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Warehouse automation was front and center at this year’s ProMat show, with innovations ranging from robotics and drones to AI-powered software. To better understand what’s real, what’s next, and what might be more hype than substance, Supply Chain 24/7 spoke with Taylor Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of Honeywell Productivity Solutions & Services.
Smith shared insights on the biggest pain points facing Honeywell’s customers, the technologies gaining the most traction, and why smart glasses might not be the future after all. Here are five key takeaways from the conversation:
Even with inflation cooling and supply chains stabilizing, warehouse operators still lack qualified workers. According to Honeywell, automation is no longer just about cutting costs — it’s about keeping operations moving.
“It’s less about cost, although that’s important,” Smith said. “We’re just hearing the inability to actually have the labor to keep up with the capacity needs.”
Customers are looking for ways to automate wherever possible so they can shift human workers to areas that still require manual support. The idea isn’t to replace people, but to reshape the workforce around new tools and needs.
“Unemployment is low. You’re not seeing mass displacement,” he added. “This is about reshaping the workforce, not eliminating it.”
Instead of building new warehouses from the ground up, many companies are focusing on improving the ones they already have. That might mean adding automation, updating software, or redesigning existing workflows — a strategy often called a “brownfield retrofit.”
“A lot of the interest right now is in getting more out of your existing sites,” Smith said. “That includes brownfield retrofits, adding automation, and shifting to cloud-based systems that can be supported centrally.”
This approach is faster and more cost-effective, and it helps businesses avoid the time and complexity of building something new, especially in today’s tight industrial real estate market.
One of the most interesting things Honeywell is working on right now is an AI-powered agent that helps warehouse workers report issues in real time, without disrupting their productivity.
Here’s a simple example: if a worker sees dish soap spilled on the floor, they might normally ignore it because they’re being measured on how many tasks they complete, not whether they stop to get a supervisor. With the new AI agent, they can quickly flag the spill and keep working, while the system takes care of alerting the right team to clean it up.
The same tool can also help with inventory management, flagging when a product is running low or in the wrong spot through voice or simple prompts.
This new solution, which Honeywell is building in partnership with Qualcomm, is designed to make warehouses smarter and safer without adding extra steps for frontline workers.
Ask any warehouse operator what they care about most, and you’ll probably get the same two answers: throughput and uptime. Those remain the KPIs that drive nearly every decision.
“Throughput is the number one metric,” Smith said. “Second to that is uptime. If your system’s not running, you’re not shipping.”
However, how companies manage those metrics is evolving. More operators are moving from reactive maintenance, where things get fixed after they break, to predictive and preventative strategies powered by software and sensors. Honeywell, for example, offers diagnostics and real-time monitoring tools that alert teams before downtime occurs.
It’s part of a broader trend of using data to measure and protect performance. In the current climate, avoiding disruption is just as important as boosting speed.
One of Honeywell’s newest innovations pairs its SwiftDecoder barcode software with Corvus Robotics’ autonomous drones. These self-flying drones can navigate vast warehouses, scan high or hard-to-reach shelves, and conduct full inventory audits — all without human intervention.
It responds to a real challenge: traditional handheld scanning can be slow, especially in large facilities with low lighting or tall racking. With drones, warehouses can complete audits faster and more accurately, helping teams make real-time decisions.
Meanwhile, not every “hot” tech trend is living up to the hype.
“Smart glasses are not as effective as people think,” Smith said.
Drones, on the other hand, are already being deployed and delivering clear ROI. They’re not just a future idea — they’re happening now.
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