Warehouse automation on track to reach 26% of sites by 2027
Technology predicted to spread despite tumbling number of new warehouse constructions due to global economic downturn, Interact Analysis says.
Warehouse automation is spreading fast, with more than one-quarter of sites (26%) expected to have some form of automation installed by 2027, up from 14% in 2017 and 18% at the end of 2021, according to a report from Interact Analysis.
The steep rise illustrates the impact of factors such as labor shortages and the acceleration in e-commerce fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm said.
Momentum for the trend is also on track to buck restraints like a predicted fall of 35% in the number of new warehouses added to global building stock during 2023 compared with the previous year, as triggered by the global economic downturn and a post-Covid market correction.
The sectors with the highest penetration rate of warehouse automation will be the food & beverage and the parcel areas, which act as “low hanging fruit” due to both the predictability of throughput and the size/weight of items handled, Interact Analysis found.