite well!  MANY companies seek him out for consultations, and particularly on strategies for integrating and growing robotics and automation. ✅ What are the unique challenges both at the tactical level (warehousing problems) but also strategic level (gaining traction and adoption from the end users in the industry?) ✅ Do you see robotics as an "either or" in integrations with humans or an "and also"?  ✅ What should ops leaders be focusing on building the warehouse of the future? ✅ What type of operation is an ideal one to get the most gains from robotics and how should they explore this ahead of time to minimize risk?

Robotics are everywhere in the distribution industry (and more every year).  You see them in shows and magazines.  BUT what do you really need to know about if they are right for your operation or not? Mike Bearman, the Chief Legal & Safety Officer at Vecna Robotics, is the perfect guest to chat with about this.   Find out:  *Why many warehouse automation projects fail to deliver on their original expectations. *Common mistakes operations make before, during and after projects. *Key "do's and don'ts" plus why AI should NEVER be responsible alone for warehouse safety.*What 'inside scoop' questions should you as a possible vendor. *How will it all evolve over the next 5-10 years (employees, robotics, AI). AND MORE!