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Fast Company names AutoStore among 2026 Most Innovative Companies. NEDRE VATS, NORWAY - WEBWIRE - Tuesday, March 24, 2026 AutoStore, the global leader in intelligent fulfillment, has been named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2026, in the Logistics category for applying automation in new ways across industries. AutoStore has been named to the list alongside Google, Nvidia, and Shopify. AutoStore earns this recognition for extending its automation platform across industries and use cases, from retail and healthcare to new applications like agriculture. One example is its partnership with vertical farming company OnePointOne, where AutoStore adapted its cube-based storage and retrieval system to create Opollo Farm, the world's first vertical farm operated entirely by robots. Instead of storing consumer goods, the system manages living crops. Robots precisely control water, light, airflow, and nutrients, and move plants and produce seamlessly through each stage of growth with near-zero human handling. Vertical farming promised to bring food production closer to people, reduce water waste, and cut emissions from long-haul transport. But most ventures struggled to make it economically viable. Labor costs were high, yields were inconsistent, and the model proved difficult to scale. AutoStore solves these barriers by treating vertical farming as a fulfillment problem and applies the same principles of intelligent fulfillment used in retail, using the same high-density, high-accuracy automation that powers order fulfillment for retailers like Puma, Best Buy, and DHL to the challenge of growing food. The same system architecture supports a wide range of applications, including automated piece picking, order preparation, and high-throughput fulfillment across industries. By combining storage, retrieval, and increasingly automated order preparation, AutoStore enables end-to-end automation across the fulfillment workflow. The results are measurable. The first Opollo Farm installation in Phoenix, Arizona, now supplies Whole Foods Market with microgreens, basil, and packaged salads. Crops reach harvest in just 15 days, cutting traditional growth cycles in half. Water usage is reduced by 95% compared to conventional farming, and production costs are down 60% for microgreens, 40% for basil, and 20% for packaged salads. Supply chains that once spanned thousands of miles now move produce from farm to shelf in days, reducing spoilage and contamination risk. "This started with a simple question. Where else can automation solve a fulfillment problem beyond SKU picking?" said Parth Joshi, Chief Product Officer at AutoStore. "Opollo Farm is one answer. It shows how intelligent fulfillment can extend beyond traditional warehouses into entirely new industries." Because the AutoStore grid is modular and can expand in any direction, Opollo Farm is not a one-city solution. It fits into existing warehouses, scales to match community needs, and can be deployed in urban centers, food deserts, and anywhere that needs a more resilient, local food supply. Fast Company's recognition reflects a broader shift in how the industry thinks about fulfillment. It is no longer a fixed warehouse function. It is a modular, adaptable infrastructure that can serve new industries. This aligns with AutoStore's recent advancements in AI-driven software and intelligent fulfillment, including new capabilities introduced this week. From retail to healthcare to agriculture, AutoStore is showing that the same automation used in fulfillment can solve challenges in entirely new industries. AutoStore continues to expand what its technology can solve, combining automation, software, and AI to unlock new applications and drive the next generation of fulfillment. This reflects a broader shift in how automation, software, and AI come together to redefine fulfillment across industries. About AutoStore: AutoStore(TM) combines automation, software, and AI to enable Intelligent Fulfillment across the fulfillment lifecycle. Founded in Norway, we've grown into a global technology company. AutoStore uses advanced software to automate and orchestrate order fulfillment. Our goal is to ensure orders arrive faster than ever, with minimal environmental impact. That's how we help brands exceed customer expectations. We have more than 1900 systems in over 65 countries, and we grow continuously as a community of employees, partners, customers, suppliers, and connected technologies. Automation should make life easier, and by listening carefully to our community, we innovate to meet the industry's most complex needs. With AutoStore(TM), brands gain speed, efficiency, and improved workplaces. And much more floor space. AutoStore - moving things forward. WebWireID352405 * Contact Information - Patrik Wallgren - Head of Global PR - AutoStore - Contact via E-mail This news content may be integrated into any legitimate news gathering and publishing effort. Linking is permitted. Distribute your news. * Every day, hundreds of individuals and companies choose WebWire to distribute their news. * WebWire places your news within numerous highly trafficked news search engines generating leads and publicity. * Submit Your Release Now!

