• • • AI • • •
SUPPLY CHAINS AT A CROSSROADS: HOW AI WILL RESHAPE WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS IN 2026
BY ANDREI DANESCU, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, DEXORY S
upply chains are at a crossroads in 2026. The need to innovate and build operational resilience is urgent amid ongoing labour shortages, tariff uncertainty and rising geopolitical tension. Recent disruptions have highlighted how quickly supply networks can be affected by unforeseen events and why companies must prioritise automation and modern technology as part of long-term survival. For manufacturers and logistics providers worldwide, supply chain resilience is no longer a strategic aspiration but a necessity. The year ahead will be pivotal in how humans, AI and robots work together at scale. The organisations that succeed in 2026 will treat automation as critical infrastructure, the digitisation of physical environments.
From legacy dashboards to
AI-powered automation One significant shift that AI will bring to warehouse operations is a change in how teams
interact with intelligent and autonomous systems. As AI, agents and other intelligent technology becomes more embedded in daily workflows, traditional dashboard-centric, classic management tools will decline in importance. This change is already underway. A 2025–2026 State of AI in Warehousing report concludes that more than nine out of ten warehouses use some form of AI or advanced automation, and that over half of surveyed companies operate with increasing or full automation targets. This shows AI is moving from experimental to standard practice for many operators.
In future environments, teams will no longer click through complex, cumbersome manual interfaces. Instead they will instruct intelligent agents to coordinate autonomous robots to deliver the work. AI will generate relevant operational views and execute workflows on demand while freeing time to focus on higher-value tasks and decisions.
Manufacturing resilience and strategic operations: two sides of the same coin
In 2026, it is evident that physical operations are no longer just a cost centre, they are a strategic lever for competitive advantage. The factory floor,
18 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • FEBRUARY 2026
the warehouse, and the end customer are now tightly interconnected. Weakness in any part of that network will undermine performance across the entire system.
Deep, real-time visibility into warehouse activity has become essential. Warehouses are mission-critical infrastructure, especially as supply chains come under greater strain. As a result, operators are being pushed to invest in automation that is intelligent, reliable, adaptable, and fast to deploy. Time to value is the most critical KPI. Those that succeed will be the organisations able to maintain throughput and resilience when external conditions shift in unpredictable ways. Modular automation will play a central role here as it allows warehouses to deliver measurable returns in days rather than years, and keeps goods moving even as global conditions grow more volatile.
From experimentation to
execution: physical AI at scale The logistics sector is now moving beyond experimentation. By the end of 2026, autonomous, AI-powered robots will be deployed at far greater scale across warehouses worldwide. Thus, reducing dependency on manual intervention and enabling faster, more consistent execution.
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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