Warehouses are no longer an "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" operation; they're the backbone of modern supply chains that virtually every industry relies on.
Whether it's food that you bought at the grocery store, furniture from an online retailer, or even lumber and paint that you needed for your last home renovation project—chances are, it was once all stored in warehouses.
And like every industry, warehousing is also bracing for the future.
But what does the "Warehouse of the Future" really mean? On a recent episode of Warehouse Visionaries, we answered exactly that question and ways to operate your warehouse with a gold standard mindset.
The Warehouse of the Future: Misconception vs. Reality
When people think of the Warehouse of the Future, images of robots zipping through fully automated warehouses often come to mind.
But, as Evan Stinson, host of the Warehouse Visionaries podcast, recently said on an episode:Â
"At scale, fully automated warehouses don't make sense, at least not for a pretty long time."
For most operations, today's warehouses feel more like 2005 than 2025, relying on a "frankenstack" of siloed tech and manual processes, spreadsheets, and binders stuffed with paper checklists.
The Warehouse of the Future: Core Areas of Transformation
The Warehouse of the Future isn't about creating a perfect, futuristic utopia overnight. It's about systematically improving six critical areas of warehouse operations:
Real-Time Exception Tracking
Comprehensive Fleet Management
Video-Based Labor Management
Item-Level Track & Trace
Guided Coaching & People Management
Continuous Improvement & Optimization
Technology plays an important role, but it's not a cure-all.
As Brad Luse, Customer Solutions Engineer at OneTrack pointed out on an episode of Warehouse Visionaries:
"Technology is like building another floor on your house. If your foundation is cracked or the walls are uneven, adding more weight only makes things worse."
Instead, it requires a "gold standard" mindset that combines people, processes, and technology into a seamless operation.
What is a Gold Standard Warehouse?
A "gold standard" warehouse is like a model home in a new neighborhood.
It's the ideal version—a benchmark for how every warehouse in a network should operate. As Justin Emmons, Director of Customer Operations at OneTrack, described:
Key Characteristics
All warehouses in a network follow the same operational playbook.
Everyone understands why they're doing what they're doing, not just what to do. Brad emphasized this, noting, "It's about making sure everyone knows how their actions add value to the operation."
While the gold standard ensures consistency, it also respects nuances. A cross-dock may function differently from a distribution center, but both can uphold the same principles of excellence.
Building the Foundation: People, Processes, and Technology
People: The Bedrock of Operations
Building a great warehouse starts with its people.
Supervisors need tools to guide their teams effectively and have meaningful coaching conversations. As Justin noted:
"If you sit down with an operator and just say, 'You did this wrong,' they'll walk away unchanged."
Instead, focus on data-driven insights to provide actionable feedback and recognize wins.
Processes: The Framework for Success
Processes are the walls that hold everything together.
Brad's analogy of asking "why" to uncover cracks in the foundation is an important lesson: "Keep asking why until you uncover the real issue."
This detective mindset ensures that you fix problems at the core, not just tossing quick fixes at issues that don't amount to any meaningful improvement.
Technology: The Final Layer
Technology should act as a finishing touch that enhances well-built processes. So, it's a tool, not a crutch, and should be the last step, not the first.
As Brad put it:
Overcoming the Roadblocks to Success
Many warehouses struggle with leadership misalignment and a lack of bandwidth. Brad observed, "When cracks in the walls appear, companies often patch them with temporary fixes instead of addressing the root cause. Over time, the whole structure starts to crumble."
The solution is to start small and be consistent.
"Pick one piece, lock it in, and move to the next," Justin advised.
Consistency over time creates lasting change and ensures processes don't fall by the wayside.
Implementing a Gold Standard Framework
Start with a clear purpose. Brad emphasized, "The goal of a warehouse is simple: to ship product efficiently and profitably. Everything else should support that goal."
But you can't repair the cracks in your foundation if you don't know where they are. In other words, you can't fix problems you can't see.
To achieve this, you need visibility into your people, processes, and products—something only a WarehouseOS can provide.
Since you can't be everywhere at once, a WarehouseOS acts as your 24/7 eyes on the floor, delivering real-time, video-based alerts for every safety incident and unsafe behavior in your warehouse.
Instead of wasting hours sifting through grainy CCTV footage, hoping to piece together what happened, you'll know precisely when, where, and how incidents occurred—instantly.
With this complete visibility into your warehouse operations, you can quickly identify the root causes of issues, implement meaningful fixes, hold people accountable, and drive safer, more productive behaviors across your organization.
Take ID Logistics, for example. With OneTrack's WarehouseOS, they've elevated warehouse safety, productivity, and shipment quality. And the results speak for themselves:
50+% decrease in impacts (in just 3 months)
84% decrease in overall safety incidents
99% decrease in phone use violations
Hear from the ID Logistics Allentown leadership team about their experience with OneTrack.
Building the Warehouse of the Future: A Layered Approach to World-Class Operations
The Warehouse of the Future isn't some sci-fi fantasy; it's a realistic, incremental journey.
By embracing the gold standard mindset and focusing on people, processes, and technology, you can build a world-class operation.
And just like building a sturdy house, improvement happens layer by layer. Ensure your foundation is solid before adding the next floor.