GLOBAL WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MARKET
INTRODUCTION
Warehouse is a strategic decoupling point in the supply chain, which helps businesses to match demand with supply and help tackle the uncertainties. Warehouse has five basic operations to perform: Receiving, Put-away, storage, order picking and shipping.
The exact number of operations depend on the type of warehouse (Warehouse, Distribution Centre, Cross dock facility), product and type of orders that are received. Automation helps businesses help improve their business performance metrics, which are key for their business success.
The emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the advent of a network of connected systems are helping industries perform a multitude of tasks, such as material batching, picking, ordering, packaging, warehouse security, and inspection, as well as improve the operational efficiency by huge margins.
UPCOMING WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES
| Technology | Description | Area of operation | Improvement Metrics | Industry of application | Companies that provide |
| Picking Robots | Robotic arms that help in picking and sorting of packages & parcels | Receiving and Shipping | Responsiveness | e-commerce, online grocery, Courier delivery, FMCG, Automobile, Chemicals | 6 River Systems, Fetch Robotics, Geek+, Fabric |
| Optical recognition using computer vision | A scanner system which is driven by computer vision to read information on parcels and packages for assortment | Receiving and Shipping | Reliability and Responsiveness | Courier delivery, post | Geek+, Righthand Robotics, Fabric |
| Multi shuttle system/ automated storage/retrieval systems (AS/RSs) | System that helps in storage of goods in large racks, with robotic shuttles moving in three dimensions on rails attached to the structure | Put-away and order picking | Responsiveness | Courier delivery, e-commerce, online grocery | 6 River Systems, Fabric |
| Goods-to-Person technology (G2P) | Similar to AS/RS, G2P technology includes goods-to-person picking robots that deliver items to picking stations, where operators are stationed to fill orders as items are delivered. | Put-away and order picking | Responsiveness | Courier delivery, e-commerce, online grocery, Automotive | 6 River Systems, Geek+ |
| Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) | Drones are used for pick and place orders; they can be used for parcels or packages of lesser weight | Put-away and order picking | Responsiveness and Cost | Courier delivery and Post | 6 River Systems |
| Augmented Reality (AR) Glasses | AR wearables enable the workers in assisting their work, like helping them with directions, sorting, etc. | Receiving, Put-away, Order picking and Shipping | Responsiveness, Agility | FMCG, F&B Cross Dock, Automobile, Chemicals, Agri Products | Jasoren, SCANDIT |
| Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) | Vehicles that move freely on digital tracts with instructions to move goods with warehouse | Put-away and order picking | Cost and Agility | Automotive, Chemicals, Agri Products, FMCG | 6 River Systems, Fetch Robotics, Geek+, Locus |
| Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) | Operations personnel can reliably automate data collection workflows 24/7 and pinpoint inventory through automatic identification and data capture at any moment | Storage | Reliability | FMCG, Automobile | 6 River Systems, Fetch Robotics, Geek+ |
| Warehouse Management Systems | Management system to integrate the planning, forecasting along with inventory management functions | Storage | Cost, Reliability and Asset Utilization | All Industries | Righthand Robotics |
| Blockchain | Helps integrate various business functions and gives business the transparency needed for inventory management, which helps in accurate planning and forecasts | Storage | Cost, Reliability and Asset Utilization | All Industries | Open ledger, Ever ledger, Open port |
OVERVIEW OF WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MARKET
Warehouse automation is the application of particular equipment and storage and retrieval systems to perform the tasks previously handled by unskilled and semi-skilled labour. As the term suggests, it is the automation of repetitive processes which previously required labour.
The growth in the e-commerce industry worldwide and the growing need for efficient warehousing and inventory management drive market growth. Automation in warehousing offers extreme convenience when it comes to cutting down the overall business costs and reducing errors in product deliveries.
According to DHL, a prominent 3PL company and a significant end-user of warehouse automation solutions, despite the advantages, 80% of warehouses are “still manually operated with no supporting automation.”
Furthermore, warehouses that use conveyors, sorters, and pick and place solutions, among other equipment (not necessarily automated), account for 15% of the total warehouses. In contrast, only 5% of the current warehouses are automated.
