The Impact of Robotics in Warehouse Automation
Published on : Tuesday 14-02-2023
Surge in the adoption of robotics in warehouse management systems and the rise in E-commerce sales fuel the growth of the warehouse automation systems industry, says Harshada Dive.
The global expansion of e-commerce and rising need for adequate inventory and proper warehousing management have boosted the demand for warehouse automation solutions. It’s expected that over the coming years, the warehouse automation system will overtake manual alternatives as a more desirable option. In order to reduce labor costs significantly, integrating automated storage systems into company's operations has now become a preferred choice among business owners. Additionally, with advanced technologies such as machine learning on board, warehouse automation systems have become more efficient, executing complex repetitive tasks easily.
According to a recent report by Allied Market Research, the global warehouse automation systems market is expected to display a noteworthy CAGR from 2022 to 2031. Rising manufacturing complexity, technological advancements, and the exponential rise in e-commerce firms highly drive the warehouse automation market growth. For instance, HighJump (Körber) introduced HighJump CLASS in April 2019, the company's most recent tool which is designed to generate proper warehouse logistics plans. HighJump CLASS enables companies worldwide to stay connected to the future supply chain and remain competitive.
Adoption of robotics in warehouse automation and its impact
By 2050, robotic technology will be used in manufacturing for 45 percent of all tasks, predicts Bank of America. By incorporating automated technology into their factories, large businesses such as Raymond Limited, an Indian textile giant, and Foxconn Technology, a Chinese supplier for major technology companies like Samsung, have dismissed 10,000 and 60,000 workers respectively.
The global market for warehouse robots has been expanding due to the rapid development of warehouses, rising investments in warehouse automation, availability of scalable technological solutions, and increasing labor costs worldwide. For instance, despite the unfavorable commercial rental environment, well-known logistics companies like DHL, NFI Logistics, and XPO Logistics are expanding their projects.
Moreover, Mobile robotic picking solutions provided by businesses like GreyOrange, IAM robotics, and Bleum increase process efficiency to a new level. Companies with large warehouses and high throughput transactions are paying attention to growing technological advancements such as pallet jacks and forklifts.
Many companies are forming strategies and collaborative partnerships with various start-up companies to increase their market share and revenue. These companies include FANUC Corporation, Honeywell International, Inc., Yaskawa Electric Corporation, Inc., SSI Schaefer AG, Kuka AG, Locus Robotics, Fetch Robotics, Inc., ABB Ltd., Automation Tooling Systems, Amazon Robotics, Omron Corporation, and GreyOrange. For example, In September 2021, ABB Limited introduced the robotic work cell 'FlexBuffer' for e-commerce supply chain operation. For the logistics, food and beverage, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, restaurant, and retailer industries; FlexBuffer offers new levels of flexibility. It provides a highly pliable multi-functional solution to manage various tasks, including order consolidation, buffering, storage and sequencing. In 2021, ABB Limited came up with a white paper that focused on robotics and automation to address the opportunities and challenges accelerated by Covid-19, including e-commerce growth, labor shortages, and omnichannel distribution.
In April 2021, Skubana, a top inventory management system and e-commerce operations platform, was purchased by 3PL Central, one of the pioneers in cloud-based warehouse management systems (WMS). 3PL Central has widened its supply chain technology, including intelligent order routing and inventory management and delivering an integrated fulfillment service from the shopping cart to the warehouse.
Rising growth in E-commerce drives the market
Rapid growth of the e-commerce sector and increased business awareness of warehouse solutions are supplementing the market growth in several ways. The pandemic has further accelerated the industry's adoption of warehouse automation tools to enhance business operations. For instance, in November 2022, Alliance Automotive Group, an independent truck, and automotive parts distributor, and Manhattan Associates Inc., collaborated to launch Manhattan Active Warehouse Management and Manhattan Active Transportation Management to streamline order processing and improve user experience. Businesses across the world increased their investment in warehouse automotive systems during the pandemic to manage the supply and demand chain change.
FedEx and Microsoft Corporation introduced new cross-platform logistic services for e-commerce in January 2022. Customer engagement has now been made much easier by this new e-commerce platform, which also gives users better shipping options.
Also, big businesses with many warehouses and distribution centers are taking recourse to acquisition strategies to cut labor costs and boost profits. For instance, until 2020, Amazon had more than two lakh mobile robots working in its network of warehouses alongside thousands of workers in the United States. This robot has helped the company fulfill its commitments to the Amazon Prime customers about expedited deliveries.
In order to serve a broader target audience, the companies in the market are also looking to increase their footprints in the automation sector. For example, Addverb Technologies, a supplier of warehouses and factories, declared in February 2022 that it was expanding into North and South America. Also, Kroger Companies reported in January 2021 that it would construct an automated warehouse in North Carolina using Ocado to process online orders. The 200,000-square-foot North Carolina CFC is expected to open for business 24 months after the official site is developed.
Warehouse automation technology includes:
• AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems)
• GTP (Good-to-person)
• Pick-to-Light and Put-to-Light Systems
• AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles)
• AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots)
• Voice Picking and Tasking
• Automated Sortation Systems
Covid-19 impact
The Covid-19 outbreak significantly affected the warehousing, distribution, and industrial processes. However, its impact on the automation system market was more positive than negative. The unprecedented situation led the majority of warehouse operators to adopt automation and robotics. Those who had successfully implemented it also showed how to make workplaces safer by minimising direct worker communication while increasing productivity to meet the rising demand for e-commerce. During the time, thousands of small and large businesses were closed whereas the e-commerce business witnessed a significant rise. Thus, manufacturing industries were increasingly implementing digital technologies like automation, cloud-based systems, and digitisation, which boosted the global warehouse automation market in several ways.
Harshada Dive is an engineer by qualification. She has previous experience working as a customer service associate. As an associate content writer, she loves to experiment with trending topics. Harshada also enjoys gardening and listening to motivational podcasts.