MODEX 2026 shipper's preview: 7 material handling innovations that will reshape your warehouse strategy. Listen to article Logistics Industry Analysis The largest manufacturing and supply chain event of 2026 is less than a month away. MODEX 2026 descends on Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center from April 13-16, and the numbers alone tell a story of an industry in transformation: over 1,060 exhibitors spread across more than 650,000 square feet of exhibit space, with registered attendees tracking above 50,000 - all record figures that dwarf the pre-COVID era when attendance hovered around 30,000 and floor space topped out at 400,000 square feet. But raw scale isn't what makes MODEX 2026 essential for shippers. It's the 220 companies that submitted Innovation Award entries - each representing a new product, platform, or technology launching at the show. MHI CEO John Paxton put it plainly in a recent interview with Robotics 24/7: "The attendees come to see new solutions and the full breadth of supply chain technologies, and the show delivers." Here are the seven innovations and trends shippers should prioritize when building their MODEX visit strategy. 1. AutoStore's AutoCase: rethinking case-level ASRS. AutoStore, the cube storage pioneer, is debuting AutoCase at MODEX - a finalist for the Best New Innovation Award. While AutoStore's grid-based system has long dominated piece-level fulfillment, AutoCase extends the platform to full-case handling. For shippers managing multi-channel fulfillment where case-level picking coexists with eaches, this could eliminate the need for separate automation islands. Why shippers should care: Consolidating case and piece picking onto a single automation platform reduces footprint requirements and simplifies warehouse management system integration. 2. Locus Robotics' Locus Array: scaling AMR orchestration. Another Best New Innovation finalist, the Locus Array from Locus Robotics represents the next evolution in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) fleet management. Rather than deploying individual bots, the Array coordinates large-scale robot fleets with adaptive task allocation that responds to real-time demand shifts across warehouse zones. As Paxton noted, the post-COVID acceleration of robotics was driven by "fewer people in the process and much higher picking volumes." The labor crunch hasn't eased. According to the MHI and Deloitte Annual Industry Report, 55% of supply chain leaders are increasing technology investments, with 60% planning to spend over $1 million on supply chain technology in the near term. 3. Dexory's DexoryView: autonomous warehouse visibility. Dexory, the third Best New Innovation finalist, brings something fundamentally different to the floor: DexoryView's Storage Health Feature. Using autonomous scanning robots that traverse warehouse aisles, the system creates a real-time digital twin of inventory locations, flagging misplacements, empty bins, and storage utilization anomalies without manual cycle counts. Why shippers should care: Inventory accuracy in most warehouses sits between 63% and 95%. Continuous autonomous scanning closes that gap without diverting labor from picking operations. 4. Anyware Robotics' Pixmo: inbound automation without fixed infrastructure. On the robotics front, Anyware Robotics earned a Best Robotics Innovation nomination with Pixmo, a system designed to automate inbound operations without the fixed conveyors, gantries, or bolted-down infrastructure that typically accompanies warehouse automation. For shippers leasing warehouse space or operating in multi-client 3PL environments, infrastructure-free automation means deployability in weeks rather than months - and portability when lease terms change. 5. Slip Robotics' sliplift: autonomous trailer loading. SlipLift from Slip Robotics tackles one of the last manual bastions in the warehouse: trailer loading and unloading. Also a Best Robotics Innovation finalist, the platform automates the physical movement of palletized freight into and out of trailers - a task that's historically resisted automation due to the variability of trailer conditions and pallet configurations. Why shippers should care: Dock operations are bottleneck generators. Autonomous loading reduces dwell time, cuts detention charges, and keeps outbound schedules tight - a direct impact on transportation costs. 6. ProGlove MAI: AI voice assistants go wearable. ProGlove's MAI (Best IT Innovation finalist) pairs a wearable barcode scanner with an AI-powered voice assistant. Warehouse associates can query inventory status, receive pick instructions, and report exceptions through natural language - hands-free and heads-up. It's the convergence of voice picking, wearable scanning, and generative AI in a single device. This aligns with a broader trend the MHI/Deloitte research quantified: AI adoption in supply chains currently sits at 28%, but another 54% of organizations plan to implement AI within five years, nearly tripling the adoption footprint. 7. The MHI/Deloitte Annual Industry Report keynote: data that drives decisions. Not a product, but arguably the most strategically valuable session at MODEX: the 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report keynote on April 15, featuring MHI CEO John Paxton and Deloitte's Wanda Johnson. The report - the 13th edition of the industry's benchmark technology adoption survey - will present fresh data on how supply chain leaders are investing, what technologies are reaching critical mass, and where the gaps remain. Previous editions have shaped investment decisions across the industry. The 2025 report found that the majority of leaders are prioritizing end-to-end digital orchestration, but execution still lags strategy. The 2026 findings - unveiled at MODEX before public release - give attendees a first-mover advantage on industry intelligence. Building your MODEX visit strategy. With 200+ educational sessions across four days and three massive exhibit halls, MODEX can overwhelm without a plan. Here's how to maximize your time: * Day 1 (April 13): Attend the Home Depot CFO keynote for macro supply chain strategy context, then focus on Hall B for robotics and automation demos. * Day 2 (April 14): Prioritize IT innovation exhibitors and the exponential strategy keynote from Salim Ismail. * Day 3 (April 15): Don't miss the MHI/Deloitte report keynote panel, Innovation Award winners announcement, and Student Day networking. * Day 4 (April 16): Final day for hands-on demos and one-on-one vendor meetings. Pro tip: The Innovation Awards showcase at MODEX's innovation portal lets you pre-screen all 220 entries before the show. Build your shortlist now. What this means for your warehouse strategy. MODEX 2026 isn't just a trade show - it's a preview of the warehouse operating model for the next three to five years. The themes are clear: infrastructure-light automation that deploys fast, AI integration at every level from voice picking to fleet orchestration, and autonomous systems that tackle the last manual holdouts like trailer loading and inventory scanning. The shippers who win in 2026 and beyond won't be those with the biggest automation budgets. They'll be the ones who select the right technologies for their specific operational constraints - space, labor, lease flexibility, and fulfillment complexity. Ready to evaluate how these innovations fit your warehouse operations? Request a CXTMS demo to see how its platform integrates with modern warehouse technologies to optimize your entire supply chain - from inbound receiving to final-mile delivery.