The pandemic has thrown many challenges into supply chains, and rarely have leaders faced such complex and changing conditions. What COVID-19 revealed is that many supply chains grew brittle in their decades-long quest for cost-savings while others that invested in emerging technologies and risk-planning proved to be agile and resilient enough to survive, and even thrive, during the pandemic induced disruption.

Designed to work safely and collaboratively alongside their human counterparts, interest in collaborative robots (cobots) has been on the rise. While part of that uptick can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic, which will likely accelerate the adoption of cobots throughout manufacturing and distribution centers, it’s not the only contributor.

Remember the days when supply chain remained behind the scenes, operating mostly without the public’s awareness? Since the disruption COVID-19 has brought to supply chains in both large and small retail organizations, consumers have increased their demands out of necessity including fast shipping, advanced e-commerce options, curbside pickup — not to mention a seamless user experience. If a retail organization has fallen behind in supply chain technology and operations, the consumer knows.