The Automation Journey Episode 2

Vendor selection isn’t about the slickest pitch. It’s about who stays when the system breaks.

You’re planning a major warehouse automation project. Multiple vendors, integrated systems, tight timelines. But how do you protect your ROI when the real world doesn’t match the business case?

Lina Alvarado is a Director of Supply Planning and Execution with over 20 years in supply chain and distribution operations. She led the transformation of a major distribution center from 250,000 to 800,000 square feet of highly integrated automation – from business case through go-live. The project succeeded, but not without hard lessons along the way.

This is a podcast for operations and engineering leaders who want clear answers and a practical path forward. Hosted by Rocrich AGV Solutions, the show cuts through brownfield complexity, 24-month payback mandates, safety sign-offs, and siloed teams to give you real-world playbooks, credible ROI framing, and the practical first steps that turn automation ambition into results.

Key Takeaways
◼️ Why vendor system interfaces – not the technology itself – are the single greatest source of risk, and how one failed connection can collapse an entire operation
◼️ How to build ROI models that hold up under pressure, and why running 12-15 scenario variations before committing to three keeps projects within budget
◼️ Why SLAs need post-go-live troubleshooting speed commitments, not just delivery milestones, and how to keep the right experts engaged after implementation
◼️ How to identify vendor risk before you sign, from staff turnover rates to which scope elements are subcontracted
◼️ Why training time is consistently underestimated in live-environment transitions – and how to protect your team’s readiness when the old facility keeps pulling resources back
◼️ How to document automation processes by assigning a dedicated non-expert to capture SOPs because those who build the system are rarely the ones who can write clear instructions for others

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:58 Initial vision and DC design
03:09 Automated components: AutoStore, conveyors, sorters, labelling
07:00 System interface challenges across multiple vendors
08:31 ROI modelling: scenarios, variables, and what changed
16:45 Vendor selection: what to ask that most teams miss
21:31 What to include in service level agreements
29:51 The pain of making integrated automation work
34:38 Bridging the knowledge gap after vendors leave
37:24 Retaining vendor experts post-go-live
48:38 Four-phase playbook: sales, design, pre-go-live, post-go-live

What’s next?
Subscribe, review, and share with others who are evaluating or implementing complex automated systems and want to know what it really takes to make them work.
Visit Rocrich to discover how their team helps operations and engineering leaders implement mobile automation in even the toughest manufacturing and logistics environments.
Connect with Colin Hutchings and Lina Alvarado on LinkedIn.
You can also listen to The Automation Journey on Apple and Spotify.

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