Global Warehouse Automation Industry Report 2023-2028: Start-ups and Established Players Compete in the Growing Multi-Billion Market

DUBLIN , Dec. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Warehouse Automation Market - By Technology (AGV/AMR, ASRS, Conveyors, Sortation, Order Picking, AIDC, Palletizing and WMS/WES/WCS), By Industry (E-commerce, Grocery, Apparel, F&B, Pharma), By Regions" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Warehouse Automation Market is expected to touch the mark of $44 Billion by 2028, at a CAGR of almost 15% between 2023 and 2028. 

2021 witnessed a huge order intake for warehouse automation companies but revenue growth was limited due to supply chain constraints. As a result, the industry entered 2022 with a record order backlog which was reduced in 2023 due to slowdown and macro uncertainties. Entering 2024, companies have started receiving the orders once again but retailers are still cautious about capital expenditure due to low consumer spending, high inflation, and geopolitical tension.

The growth of this market can be attributed to the growth in the e-commerce industry, multichannel distribution channels, e-grocery penetration, globalization of supply chain networks, the emergence of autonomous mobile robots, and the rising need for same day / same hour delivery. The boom in e-commerce is compounding the major labour challenges faced by the $5T global logistics industry.

Not only are shipment volumes growing rapidly, but online retail also typically requires more logistical work per item than brick & mortar retail. Indeed, online purchases require individual picking packing and shipping, as opposed to the bulk transportation models of traditional brick & mortar retail.

The 4th edition of this market study is a detailed market analysis of more than 700+ players (part of the exclusive Market Map), 10 solutions, 7 industries and 30 countries along with more than 500 pages, 350+ Market Tables, 290+ Exhibits, and 140+ Company Profiles. Analysis is validated through 100+ in-depth interviews across the value chain with components and technology providers, system integrators & manufacturers, software and services providers, and end-user industry verticals.

Of course, the push to automate the warehouses was in full force before the Covid-19 but the global pandemic forced the companies to change their strategy w.r.t warehouse automation from the "good to have" category to "must to have" if they have to sustain in this industry. One of the learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic is that mega-trends like an aging population, globalisation, health & safety, mobility, green logistics, autonomous world, urbanisation, individualisation and digitization need to be given more consideration and weight than in the past with a long-term vision so that we are ready with any challenge.

Post pandemic, most important and emerging trends have been eGrocery Growth, Micro-Fulfillment Centers, Automated Picking, Mixed Pallets Automation, Mobile Manipulators, and Automated Cold Storage. Huge investments in start-ups such as Symbotic, Takeoff Technologies, Geek+, Fabric, Attabotics, Exotec Solutions, Hai Robotics, Addverb Technologies, and Dexterity are witnessing this growth along with the presence of existing big players like Dematic, Honeywell Intelligrated, SSI Schafer, Knapp, Daifuku, Muratec, AutoStore, and Toyota Advance Logistics. Retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, Coop, Target, Woolworths, Amazon, Ocado, Meijer, Carrefour, H-E-B, Albertsons, and Ahold Delhaize have already started adopting and implementing these new technologies during pandemic.

Apart from this, piece picking players such as Righthand Robotics, Nimble, Fizyr, Kindred, Covariant, OSARO, Plus One Robotics, Berkshire Grey, and AWL have established a new attractive capability for order picking in ecommerce fulfillment as picking is the least automated process in existing warehouses.

