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Automation Is Inevitable Part II: Resilient Supply Chains
In MistyWestās previous discussion around the logistics revolution, we highlighted how automation and AI are essential tools addressing critical labor shortages and inefficiencies in supply chains. The emphasis was on augmenting human rolesānot replacing themāto cultivate an environment where technology and human expertise coalesce.
But when the event ended, we hadn’t finished our conversation on modern supply chains, so MistyWestās CEO Taylor Cooper continued it at HardTech Forum in San Franciscoāour newly rebranded Vancouver Hardware Meetup thatās now sparking hardtech dialogue beyond BC. In this blog post, we share the highlights from the panel discussion, and delve deeper into how AI-driven automation can still keep people at the center of progress.
Left to right: Taylor Cooper, Matt Mueller, Daniel Walet,Ā Paulina Szyzdek,Ā Venu Gutlapalli
Staying resilient against the inventory ice age
The semiconductor supply chain isĀ the world’s most vulnerable supply chain, and the 2021 chip shortage brought global auto production to a standstill. Meanwhile, the neverending trade war between the US and China isĀ pushing the supply chain to near breaking pointĀ as companies rethink where and how they will manufacture.
These are the kinds of logistical disasters that Matt Mueller, Co-founder of autonomous road-to-rail solution startupĀ GlÄ«d Technologies, is all too familiar with. āIf we donāt build more flexibility into supply chains,ā he warns, āwe end up with global inflation that takes a decade to unwind.ā
Another day, another rug pull in the US/China trade war
Mueller shared 3 key practices that hardtech companies should follow if they want to stay resilient against a major manufacturing meltdown.
#1: Instill a company-wide culture that rejects stasis and constantly pursues incremental efficiency gains. āItās about relentlessly shaving 2%, 3%, 5% efficiency wherever you can,ā Mueller says.
#2: Apply a first-principles mindset to simplify processes, which ultimately translates to “the best part is no part, and the best process is no process.”Ā
#3: Ensure every engineer thinks at a systems level, with cross-functional awareness of sourcing, testing, and operations. Mueller believes that complexity can derail progress unless teams stay lean, deeply integrated, and ruthlessly focused on simplification.
Logistics can adapt to automation at a faster rate
Coffee-making, t-shirt printing, and break-dancing robots are flashy, but when it comes to automation with purpose, weāve got much bigger fish to fry.
In Canada, over 25% of transportation and warehousing workers are over the age of 55, and labor shortages continue to tighten their grip on the movement of goods. Itās been reported that only 6% of companies have full visibility into their supply chain; every year, approximately $30 billion worth of cargo is stolen in the United States alone.
Automating supply chains is not only practical, but urgent, if we want to avoid an economical catastrophe.
Ā Most supply chains have a massive blind spot when it comes to what’s happening to individual products in the shipment journey
Venu Gutlapalli is the Co-Founder & CEO of Tag-N-Trac, who are developing ultra-low-cost, sensor-enabled smart labels that offer real-time, item-level visibility into supply chains. āLogistics modernization is the need of the hour,ā he says. āA typical freight unit goes through an average of 20 to 25 manual bar code scans in its shipment journey.ā The use of no-touch smart labels tied to a data acquisition platform helps companies make faster, better-informed decisions while also reducing the need for repetitive human labour.
Paulina Szyzdek, an Investment Principal at E12 Ventures, stressed how āautomation can address critical labor gaps and hazardous working conditions more immediately than in other industries.ā This is because highly repetitive tasks are easier to automate, and AGVs (automated guided vehicles) can generate fast, measurable ROI with high-impact use cases.
However, automation adoption wonāt be a sudden “ChatGPT moment,” Szyzdek saysāitāll be a gradual shift shaped by technological maturity, bottom-line pressures, stakeholder alignment, and that ever-persistent hurdle: public perception.
āItās about sustaining operations where human labor is no longer available,ā she concludes.
āIām helping put a man on the moon.ā
Taylor Cooper highlighted a familiar story often told in leadership circles: when President Kennedy visited NASA, he asked a janitor what his role was. The janitor famously replied, āIām helping put a man on the moon.ā
So, how do you inspire forklift drivers and other frontline workers in the same way engineers at Tesla or SpaceX are motivated by changing the world? Make the mission personal and universal, says Daniƫl Walet, Senior Operations Research Scientist of Lineage Logistics.
Lineage Logistics is the largest dynamic temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company
At Lineage, employees are reminded daily that their work enables people around the world to eat. From loading docks to data science teams, āeveryone contributes to eliminating food waste at our facilities and keeping shelves stocked.ā
Mueller also emphasized the idea that oneās purpose isnāt limited by job title. āIn my experience,ā he says, āsome of the most mission-driven people Iāve met are on the warehouse floor and not the executive suite.ā
While concerns about automation displacing jobs are real, embodying a clear, human-centered mission makes it easier to rally employees around automation efforts and not see it as a job threat, but as a tool to increase efficiency and reduce loss.
AI-driven automation can still keep people at the center of progress
The smartest systems still need a human touch.
From Vancouver to San Francisco, one thingās clear: automation isnāt just inevitableāitās already unpacking boxes in the back room.
But the real heavy lifting goes beyond technology. To avoid another supply chain crisis, companies need to rethink how their teams work, how decisions get made, and design with humans in mind. In doing so, weāre not just streamlining package deliveriesāweāre future-proofing our operations, our workforce, and our ability to adapt in a world where disruption is the new normal.
Automation doesnāt mean replacing people with robots; it means building more human-centered operations that foster a systems-level perspective among all team members.
Because in the future of logistics, the smartest systems still need a human touch.
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