WERC 2026: The "Scientific Method" for Scaling Your 3PL

If Manifest is about the "shiny future" and MODEX is about the "heavy steel," WERC (Warehousing Education and Research Council) is about the math.

For the owner of a growing fulfillment shop like Pack’n or a mid-market leader like Barrett Distribution, WERC 2026 (May 17–20 in Jacksonville) is where you go to find out if your warehouse is actually performing—or if you're just busy. It is the only show dedicated 100% to the discipline of warehousing.

Here is why it’s a non-negotiable for the "Operational" 3PL:

1. The "Why": Benchmarking vs. Guessing

Most 3PL owners think they know their picks-per-hour or their dock-to-stock time. But at WERC, you get the DC Measures report—the gold standard of industry benchmarks.

The High ROI Move: Comparing your internal metrics against the top 20% of the industry. If you’re at 60 picks per hour and the industry leaders are at 95, WERC shows you the specific process gaps (not just the expensive robots) that will close that gap.

2. The Mid-Market Opportunity: Efficiency is Your Best Margin

Mid-market 3PLs often can’t out-spend the "Big 3" on marketing, so they have to out-execute them on margins. WERC is heavily focused on Process Optimization.

For the Boutique Provider: You don't need a $10M sorter to be more profitable. Sometimes, you just need a better "slotting" strategy or a more disciplined labor-management plan. WERC gives you the blueprint for these "low-cost, high-impact" wins.

3. What’s New for 2026?

The 2026 tracks in Jacksonville are leaning hard into the "Human-Machine Teaming" era:

The Agentic Warehouse: Moving beyond simple WMS tasks to software that "thinks" and re-sequences work based on real-time carrier delays.

Culture as a Metric: A major focus on leadership (featuring the Savannah Bananas’ head coach) to solve the #1 3PL headache: front-line turnover.

Co-Location with MHI: By co-locating with the MHI Spring Meeting, you get access to the "brains" behind the equipment you saw at MODEX.

4. How to Guarantee ROI: The "Facility Tour" Strategy

The ticket price for WERC pays for itself through one thing: The Tours. * Go Behind the Scenes: WERC Jacksonville features tours of world-class facilities (like Johnstone Supply). You get to see exactly how they handle returns, how they stage their "last mile" area, and what their breakroom looks like.

Send the "Operator": This is the perfect show to send your General Manager or Facility Manager. They will come back with a list of 50 small changes that can immediately reduce "waste" in your four walls.

The Bottom Line

If you want to move from "Owner-Operator" to "Strategic Leader," you have to master the metrics. WERC isn't about the hype; it's about the hard data that allows you to walk into a client meeting and prove you are more efficient than your competition.