According to FM Logistic’s “Warehouse Automation” document, there is a positive outlook towards full automation in e-commerce and B2B warehouses over the next 5-10 years.
The implantation of warehouse automation follows a steady upward trajectory as most organizations, whatever their size, scale, and industry, have realized the importance of space optimization and the efficiency of warehouse operations as responsible for business success.
Currently, partial automation is the most widespread option. According to this study by FM Logistic -carried out among companies in the sectors: FMCG, retail and cosmetics and beauty– 80% of companies have adopted partial automation in their eCommerce warehouses and 84% in their B2B warehouses. However, 76% of organizations operating a partially automated eCommerce warehouse and 45% of those operating a partially automated B2B warehouse intend to fully automate them in the future. Different factors explain this decision.
94% of the companies consider that the improvement of the efficiency, accuracy and customer service they are the main drivers of change in these spaces. Error reduction is cited by 90% of organizations for eCommerce warehouses, and increased security is cited by 86% of organizations for B2B warehouses.
Furthermore, this trend is fueled by the rapid rise of e-commerce. Innovations, the growing popularity of the supply chain as a service (SCaaS) model, and increasing access to technological advances are also catalyzing this trend toward full automation.
Different speed in automation
While most organizations surveyed have partially automated e-commerce warehouses, large organizations seem be traveling the path of automation more quickly than the small ones. According to the FM Logistic survey, 43% of large organizations currently have fully automated e-commerce warehouses, while respectively only 9% of medium-sized and 4% of small organizations have fully automated warehouses.
In the case of B2B warehouses, 30% of large companies have fully automated their B2B warehouses, compared to 24% of medium-sized ones and 6% of small ones.
Many companies surveyed plan to fully automate their warehouses to increase their efficiency in handling high volume orders, product customizations, and frequent returns/reverse logistics to meet the needs of a rapidly growing market.
By sectors, 100% of the companies in the cosmetics and beauty sector they plan to fully automate their e-commerce warehouses in the future. This trend is explained by the boom in online luxury sales in recent years.
There is also a real need for automation regarding their own health and working conditions of the staff. “In Europe, more than 45% of workers in the transport and storage sector reported suffering from back pain and musculoskeletal disorders. Automation can improve or deteriorate ergonomics and working conditions depending on its design. It can eliminate unpleasant tasks, but it can also increase repetitiveness and speed, which will worsen working conditions”, explains Romain Chevallet, Head of Occupational Health at FM Logistic Group. “That is why we are implementing tools and methods from QHSE practices and process engineering to integrate human factors into the design of our automation projects.” Automation provides a safer environment when it comes to the interaction between workers and equipment.
