There were more buyers than in previous years and they appeared to be holistic in their approach to material handling in the factory and picking and packing in the warehouse. Their reasoning and underlying economic drivers detailed in this report.

Brad Berger, editor-in-chief of SupplyChainBrain magazine, said that investing in automation for material handling is back after a few years of being put off because of the economy. Buyers are creating smart warehouses where RF, voice, barcodes, tablets and software all work together seamlessly as tools in the bigger picture of moving, handling, picking and packing our materials and products.

18-20,000 attendees of which 2,000+/- were international, 560 exhibitors, 170,000 sq ft of exhibition space. Very impressive; very busy (and very tiring).