Wow. That's all I can say about last week at MODEX. Each year whether it is ProMat or MODEX, I continue to be blown away by everything that is becoming possible within the four walls.

Every year it is the best and busiest week of the year for The New Warehouse and rightfully so when so many of our audience is in one place.

We conducted 44 interviews last week and I was just told this morning we captured 3.5 terabytes of video so it is safe to say we have a little bit of content coming your way over the next several weeks.

So what were some of the big takeaways from the show?

Here are some of my thoughts:

• First off, big news from MHI that in 2028 there will be two MODEX shows. The spring show in Atlanta as usual and then a MODEX West in Las Vegas in October 2028. A lot of people were not sure how to take this and what exhibitor strategy would be but when I spoke to MHI (organizers of MODEX) I learned that only 6% of attendees in Atlanta come from the west coast. There is a whole other segment of the country that could potentially be coming to MODEX West.
• I've seen multiple people comment on this and noticed this as well heading into the show, there was a significant lack of humanoid buzz at the show. The past two years there was a lot of hype on the humanoid front especially surrounding Agility and Reflex but this year the humanoid noise seemed to have died down. They were present but there was less talk about them and I certainly have not seen them all over my LinkedIn feed like at Promat last year. I think the fascination of humanoids has died down and now people want to see them do real work in the warehouse.
• Somewhat in comparison to humanoids, fully automated piece picking is on the rise. Grippers are able to handle more form functions and variability in product than ever and the solutions are starting to roll out to show that. Brightpick had their Autopicker on display which was one of the first solutions handling fully autonomous picking and they've expanded that now with the Gridpicker which is doing automated picking but on top of an ASRS. There was notable controversy at LogiMAT as Ocado claimed patent infringement as they have a similar setup with their OSRS. The difference being Ocado's picking arm is static and Brightpick's moves across the grid to where the pick needs to happen. Also, notable on this front is Locus Robotic's launch of the Array which does fully autonomous picking as well as other warehouse tasks like replenishment, put away and inventory counting. Locus entering this space could be a tipping point for this form factor given their early pioneering of pick assist AMR's and market penetration.
• While there was tons of solutions on display, moving and showing off exactly how they work there was also a noticeable amount of booths not showing the actual physical product they offer to the market. They were setup more like meeting places. A bit puzzling because a lot of people are coming to see just exactly what this solution is like in person. I will give a pass to Pickle Robotics on this though because they told me that they are doing so many deployments right now that they didn't have anyone available to support the bots on site at MODEX. That's a pretty good reason to me!
• On the forklift front, there were some notable advancements both on the traditional forklift and automated forklift front. There is still a large push towards lithium as a power source and there is still low penetration in the market for this. Nobelift rolled out the first AI powered forklift which essentially acts a coach for the forklift operator. Pretty fascinating and I'm looking forward to seeing how that evolves. I also was intrigued by the two automated swing reach forklifts I saw on the floor. Multi-way had theirs in action and Raymond had one sitting in their booth but not operating. I understand the one in the Raymond booth is powered by Third Wave Automation.
• One solution that really caught my eye and I almost missed it was from Tutor. On the surface I thought this was just another palletizing arm but then I looked a little closer and this a fully automated case picking robot. It travels from location to location in standard racking setups with up to two order pallets attached to it and picks cases out of locations on to the order pallets. I was pretty impressed with the possibilities of this and happy I checked them out in the last two hours on Thursday.
• The industry is more informed than ever. As I spoke to several of the exhibitors at the close of show on Thursday many said it was their best show ever with tons of great leads and visitors to the booth that knew what they were looking for not just kicking tires. It seems that the knowledge level has caught up to the advanced technologies and people are coming in knowing what they want and ready to start executing.

Those were some of my takeaways and thoughts as I tried to rest my feet over the last few days. We'll be covering some of these things specifically in the podcast interviews we conducted over the last week and also on my LinkedIn so be sure to follow along. You can also check out the livestreams from last week below.

Were you at MODEX? What were your takeaways?

Monday's Episode - 3PL Fit: Staying in Your Lane Drives 3PL Growth

In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin chats with Dave Harriger, CEO and Founder of Swifthouse, about the evolution of his 3PL business and the journey to implementing a new WMS. Based just outside Philadelphia, Swifthouse supports e-commerce brands with fulfillment services from pick and pack to shipping and tracking.

Dave shares how early growth, major client shifts, and operational challenges forced him to rethink his strategy. The conversation explores why defining your niche, building strong processes, and saying no to the wrong clients can ultimately drive better, more sustainable growth.

Monday's Live - ASRS Deep Dive: Live from MODEX!

Kevin will be joined by multiple members of MHI's ASRS Group to explore all the many different form factors, use cases and differentiators this segment has to offer.

With advancements in this space continue to evolve, you'll be sure to what the latest in ASRS is and get a great perspective on what solutions can be the right fit for you.

Wednesday's Episode - Logistics Hub Development: How Franklin County Became a Powerhouse

In this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin chats with Mike Ross, President of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation (FCADC). Ross has spent over 40 years in economic development and walks through how Franklin County, Pennsylvania, became a true logistics hub.

They get into what actually drives that kind of growth. It’s not just location. It’s infrastructure, long-term planning, and knowing how to land the right projects at the right time.

Tuesday's Livestream - The New Warehouse Live from MODEX with Snapfulfil

Kevin will be going live with multiple guests to dive into some of the industry trends that are being seen and getting thoughts on what has been unveiled on Day 1.

We'll also be getting an exclusive look at a new product from Synergy Logistics!

Conference season isn't over yet! I'll be going live this Wednesday to talk all things WERC Conference 2026.

Thanks for tuning in and hope you have a great rest of the week!

Thank you,

Kevin

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