April 2025

Inventors want to maximize profits from selling their products.  An excellent way to do this is to optimize their supply chain.

A supply chain is the entire process of producing and delivering a product.  This includes obtaining raw materials, making and packaging the product, storing the product, and delivering the product to vendors and to the customer.  Logistics (making sure the right things [goods, materials, information] get to the right place at the right time) is one important link in the supply chain.

Local inventor Kenton Brett told us about the benefits of attending a trade show and, in particular, what he learned about recent innovations in robotic logistics (the use of automated machines to manage a warehouse, fulfill orders, and handle materials) at the ProMat 2025 trade show in Chicago.

In general, attending a good trade show is condensed learning.  An inventor working with technology displayed at the show can get new ideas and validate or modify his own ideas based on the presentations.  He can learn: from the successes and mistakes of others, about the industry in general, what the pain points of the technology are, and how to effectively present an invention to the public.  He can make contacts helpful to his work and get feedback on his invention.  And he can have a lot of fun—enjoy excellent free food and drinks, see impressive displays, and meet people who share his interests.

Companies (eg, Bastian Solutions in Carmel, IN) at the trade show exhibited a variety of innovative automation.  Mr. Brett showed us videos of robotic: autonomous navigation, loading and unloading trailers, pickers, fitting cardboard boxes to specific items, exoskeletons that people wear to lift heavy objects, shrink wrapping pallets, and remote control driving of forklifts.  He also mentioned artificial intelligence that prepares in 4 hours reports that would take a person weeks to prepare.  Take a look at this example of an automated warehouse that picks and packs an online grocery order of 50 items in less than 5 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Brett, for this interesting presentation.