Today is labor day and hopefully many of you are enjoying the day off. Being in the warehousing industry it is particularly important to recognize the labor that plays a significant role in getting all of the things we enjoy on a daily basis.

Look around you and pretty much everything you see has passed through a warehouse at some point. Unfortunately in many organizations the ones doing the physical labor within the four walls often get overlooked. I guarantee there are many warehouse workers who are still working today on labor day. We appreciate them for keeping goods moving at all times.

Even though we do a lot of coverage on the latest technology advancements that help to cover some of the labor gap in specific markets, the warehouse worker is still one of the most valuable members of your organization. The whole organization, not just your ops department.

As we become a society more dependent on getting our things delivered to us where ever we are, the warehouse worker plays a critical role in making sure your customer has a good experience. When customers have a good experience they tend to come back so not only is that warehouse worker creating value with one order, they are potentially creating long term value for the customer to return again and again.

The true last line of defense in many organizations is the warehouse so make sure you let your workers know how valuable they are and how much of an impact they have on the business as a whole.

Moving boxes may sound simple but once you've been in it you know that it's much more complex to get those perfect orders out the door.

Be sure to thank your workers today and show them you appreciate them all year long!

Monday's Episode - Chemical Warehousing: Safety, Technology, and Resilience

Kevin of The New Warehouse Podcast interviews Richard Heath, President and CEO of TALKE USA, about how chemical logistics and warehousing differ from handling “regular boxes.” Heath explains TALKE's origins in Germany in 1947, its early pioneering of tank truck transport, and its growth into warehousing, material handling, and in-plant services, including BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) facilities that expanded in Europe. The conversation details key differences in hazardous chemical warehousing: segregation by hazard class and compatibility, specialized fire suppression (foam and CO2), spill retention systems, and the difficulty and cost of retrofitting versus designing multifunctional facilities. They discuss regulatory approvals via local fire marshals and SDS review, variations by region, use of automation for enclosed drumming and routine pallet moves, WMS controls for segregation and quantity limits, specialized equipment like EX forklifts, value-added services (drumming, bagging, sampling, repackaging, clean rooms), and how geopolitical disruptions drive supply chain pivots and export shifts.

Wednesday's Episode - Freight Claims: Closing the Warehouse Evidence Gap

Welcome to this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, featuring Dave Ginbey, founder and chief evangelist at PalletVision. The company uses camera-based technology to capture pallet condition, dimensions, wrapping activity, and other shipment data at the stretch-wrapper.

The idea grew out of a problem Ginbey repeatedly encountered in warehouses. Teams were taking pallet photos with digital cameras and personal phones, only to struggle to find them when freight claims arose. PalletVision aims to close that evidence gap by connecting visual records and shipment data to a unique pallet ID.

Friday's Episode - How GEODIS Evaluates Warehouse Tech, Automation, and AI

At MODEX 2026, Kevin from The New Warehouse Podcast interviews Andy Johnston from GEODIS, a global 3PL headquartered in Paris with Americas HQ in Brentwood, Tennessee, offering end-to-end supply chain services including freight forwarding, transportation, warehousing, distribution, and final-mile delivery, with about 50 million square feet of U.S. warehouse space. Andy explains how he prepares for large shows by studying the floor plan, scheduling meetings with existing and potential partners, and leaving time to explore new offerings, noting continued growth and a startup hall. He describes a shift from hardware-focused automation to software and AI, emphasizing data security, a crawl-walk-run adoption approach, and evaluating solutions by understanding the problem solved, company experience, culture, install history, differentiation, and fit for long-term partnership, including how Geodis assesses startup risk through business-case alignment.
​

This week the semester is starting for me and I'm backing to teaching Intro to Supply Chain and Management Information Systems for the Global Supply Chain at my alma mater, Rider University. Looking forward to getting the next wave of supply chain talent excited about the possibilities.

Have a great week!

Kevin

Unsubscribe | Update your profile| PO Box 238, Crosswicks, NJ 08515