David J. Wilson, CEO of Columbus McKinnon, joined Cheddar News to discuss automation in supply chains and expectations for the future as A.I. advances.

The Impact on Labor Market as Retailers Turn to Automation

if you've ordered something from a big box retailer or an e commerce giant this holiday season, chances are it was sent to you from an automated fulfillment center or warehouse. It's because more retailers are turning to automation to stay competitive using intelligent motion solutions to increase speed and efficiency. So one company at the forefront of this evolution is columbus Mckinnon. It's a manufacturer of automated systems. Joining me now is David Wilson. He's the ceo of columbus Mckinnon. So David thanks so much for joining us. So how important is automation for retailers and consumers? It's critically important. Michelle, thank you for having me on. I think as you look at where we are in the holiday season, all of us are receiving packages coming to our doors and each one of us knows how unavailable labor is in the marketplace today, there's one applicant for every two jobs available. And so the work that we're doing with our customers to make sure that they're efficient and can ship product to our our customers or their customers is super important to everyone out there, including the retailers themselves who are trying to offset this and unavailability of or in availability of labor. Now, some of your customers include some of the biggest retailers in the world. Um, I recently visited one of these fulfillment centers and saw some robotics in person. What are some trends that you're noticing in the space in the terms of automation of these facilities. Yes, absolutely. They're they're using robots, they're using conveyor solutions. They're using all kinds of lifting equipment to assist with the package movement throughout their facilities and effectively taking materials that come into their facilities, sorting them, storing them and then moving them based on demand. And ultimately ai trends are increasing. So using intelligence, big data and the ability to put that together to help determine what kind of stocks to keep in place. And really they're driving to the three A's, as I call it automation, artificial intelligence and availability of material. Now, I know that the World Economic Forum estimated that by 2025 we're gonna lose about 85 million jobs due to automation. But at the same time because of automation, they think we're gonna add 97 million new jobs. So what kind of jobs are we going to see as a result of this move towards more robotics and automation At such a great point and a lot of people immediately go to the fact that this takes jobs away. But what it does really creates better jobs for employees and more challenging opportunities for people to grow their careers with an exciting new areas that are growing rapidly. The estimates right now are that retailers will invest somewhere on the order of $51 billion dollars In automation equipment through 2030 in this space. And so there's gonna be a tremendous investment, a lot of growth and a lot of opportunities for people who are seeking exciting jobs in those spaces to develop and growth. Now the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of automation and Ai and robotics. Do you think this boom is going to continue as we return to what we're considering now, the new normal. I do, I do I think it's it's kind of irrefutable, you know, there's a trend in the direction of higher efficiency, increased availability, more intelligence around the movement of materials and handling and with the in availability of labor thrown in and more reassuring of both manufacturing and final mile distribution, you just need to have more automation to help solve those challenges. So although there's a slowdown at present or predicted slowdowns, I think that there's demand that's going to continue to move in the direction of of significant growth for um for this industry. Now, speaking of that slowdown, we do see that consumers may be pinching their wallets, just being a little bit more conscious about what they're spending at this time, which is definitely going to affect the retail sector. How do you think this will affect your business? Well, I I do think that's true, increased prices do affect all of us, but I ultimately believe that we're going to continue to develop and grow through this challenge because ultimately, whether there's one piece sold or 1000 or a million pieces sold, the benefit of moving to automation is ultimately going to win the day and it gets back to the points I raised earlier about the three A's you've got the automation that makes you more productive and competitive artificial intelligence to analyze data, including big data to really determine what you should stock and then, ultimately, the availability of materials that will differentiate for our retailers and ultimately help you and I as consumers to get what we want when we want it. What do you think the role is of artificial intelligence and robotics in the future of automation? I think it's going to play a key role. I really do. I think the artificial intelligence will make these robotic pieces of equipment much more intelligent, whether it's roots that robots are moving within a factory, repeatedly analyzing waste inefficiency, the location of materials and where they're stocked. Or it's the automation of picking and distributing and packing and moving packages. All of that really lends itself to increased accuracy, higher availability, higher efficiency and productivity and better jobs for the people who are seeking them well, thanks to David Wilson, he's the ceo of columbus mckinnon.