Artificial intelligence is everywhere--even the warehouse

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies are just about everywhere these days, making electronic devices, equipment, and business processes more streamlined and, of course, smarter. As it is commonly understood, AI uses computers and machines to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind--and it exists on many levels. Common examples include speech recognition, online virtual agents, computer vision, and even "recommendation engines"--those systems that tell you what "you may also like" when you're shopping online. AI is also being applied in the warehouse, in the form of emerging technologies designed to increase output, reduce errors, maximize equipment uptime, and help companies bridge the labor gap by accomplishing more work with fewer people. One of the newest terms to hit the warehouse floor is a warehouse management system "accelerator," which is a software solution that sits above a company's warehouse management system (WMS) to help optimize and orchestrate the broader operations of a warehouse, according to Keith Moore, CEO of AutoScheduler, a WMS accelerator founded in 2020.