Additionally, amidst the COVID-19 situation, the warehouse and e-commerce market has been experiencing a crippling effect on the business operations owing to the major challenges posed by disruptions in the supply chain management and lack of workers. However, leveraging the automated systems, companies are expecting to revamp their operations. This instance is expected to drive the growth of the market going forward.
WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MARKET DYNAMICS
| SI.no | Timeline | Developments |
| 1 | Q4-2021 | Companies in the UK are shifting to automate the warehouses due to the disruption in labour shortages after Covid pandemic and Britain’s exit from the European Union. Demands for products are increased in online sales after the pandemic, to meet the customer requirement industries are adopting automation facilities. |
| 2 | Q4-2021 | Honeywell set up its new research and development center in Europe, as a major hub for an innovative warehouse automation testing facility at Czech Republic. |
| 3 | Q1-2021 | OPEX, a global automation solution provider expanded its business operations in Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherland by partnering with Vanas engineering leading provider of software and intralogistics warehouse solutions. |
| 4 | Q2-2021 | Geek+ unveiled its new autonomous mobile robot picking in CEVA Logistics warehouse for e-commerce operations. Geek+ expanded its robotic automation to Singapore by setting up a new office. |
| 5 | Q2-2021 | IAM Robotics launches its new mid size automated mobile robot called ‘Bolt’ with high tech features for effective material handling. |
| 6 | Q2-2021 | RightHand Robotics launched its new generation autonomous RightPick product called RightPick 3 system, which is an RightPick AI robot supported by fleet management software.The robot continuously understands, executes, plans and provides faster, safety and reliability in the automation process. |
| 7 | Q4-2021 | Amazon opened its new manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, USA to increase manufacturing capacity and its growth. |
The upcoming trends are mostly driven by two major changes in technology: 5G and Artificial Intelligence.
With 5G the latency has reduced drastically which has improved the productivity and performance of many of the autonomous vehicles. Technologies like Fibre, DOCSIS 3.X, LPWAN in the fixed coverage segment can also enable performance but the adoption rate of 5G is much higher.
Improvement in AI has enabled computer vision and Augmented reality which can help in improving productivity in warehouses, AI can enable vision quality which helps in online grocery and F&B industry to help optimize the quality control processes, also AI helps in reading texts and recognizing images helping in enabling worker’s performance.
Blockchain is one other technology which is still in the nascent stage as the adoption is expected at an industry level rather than at a warehouse level, but this technology can help in improving the inventory verification processes and help in optimizing inventory at a multi echelon level.
WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MARKET SEGMENTATION
GLOBAL WAREHOUSING AUTOMATION MARKET TRENDS
| SI.no | Timeline | Company | Developments |
| 1 | Q4-2021 | Honeywell | Honeywell launched its new automated systems for warehouse management by using advanced Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems to maximize order achievement and also to efficient use of storage developed by artificial intelligence and machine learning. |
| 2 | Q1-2021 | DSV Logistics | DSV Logistics to automate its 20 centres of warehouses across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. |
| 3 | Q4-2021 | Locus Robotics | Locus Robotics is the leading autonomous mobile robots for warehouse automation received the Gold award for the top warehouse automation company, the company also opened its new headquarters at Amsterdam, Europe. |
| 4 | Q3-2021 | Fabric Robotics | Fabric Robotics is partnered to provide its advanced automated technology solutions to North America based grocery platform, Instacart with the multi year deal. |
| 5 | Q4-2021 | Zebra Technologies | Automation solution provider Zebra Technologies acquired automated mobile robots provider Fetch Robotics to maximize its customer services. |
| 6 | Q2-2021 | Tompkins Robotics and IAM Robotics | Tompkins Robotics partnered with IAM Robotics and developed a new robotic application by enhancing the present t-sort system by adding an xChange system to automate the order fulfillment process. |
Warehouse operations contribute to a majority of resource consumption. As various companies demand new solutions to improve warehouses’ efficiency and reduce cost, the deployment of warehouse robots is set to increase.
For instance, Alibaba, the world’s largest retailer, has upgraded to robotic labour in one of its warehouses. This has resulted in dramatically reducing the labour workforce by 70% by creating an opportunity for a highly-skilled workforce.
