By the time 2030 rolls around, global companies will invest roughly $59 billion a year in new warehouse automation systems and solutions (up from the current $19 million). Some of that investment will go to full facility transformations but not all automation investments have to take that route. In fact, some of the solutions on the market can be fairly easy to implement and use without breaking the bank.
What’s Related
Right now, the automation market covers a broad range of products and services, including hardware, software and integration services. Retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics are among the biggest adopters, and the buyers in those categories include large enterprises, midsized companies, and smaller operations.
Credit flexible financing models with opening the doors of automation to a wider audience and effectively “democratizing” technology and making it much more accessible. Put simply, companies no longer need large upfront capital projects to move forward with automation. The market now supports a much more budget-friendly path.
And it’s not just about investments and budgets either. Large projects consume a lot of time and resources, while more modular, phased-in strategies can be implemented more quickly. For example, adding mobile robots can free up workers to manage higher-value tasks while automated scanning tools can improve accuracy and speed up basic processes.
“Automation keeps getting more cost-effective,” says William Boer, Senior Director of Solution Development at Dematic. “Companies are using this period of uncertainty to invest and build capabilities, knowing that they’ll be better positioned to take market share once economic conditions improve.”
Keeping pace with demand
Current labor market conditions are also driving more warehouse and DC operators to rethink their automation strategies. The drivers include both rising labor costs and the fact that some companies don’t have the people to move the work they already have. Boer knows of one regional food wholesaler that has to move 90,000 cases a day but only has the manpower to ship 60,000.
“Those missing 30,000 cases go straight to the competition,” he says. “Automation helps companies hold onto that volume and keep pace with demand.” Rather than letting that volume slip away, companies can use automation to fill in the gaps, keep orders moving and meet daily targets.
Start Here: The Lowest Hanging Fruit
Organizations in the early stages of their automation journeys can start with pallet runs, which are often the simplest and most affordable upgrade for warehouses. Where traditional operations rely on operators driving pallet jacks or lift trucks, autonomous mobile robots can be added and used to move pallets from point A to point B. These reliable workhorses operate quietly in the background and fit into existing layouts with minimal disruption.
“Pallet transport is the lowest hanging fruit in many warehouses,” Boer says. “AMRs are gentle. They don’t run into building columns or tip loads over; they just keep working quietly and smoothly.”
Companies don’t need a full facility overhaul or a new workflow to use AMRs. Boer notes that dedicated paths help, but many operations run mixed environments where humans and AMRs work side by side. Because they bolt onto what’s already there, AMRs give warehouses a quick win without blowing the budget.
Next level tools
Robotic picking is a practical next step. Boer says unit picking tasks, like selecting items from totes delivered by conveyors, AMRs, or goods to person systems, are increasingly good candidates for automation as that technology improves. Robotic picking tools are becoming more capable, easier to integrate, and capable of supporting higher accuracy and throughput without major workflow changes.
Not every upgrade involves robotics. Sometimes a simple lift assist device can make a big difference. Boer says these tools have been around for years but remain underutilized, even though they make demanding manual tasks easier and safer. He points to one company that builds mixed pallets of heavy bags of dog food. Operators initially insisted they could lift the bags without help, and without factoring in how that strain builds over an 8-hour shift.
“With a lift assist device,” says Boer, “almost anyone can handle those heavy bags more safely and consistently.”
Here are three more ways Boer says companies can take advantage of affordable automation:
Mobile putwall: A flexible way to add order consolidation capacity during short but intense peak seasons. Operators batch pick items, scan them, and place them into mobile shelves with discrete order slots. When a shelf is full, it moves to packing. The hardware and user devices have low incremental costs, making this a good seasonal overload option.
AGVs: Automated guided vehicles can handle repetitive pallet storage and retrieval tasks and work safely around people. They deliver to flexible locations without permanent conveyor paths. Tuggers can supplement an existing conveyor system or handle difficult materials that show up only a few times a year.
Case- and tote-level AMRs: These AMRs can transport and sort items, deliver sequenced totes to workstations, or send specific cartons to where they are needed with little notice. They help reduce manual touches and support faster, more consistent order processing.
Knowing that every company maps its automation differently, Boer suggests a flexible, scalable approach that adapts to changing order profiles, product mixes, and customer demands. Modular automation options support this approach by giving operations room to grow without locking them into systems that no longer fit.
“The amount of change that takes place in an operation over a 5-10 year period can be dramatic,” Boer says. “Modular automation gives companies the flexibility to adjust as those changes happen.”
