Mitigating Labour Scarcity and Land Costs: SSI Schaefer Korea Brings Global Best Practices to Domestic Manufacturers

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Modern warehouse transformation is no longer about standalone equipment, but about building resilient, scalable intralogistics ecosystems. Labour shortages, volatile e-commerce demand, and operational pressures are forcing facilities across South Korea to rethink how they store and move goods. According to SSI Schaefer Korea's Head of Sales, Jeon Jae Beom, over half of its customers in South Korea are upgrading facilities to meet evolving needs.

To address these challenges, SSI Schaefer Korea is drawing on global intralogistics experience to help Korean manufacturers modernise more effectively.

True modernisation relies on software integration rather than isolated machinery upgrades as disconnected automation can create operational bottlenecks. Increasingly, warehouse modernisation is being approached as a phased journey, allowing operators to improve capacity, automation and software capabilities over time rather than treating transformation as a single large-scale investment.

Reclaim Capacity Through High-Density Storage

With commercial and industrial land prices in South Korea rising continuously, physical expansions are becoming an operational non-starter. Forward-looking facilities are bypassing costly real estate acquisitions by shifting from horizontal storage to vertical density. By pairing vertical lift modules with intelligent inventory management software, operators can recover floor capacity within existing facilities. Precision machine tool manufacturer Hardinge Kellenberger demonstrated this transformation by integrating six LOGIMAT® Vertical Lift Modules and WAMAS Lift & Store, reducing the total logistics area by 35% without structural building modifications.

Orchestrate Automation for End-to-End Flow

Deploying autonomous hardware without central software coordination may lead to fragmented workflows. One approach is to use unified control Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) to synchronise Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS), Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), and conveyor networks into a cohesive flow. At Coca-Cola Amatil's Brisbane distribution centre, SSI Schaefer integrated high-bay storage, automated case picking, robotics and conveyors under its WAMAS® control system. The facility handles more than 2.5 million cases annually, while Coca-Cola Amatil reports that 50% of manual handling tasks at the site have been automated.

Modernise in Phases to Maintain Uptime

For manufacturers and logistics operators, modernisation cannot always come at the expense of ongoing output. One increasingly common approach is phased brownfield transformation, where new automation is introduced alongside existing infrastructure.

At United Drug's distribution centre in Dublin, SSI Schaefer expanded and automated the existing facility through a modular implementation carried out in five stages while day-to-day operations continued. The project increased picking capacity from 7,000 to 12,000 order lines per hour while retaining the existing footprint and integrating parts of the existing warehouse.

"Warehouse transformation should not begin with the question of which technology to buy, but with what the operation needs to achieve," Jeon Jae Beom added. "The most resilient facilities are those designed around long-term capacity, flexibility and visibility, with automation and software working together to support those goals."

As South Korea's industrial sector adapts to changing global demand, SSI Schaefer Korea is applying lessons from global projects to help Korean manufacturers and logistics operators identify where automation can create the greatest operational impact and implement transformation progressively.

For more information, visit www.ssi-schaefer.com/ko-kr.

About SSI Schaefer

The SSI Schaefer Group is a leading global solution provider for all areas of intralogistics. With innovative technologies and software, the company empowers small to medium-sized enterprises as well as large companies to increase the efficiency and sustainability of their storage, picking, and transport processes. SSI Schaefer offers complete solutions ranging from fully automated warehouses with tailored service and maintenance packages to robotics and automated guided vehicles as well as manual and semi-automatic systems such as workstations, racks, and containers.

SOURCE SSI Schaefer Korea