Why We Love MODEX & ProMat

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Atlanta is about to host MHI’s bi-annual trade show MODEX next week! But why should people get excited about this logistics & supply chain event?

Danny:

Hey, so next week there’s a great trade show called MODEX, and we’re going to be there. If you remember, we were there two years ago, and then last year we were at ProMat. And we’re going to talk today about why I love MODEX!

Alright, so David is here again. Me, Danny. Awesome. We’re super excited about it. So we have MODEX coming up next week. And this is from the association MHI, so Material Handling Institute puts on MODEX, the sister show of ProMat. So they alternate every two years. And so they do Atlanta, and then the following year it’s ProMat in Chicago and then back to Atlanta. So we went two years ago when it was here in Atlanta just to kind of go check it out and do some interviews and just talk to some people, and it was awesome. It was really… We’ve been to several trade shows, but this was really cool for a couple reasons. And I know that I’m just super excited to go back.

I think a lot of people get a bad rep or manufacturing in particular kind of gets a little bit of a bad rep, or trade shows. And I think it’s one of the reasons why the workforce development issue, the labor issues, the people, the younger generation doesn’t want to work there, because they feel like, “Oh, it’s grimy.” I want to go work in a tech space, and somewhere innovative, and all that good stuff.” And I think there’s a major, not “I think,” there is a major gap in that thought process, because when you go to a show like MODEX or ProMat it’s innovation galore. It’s amazing. It’s really cool. I have a, really, a deep new appreciation for material handling space after going to the show, because what it really is, it’s all material handling, supply chain, and a lot of automation and robotics. And the space is like, blowing up!

And when you think about it, why is it blowing up? Why is there so much innovation? Well, there’s this company called Amazon. It’s not because all of Amazon, right? But there’s a lot that has to do with it, and it’s… when we want to buy our things that we expect it super fast. Maybe as fast as an hour from now. We pull out a phone, we go on a thing, and boom, and in as early as an hour you could have your stuff at your door. That’s pretty cool. Well, people are completely ignorant of the fact of what actually happens behind the scenes to make that thing happen. How do you get this cup made, manufactured somewhere, actually on your doorstep, is an incredible process. All the way from gathering the raw goods, to transporting them to a distribution facility, then it’s going to a manufacturing plant, then it’s actually processed, and then it’s going out to another plant, then it’s going to a retail location, and then, or an Uber, or if someone, here, delivers it to you. There’s this whole lifecycle and that has gotten shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter, because we want things better, faster, cheaper.

And this show is really, I think, this peak of innovation that is happening to be able to make those dreams a reality. And what do I mean specifically by that? Like… you see… Well one of the things a lot of AGV, so Automatic Guided Vehicles, which is something that we’ve learned of the last several years. For, in layman’s terms, robots. And AMRs right? But like, robots: moving around by themselves, picking up things, and doing… It’s really cool. And it’s helping to process things faster. Or picking and sorting. So they’ve got… Last year at ProMat we talked with Bastian Solutions. They had this really cool new shuttle system. So typically, the way that things would work is, if you’ve got a bunch of, I don’t know, a bunch of cups or a bunch of things like this in a warehouse, and when you’ve got to go pick these things, you’ve got to go get these things out and put it into an order, you know, traditionally somebody would go, walk, and go, “Alright, here’s my pick list. Alright, I need to get this cup, here’s the cup.” And we put it in, then we’ve got to package it.

Well, that’s great, except when you need to like ship 40,000 of these to 40,000 different people. That gets a little complex. So one of the solutions they have is, they’ve got these racking storage systems where essentially these robots on tracks, or self-guiding them to know where they need to go. And then this robotic arm will come up, pick up this thing almost like those little, you know those little vending game machines that our kids always try to get us to do, the pick little crane game?

David:

The one where you can NEVER win the prize!?

Danny:

The one that you can never win the prize, that one! Except now you win the prize.

David:

Hey!

Danny:

42,000 times over! It’s exciting. So this robot arm will come up and, instead of being on a traditional system, or a rack system where it’s got to go up and then over, this would just have one lane, and then the arm could go up, like, to three shelves, pick up something, or two, or one, or underneath and below. And then the other cool thing is this thing would take itself down to the rack and then drive itself off the grid, and go to another sorting area or packaging area. Stuff like that. I mean it’s really amazing. I know this year we’re going to be talking with a lot of different companies.

