[FR] Warehouse automation: where do we stand? Where are we heading?

According to the latest estimates from LogisticsIQ*, by 2028 the market for automated logistics solutions could exceed 44 billion dollars. And as the years go by, warehouse automation is incorporating more and more cutting-edge technologies to meet the growing demands of the logistics sector, in terms of both efficiency and quality.

Here, we take a look at the state of the art of these innovations, their benefits and emerging trends.

What are the benefits of warehouse automation?

From e-commerce to mass distribution, all sectors of activity are equipping themselves with automated systems to manage their logistics activities.

Companies are increasingly turning to these technologies for the following benefits:

• Increased speed and productivity. Automation makes it possible to meet the increased demands of customers, who want both faster deliveries and optimum quality of service.
• Fewer logistical errors. Machines make fewer errors than humans, particularly in terms of order preparation and stock management, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and company profitability.
• Warehouse flexibility. Technology helps logisticians cope with order peaks and variations in logistics flows.
• Reducing human costs. These technologies make it possible to overcome the problem of recruiting logistics operators, by reducing labour requirements.

What types of warehouse automation exist today?

All stages of the supply chain are now impacted by the arrival of automated systems, enabling overall optimisation of the supply chain. Here are a few examples of how logistics departments are using them.

Automating information gathering

It is now possible to automate the collection of information in the logistics warehouse, without the need for human intervention.

These types of automation are based on :

• Machine Vision, i.e. cameras that can track behaviour and movements, to retrace an operator’s entire route, for example, and ensure quality control during order preparation.
• IoT (Internet of Things) sensors. For example, a parcel can be checked automatically on a conveyor belt, with photos taken, labelling, weight checks, etc. This information can be used to guide the physical process (anomaly zone, return, etc.) and traceability, to pass on information to the customer or customer service.
• Drones, which can be used to carry out a logistics inventory by scanning all the products in the storage area.

Automated picking

The picking phase in the warehouse can also be automated, thanks to :

• An automated storage system for totes. The bins are connected to conveyors, which automatically transport the products to the order-picking area.
• Robotic arms, which can retrieve products from one aisle to another, thus limiting the number of movements required of order pickers.

Automation of internal flows

Thanks to logistics automation, warehouses can also speed up the movement of goods within the warehouse, without the need for human intervention.

This can be achieved by :

• Conveyors for totes or pallets, which transport products from one area of the warehouse to another
• Automated guided vehicles, also known as AGVs
• stacker cranes, i.e. handling equipment that automatically moves lengthwise and heightwise in the storage aisles
• Mobile robots, 100% autonomous and automated
• Pallet shuttles, i.e. storage systems with motorised shuttles

Automated vehicle loading and unloading

Semi-automatic systems can be used to load and unload goods from lorries at the warehouse docks. Note that these systems still require human intervention for fine control, even if this is minimal.

Automated product packaging

Many warehouses are installingautomated order-picking machines. These reduce the tediousness of repetitive tasks for operators, and increase the rate at which products are packed.

These may include :

• Automatic strapping machines or semi-automatic
• Automatic or semi-automaticstretch-wrappers, programmable according to palletising requirements

Total warehouse automation

Some companies have opted to fully automate their warehouses. These are known as dark warehouses: spaces where no human being works, and all operations are automated. They’re called dark warehouses because no lighting is needed – because machines don’t need light to work!

The prerequisites for setting up automated systems

Interested in setting up automated systems in your warehouse? Here are the three prerequisites you need to incorporate into your project to make it a success.

Carry out a feasibility study

The first step is to determine whether your warehouse would really benefit from automating your processes. These technologies require substantial investment, so you need to ensure that you deploy them only if they can bring you a real ROI, rather than just a trend.

Determine which logistics operations can be automated. These are generally the ones that are repetitive and constant, and where the risk of error is very high. It is the real needs of your warehouse that should guide the implementation of your automated systems.

Implementing a Warehouse Management System (WMS)

The deployment of a Warehouse Management System (WMS ) is essential to any warehouse automation project. This type of warehouse management software enables you to monitor your logistics operations in real time, and coordinates the various automated installations. It must be integrated with the automation systems you are putting in place.

Train your logistics teams

In most warehouses, machines cannot completely replace humans – and is that even desirable? It is therefore necessary to train your teams in these automated processes, to make them aware of their own roles in relation to the technology, and to carry out genuine change management throughout your project.

What is the future of warehouse automation?

Automation-assisted logistics management should continue to progress over time, with ever more advanced technologies.

Artificial Intelligence to automate warehouses

Many logistics software packages are already starting to incorporate Artificial Intelligence, to help logisticians achieve even greater automation.

As Jos DE VUYST, CEO of stow Group, explains in our guide “What will the warehouse of the future look like?:

“A lot of robotics software today incorporates a layer of Artificial Intelligence, based on machine learning. Eventually, these robots will know what tasks to carry out, without a human even needing to ask them. And we can imagine that, if this technology goes as far as integrating deep learning, the robots could even become 100% autonomous, and carry out their own maintenance operations.”

Pooling data on a single platform

The second development to be predicted for the future of logistics automation is a platform that would unify all the data linked to a product’s order path, from its arrival in stock to its delivery to the customer.

Baudouin DE MARTENE, pre-sales consultant at Reflex (HARDIS GROUP), explains:

“Today we see logistics chains where data is tracked from one warehouse to another, where this data circulates between different logistics IT systems. WMS work with mechanisation technologies, automation, Transport Management Systems… In short: no solution works alone any more. This is why, in the long term, logistics will have to be part of a potentially shared network between different players in the sector. We are already talking about the physical Internet in logistics: this image speaks for itself. It is this pooling that will enable us to meet the challenges of cost, ecology and warehouse productivity.

Logistics prediction at the heart of automation

Finally, thanks to the IoT, logistics robots and automated systems, tomorrow’s logistics experts will have more opportunities than ever to collect data on their supply chain. The more data they have at their disposal, the more they will be able to predict actions (on their marketing needs, on their stock, on their sales, on their production, etc.).

Want to dive even deeper into the future of logistics? Download our white paper on the warehouse of the future, and project yourself into the future of your business in 2050.

* Logistics IQ study