New Swisslog Logistics CEO discusses strategy, SynQ software

In July, Swisslog Logistics Inc. named Mike Barker as its new president and CEO of the Americas. He succeeded Sean Wallingford and served as vice president of consumer goods in 2021.

Barker has more than 34 years of experience in warehouse automation, logistics, and software, said the company. He has worked with sales, product management, and engineering to align with corporate goals, and he has led professional service teams in deploying large-scale software solutions.

Swisslog, a part of KUKA Group, provides warehouse automation and has over 15,000 employees worldwide. Buchs, Switzerland-based Swisslog Holding AG last month expanded its IntraMove series of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

In addition, Dunwoody, Atlanta-based Swisslog Americas noted that Sumitomo Drive Technologies USA is modernizing a facility with an AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) using Swisslog’s SynQ orchestration software.

Automated Warehouse spoke with Barker about his plans for Swisslog.

Swisslog renews focus on understanding the customer

The announcement of your appointment as CEO mentioned a “renewed focus to evolving and enhancing” the SynQ software — had it been neglected? Are you targeting specific capabilities or new markets?

Barker: I’ve been in the software space since my time at Deposco and Intelligrated. I know what happens with hardware and software in warehousing. The hardware does exactly what it says on the box, but the challenge comes when putting multiple technologies together and you expect them to work nicely together—that’s where SynQ comes in.

What’s new is our renewed focus, which is more about understanding everything in our customers’ buildings. Swisslog has put all the software components together for an orchestrated, optimized building, from receiving through shipping.

We can do more as an organization to sell the benefits of our WMS [warehouse management system]. We very often talk about the hardware, but we also understand the throughput of the building.

How does your experience in warehousing, logistics, and software, as well as VP of consumer goods, inform your goals for Swisslog Logistics?

Barker: My career has been more controlled — I wanted to do operations, sales, and management. At the start of my career, my experience in just-in-time operations at a BMW manufacturing plant helped me understand the challenges of getting things out the door on the time, all the time.

I’ve also dealt with animal feed. The angriest customer is a farmer whose animals aren’t being fed on schedule.

That gave me empathy for the customers — understanding the challenges they have, how things are deployed, the vendors they’re using, and how everything impacts their daily lives. We’ve got to have empathy for customers and put ourselves in their shoes to feel what they feel.

I found that if all you’re doing is hardware, it becomes a commodity. Others will sell same technology for less than it costs to put it together. A lot of money is invested in R&D, and the whole business can shift with consolidation.

Even if your robotics hardware has clever software, what the customer really needs is a solution to run the entire building.

From my experience at Intelligrated, I learned about the software side. We talked about performant WES [warehouse execution systems]. You have to talk about integrated systems.

Costs still drive automation adoption

Supply chains have faced several disruptions in the past several years, from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent readjustment to tariffs. What’s your outlook for the industry, and how will Swisslog help its customers navigate these challenges?

Barker: Labor shortages and costs will drive rapid acceleration of automation. The challenge is the cost of deploying these technologies in a warehouse — there has to be an ROI [return on investment].

Customers want picking robots to do everything a human can do but pay less for a two-year ROI. The challenges were from the customer end. Customers see the benefits but put pressure on the companies selling those technologies. How can they deploy something advanced for the lowest possible cost?

That’s where Swisslog’s initiatives come to play. We think we can drive value and provide ROI by organizing ourselves around modular designs. By deploying proven software and hardware efficiently, we’re de-risking things a lot for the customer.

Our reputation is an organization that can deliver results and the desired customer experience in the right time frame. That’s where we’re well-positioned between software and modular designs.

Software and AI don’t equal optimization, says Barker

Where does artificial intelligence fit in to your software strategy? And can optimization be applied across facilities?

Barker: Just having software or AI doesn’t mean a warehouse is optimized. You may want to maximize throughput, so you may have to run some technologies sub-optimally to maximize it. AI can make decisions on behalf of humans in environments too complex for humans to comprehend.

Our ambition is to get AI focused. There is lots of tech to help with network design. At the highest strategic level, you can run a model for supply chains for prescriptive analytics, which I did at River Logic. Once you get that right, then you can think about optimizing individual components.

You can re-run the overall network design model based on KPIs [key performance indicators] of buildings and then feed that back. There is distributed order management tech available today that can help customers figure out what facilities to use for orders and returns.

In what sectors do you see the most opportunity for SynQ and why? What markets are more challenging?

Barker: We do really well where precision, traceability, and responsiveness are mission-critical. Food and beverage is a great place for us.

As we see things moving along — general merchandise, healthcare, e-commerce — everyone is falling into precision, traceability, and responsiveness. For Amazon, a toy might be mission-critical if a customer wants it at 3:00 p.m.

SynQ makes it easy to deliver a predictable outcome and manage SLAs [service-level agreements].

Swisslog looks to partnerships, markets, and more

As an AutoStore partner, Swisslog has helped spread ASRS deployments across Europe — are there similar plans for North America?

Barker: AutoStore has been a key partner for Swisslog for a couple decades now. We were part of putting AutoStore on the map and will continue to expand.

We can combine AutoStore with other technologies to offer solutions for customers that the smaller guys are just not offering. We talk more about integrated systems, such as conveyors, pallets, and omnichannel-type distribution.

We have a strong partnership, and not only with standalone orders. We want bigger buildings that have been more challenging for integrators where we can deploy AMRs and pallet shuttles.

Typically in the U.S., we can sell technologies we have with an ASRS and do well. We deliver systems that work and that businesses can trust for larger facilities with tens of millions of dollars of technology.

Some customers want older technology to avoid risk, while others push to look at new technologies. Who knows how long some other companies will be around?

Looking ahead, what are some of your goals?

Barker: In the coming year, most of our focus internally is on efficiency, which translates to better value for our customers. Our professional front-end people will also differentiate us.

Swisslog is taking the customers’ vision and getting technology to meet real requirements. We’re deploying it successfully and predictably, and we’re supporting it and helping companies grow.

SynQ is the glue to put this together and optimize — and not just Swisslog technology.

Finally, what are your thoughts about humanoid robots?

Barker: We don’t really need humanoids with legs in a warehouse. That said, if someone like Tesla can develop a humanoid that costs $15k that you could program to do almost anything, then it becomes really interesting.

At that cost, the same robot could be used in your house, in automotive assembly, and in warehouses. It could be controlled with software to do specific tasks. To do that at scale would be super interesting.

Editor’s note: RoboBusiness 2025, which will be on Oct. 15 and 16 in Santa Clara, Calif., will feature tracks on physical AI, enabling technologies, humanoids, field robotics, design and development, and business. Registration is now open.