David:

Yeah so, with that, we have a handful of interviews set up, and I’ve been talking with a lot of these organizations. And the technology that they’re bringing and releasing, I mean, I’m hearing from organizations the the conveyor belt systems, the AGVs, these forklifts, batteries that last forever- “forever…” What else? There’s this exoskeleton that can help lift 1000 pounds. When normally it takes four men to do, this skeleton robot that you stand in can lift things up. For all intents and purposes, there’s some amazing technology innovation in this field, it’s very exciting.

Danny:

Absolutely, yeah I know. And it’s very neat to see all these solutions. And you want to talk about technology and people are like, “Oh well,” get into the workforce labor issue. “Oh, well I want to go work in a tech company, in Silicon Valley.” Are you kidding me? The amount of tech innovation, it’s ridiculous. I mean we’re talking about companies that are saying, “Oh, here’s our machine learning and AI,” and it’s an actual true like, AI! “We have the foremost expert on this who’s helping to develop this sorting or this picking technology.” Or, just all kinds of things. So it’s just super inspiring.

David:

Yep. And there’s even things there that you don’t necessarily think of when you think industrial. Just all the different facets. The little pieces and elements that are really behind the scenes and often forgotten. I mean, safety. Massively important.

Danny:

Yes. Yep.

David:

How the transportation, things that get beyond the cool tech, this is just practical. And innovation that’s coming out from things that are typically practical and forgotten is actually really exciting.

Danny:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And one of the reasons why I’m very excited to go see, we’re going to be talking to a lot of different companies again this year, a lot more than we did last year and the year before, combined. More on this later. And it’s just… What I would really love, and I wish that there was a way, maybe we should figure this out, but I think that more younger people need to see this, I think that would be a huge thing, and I think that’s part of what I’m hoping that we can do here a little bit, is because I think that that’s something that’s really going to help to inspire the younger generations to say, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

I’ve actually, I mean, I have some brothers-in-law. Did I say that right? Brothers-in-law, so a couple… They’re very, my father-in-law, big engineering minds. He is an electrical engineer and he does some really cool stuff. And my brothers-in-law, same thing. And I was telling about the show and everything and they were like, “What, what, really? Like, you mean they have like robots, and they’re doing this?” I’m like, “Yeah, you guys should totally come.” And they’re in college and I’m thinking, “They’re going through this in school and they’re learning but, like, they need to be exposed to this.” And younger! In high school, in middle school, exposed to what is going on and yeah.

David:

There’s even on our news, we’re trying to release news out in the industry, and that’s what we’re seeing more and more. Manufacturing Day, that happens every year. It’s kind of had its life of its own now where there’s literally a quarter million youth that are involved in some form or fashion of a Manufacturing Day. A lot of different organizations within the STEM field. So, trying to get girls involved in engineering and those fields. So there’s a lot of activity that’s happening, and that’s part of the great thing about the IndustrialSage platform, is getting that message out there and building a community to help us. So we look at MODEX, ProMat, super exciting shows where we can see in reality the innovation, the technology, see the people and what they’re doing to, like you said, the Amazon effect, build that out. But… that’s why I’m excited. This is my first time I’m going to go, I can’t wait to see everything.

Danny:

Dude, you’re going to love it. It’s going to be awesome. It’s really going to be awesome. So to wrap up the MODEX love fest here, this is going to be awesome. So next week will be at MODEX and we are going to be talking with a ton of companies. So, what I want you to do is I want you to go follow us on all of our social media channels. Primarily LinkedIn, but we’ll be on LinkedIn and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, and we’re going to be reporting and talking to all these different companies, and you’re going to see some other innovations.

So, follow us on social media, next week. Really that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday primarily, we’re going to be out there, on the streets, talking to all these different companies, sharing the innovations and things they’re going to be doing. And then you’ll see more stories of them kind of trickle out over the next several weeks. But if you kind of want to be part of that, if you can’t actually be here in Atlanta for that, follow us on social media, jump into the conversation, take a look at it, share these really cool innovations that are going to be going on. Share these with the younger generation. Share these with your nephew, or your niece, or whoever, your kids, who they need to see this really cool stuff that’s going on. Help us get that out there.

So, that would be awesome. Listen, that’s all I’ve got for today. Thanks so much for watching, and we’ll be back next week with another episode of IndustrialSage.

 

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get every new episode, blog article, and content offer sent directly to your inbox. You can also subscribe wherever you download podcasts so you can listen on the go!

Sponsored by Optimum Productions