Smart Tech Choices in 3PL: Navigating AI & Robotics at Promat 2025

eCom Logistics Podcast

What You’ll Learn:

• Why orchestration platforms are the future of 3PLs, and how they outperform legacy WMS systems.
• The real ROI of small automation solutions for 3PLs with low upfront costs.
• How to evaluate fulfillment tech and avoid costly pilot mistakes.
• What the Greenfield vs. Brownfield debate means for your automation strategy.
• Why incremental scaling is the best approach for implementing automation in 3PLs.
• How AI and robotics are transforming the supply chain and fulfillment operations.
• Key takeaways from Promat and other industry conferences on next-gen warehouse tech.

Highlights:

• [00:00:00] – Introduction to the episode & guest introductions
• [00:06:13] – The evolution of decision-making with AI
• [00:10:30] – Why orchestration-first is replacing WMS in modern warehouses
• [00:13:52] – Evaluating fulfillment tech and avoiding common pitfalls
• [00:18:10] – The ROI of small-scale automation for 3PLs
• [00:30:00] – Greenfield vs. Brownfield for automation—where should you start?
• [00:34:32] – Closing thoughts on smart scaling and what’s next for 3PLs

Quotes:

• [00:06:39] “So I can spend 10%, 15% of my time compiling, and theoretically 80% of my time thinking. And that's going to be a game changer for us as an industry.” — Will O'Donnell
• [00:10:56] “The warehouse of the future is automation, robots, and an orchestrator. Not just a WMS.” — Erhan Musaoglu
• [00:19:18] “Innovation happens when you remove constraints. And a lot of constraints are self-imposed.” — Will O’Donnell\
• [00:27:00] “Don’t underestimate the simple solutions that are usually the best.” — Marv Cunningham

About the Guests:

Will O’Donnell — Global Head of Corporate Development at Prologis & Managing Partner of Prologis Ventures. Will leads investment into emerging supply chain tech with a macro lens on real estate and fulfillment convergence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-odonnell-553aa0a/

Marv Cunningham — Global Head of Operations, Essentials at Prologis. Formerly of Amazon and GXO, Marv brings deep operational expertise and a track record of warehouse optimization at scale. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvcunningham/

Erhan Musaoglu — CEO of Logiwa. A serial WMS builder, Erhan now focuses on orchestration-first fulfillment software that integrates robotics, AI, and warehouse logic. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erhanmusaoglu/

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