Automated Supply Chains Take an Inevitable First Step

The Rio Tinto mining company announced Monday that two of its iron ore mines in Western Australia are starting operations with completely driverless trucks hauling iron ore at the mines. It is the first such operation for Rio Tinto, or any other company for that matter, and is another step in Australia's effort to remain the lowest-cost producer of iron ore exports. More important, it is a telling step in an inevitable process: progress toward automation in economies of the developed world....