Supply Chain Now

The Future of Warehousing: Robots, AI, and Human Collaboration with Gartner's Abdil Tunca

Supply chain leaders gathered at Gartner’s Orlando symposium to explore how robots, AI, and human collaboration will reshape warehousing. Senior principal analyst Abdul Tunca, a former Kroger practitioner, explained that while humanoid robots promise flexibility, they remain hampered by hardware complexity, high defect rates, costly components, and immature supply chains, making them less viable than simpler automation for most tasks today. Key data points underscore the challenge: companies automate primarily to cut labor costs and address shortages, yet the cost per robot still exceeds that of proven polyfunctional systems. Polyfunctional robots, optimized for specific workflows such as picking, sorting, and inspection, outperform humanoids on standardized tasks, while the latter are better suited for exception handling. Tunca highlighted a 94% deployment or planning rate for intra‑logistics smart robotics within two years, and cited a retailer’s robotic arm that delicately bags oranges as a tangible example of advancing dexterity. Tunca also warned that the supply chain for humanoids relies on specialized, low‑volume components, limiting scalability. He likened mass production of humanoids to turning a concept car into a Toyota Corolla—still a distant goal. However, as AI perception, battery technology, and infrastructure evolve, especially in brownfield warehouses built for humans, humanoids may become cost‑effective for retrofitting existing sites. The broader implication is a shift toward robot‑centric, or “human‑optional,” warehouses by 2030, where humans transition from manual picking to supervising and handling exceptions. Success will depend on strategic ROI frameworks—what Gartner calls “sweating the assets”—to ensure that robot fleets deliver measurable value without simply adding complexity.