Mobile robots are witnessing high growth in small and medium warehouses with smaller pallet sizes. In contrast, the industrial applications in large warehouses dedicated to food and beverage demand articulated and palletizing robots. The growth in overall automation levels allows processing and packaging plants to introduce new products on the same assembly lines.
Moreover, one out of five packaging and processing plants already deal with more than 100 product types, with a majority expecting this number to increase in the next few years. These goals have further resulted in the warehouses equalling the developments in manufacturing segments and making logistics seamless. It results in removing or mitigating any risk that can lead to creating a bottleneck situation.
COVID-19 IMPACT ON WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION MARKET
Automation plays a featured role during the pandemic that supports social distancing and avoiding contaminated arenas. The COVID-19 outbreak has a widespread impact on the supply chain network and capacity layout of many organizations.
In India, corporates like Mahindra, Shriram Pistons, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, CEAT Tyres, Maruti and VE Commercial Vehicles are seeking interest in adopting automation technology for manufacturing sites.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
| SI.no | Timeline | Company | Developments |
| 1 | Q4-2021 | Photoneo | Photoneo provides automated solutions in Robotic vision and intelligence, has raised $21 million from its Series B funding, and it will be used for the development of 3D sensor technologies and also for new unit Brightpick’s business expansion which provides automated services for warehouses. |
| 2 | Q2-2021 | AutoStore | AutoStore delivers its 600 robotic systems globally, which is implemented by using Element Logic’s software for the warehouse automation facility. |
| 3 | Q4-2021 | Fabric Robotics | Israel based Fabric Robotics raised $200 million Series C funding with a $1 billion valuation to meet the market demand and also to compete with its rivals. |
| 4 | Q4-2021 | Wise Robotics and BS Handling Systems | Wise Robotics partnered BS Handling Systems to supply automation services on a large scale for warehouses in all types of categories. |
| 5 | Q4-2021 | RightHand Robotics | RightHand Robotics raised $19 million from its new round of funding to develop new products, business expansion and development. |
The impact of the pandemic on the warehouse industry will have long lasting effects on the industrial sector. From concerns of worker safety to the rush to keep up with the surge in e-commerce orders, the need for increased warehouse automation became evident.
Providing for an employee’s well-being, especially in a fast-paced, competitive distribution environment, is a critical success factor. Workers face a greater risk of injury when they are tired from working long hours, or continually doing repetitive and physically demanding tasks.
Boston Dynamics has created a machine called “Stretch,” which is capable of moving 800 boxes per hour in the warehouse and can potentially be used to unload trucks, strip cases off pallets, and transfer cartons to conveyors. This was driven by the need to manage high-speed operations as well as mitigate the increasing cost of labor.
In June-2021, DHL extended its agreement with Locus Robotics to continue expanding its automation collaboration. DHL plans to add 2000 robots by 2022, making Locus Robotics largest customer. DHL already has more than 500 assisted picking robots in use today and plans to add 500 more to more than 20 locations by the end of 2021.
In June-2021, Amazon has introduced new robots that can improve worker safety at warehouses and help reduce pressure and strain on employees. Furthermore, Amazon hopes to improve warehouse automation in order to reduce warehouse related worker incidents by half over the next 5 years.
In February-2020, ABB Limited and Covariant announced a partnership to bring AI-enabled robotics solutions to market, starting with a fully autonomous warehouse order fulfillment solution and the partnership brings together the two companies with a common vision for robotics enabled by AI, where intelligent robots work alongside humans in dynamic environments, collectively learning and improving with every task completed.
In September-2019, Honeywell had signed an agreement with retail supply chain services provider “The Apparel Logistics Group” to help the company in the expansion of the e-commerce order output at its distribution center in Dallas. Under this agreement, The Apparel Logistics Group, which engages in third-party logistics and order fulfillment services for apparel, footwear, and accessories will incorporate Honeywell ‘s automated material handling solutions.
COMPANY PROFILES
- 6 River Systems
- Fetch Robotics
- Geek+
- Fabric
- Righthand Robotics
- Jasoren
- SCANDIT
- Locus
- Openledger
- Everledger
- ABB Ltd.
- Amazon Robotics
- FANUC Corporation
- Geodis
- Honeywell International
- IAM Robotics
- KUKA
- SSI Schaefer AG
- Wynright Corp.
- Omron Corporation
- Yaskawa Electric Corporation