Facts to Know

• Global e-Commerce sales have grown at a CAGR of 20% over the last decade, reaching almost $5 trillion worldwide in 2021, and are expected to grow to more than $8 trillion by 2027. The share of online retail sales has gone from 2% of the total to 19%, and is further expected to reach >25% by 2030.
• Amazon Robotics automates the company's fulfillment centers using more than 750,000 autonomous mobile robots, a 25x growth from 30,000 at the end of 2015. Amazon had been playing catchup to match supply with demand - fulfillment costs as a percentage of net sales climbed from ~15% in 2020 to 16-17% in 2022. Company has created a $1 billion venture investment program called the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (AIIF) to spur and support innovation in customer fulfillment, logistics, and the supply chain.
• Walmart announced has partnered with Symbotic to reimagine the retailer's regional distribution network. Symbotic first implemented its system in Walmart's Brooksville, Florida distribution center in 2017. Since that time, the companies have worked together to optimize the system. In July 2021, Walmart announced its partnership with Symbotic to implement their high-tech automation system in the regional network and planned to implement this technology in 25 of their 42 RDCs. In May 2022, both expanded
• Commercial agreements to implement Symbotic's robotics and software automation platform in all 42 of Walmart's regional distribution centers over the coming years.
• Zalando, Europe's leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle, has opened its third fulfillment center in Poland. The ramp up marks an important milestone in Zalando's logistics network expansion with two Polish fulfillment centers serving Zalando's growing customer base and one logistics site taking care of Zalando Lounge deliveries.
• Warehouse labour shortages are also an issue with peak labour demands occurring around major shopping holidays viz. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime day, Thanksgiving Day and Singles Day. Warehouses have to hire temporary labour around these peak times to meet the customer delivery schedules. Supply chain robotics company Cainiao had installed 700+ robots at China's largest robot-run warehouse to process orders on Singles Day.
• 2022 was the first year in Singles' Day history Alibaba declined to release its sales data, with the company simply stating sales were "in line" with those of 2021. Alibaba rival JD.com, Inc (China's second-largest retailer) also declined to release sales numbers for the first time - although they called their sales "record-setting". Singles' Day 2022 sales volume across all platforms was between $130 and $150 billion, an increase of between 3% and 13% from 2021. Analysts are expecting low-single-digit% growth for 2023 Singles' Day.

What will you get in this report?

• 500+ Pages and 290+ Exhibits Market Report for 7 major Industry Verticals and 10 Technologies
• A bottom-up analysis of Warehouse Automation market for 20+ countries and regions
• In-depth analysis of 700 companies in the ecosystem with more than 140+ company profiles
• Focus Group Discussion with 100+ key industry stakeholders across the value chain to collect the first-hand information to validate the analysis
• Excel file with a pivot modelling and 350+ market tables including forecast till 2028
• 2 Analyst Sessions to brainstorm further
• Investment details with 150+ M&A and 750+ funding deals

Key Topics Covered:

Warehouse Automation Business Model, Drivers and Trends

• Business Model
• Robotics as a Service (RaaS)
• Economics of Warehouse Automation
• Critical factors impacting ROI

COVID-19 pandemic - Impact on warehouse automation

• Immediate and short-term Impact
• Logistics Automation - Crisis or Opportunity
• Emerging Trends after COVID-19
• E-Grocery
• Urban Warehouses and Micro-Fulfilment
• Investment Growth

Warehouse automation drivers and trends

Market Growth

• e-Commerce is the biggest growth driver for Warehouse Automation
• Ultrafast Delivery Services are demanding more automation
• Robotics & Automation: Key success factors for order fulfilment
• Online grocery is set to be the next disruption and may be the prime candidate for warehouse automation
• Order Picking Remains a Robotic Challenge
• Supply for Warehouse space is constrained
• Developers Testing Multi-storey Warehouses in Select Markets

Challenges to Warehouse Automation

• Upfront Investment Costs
• Flexibility
• Innovation

Warehouse Automation Market, by Technology

• Conveyors and Sortation Systems
• Overhead Systems
• Gantry Robots
• Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS)
• Palletizing/De-palletizing Systems
• Automatic Identification and Data Capture
• From bar-codes to image reading
• The rise of Android
• Growing popularity of wearables
• Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV) & Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR)
• Order Picking
• Optimization with Voice Technology
• Voice recognition technology in the warehouse
• Analytics advantages
• Robotic Piece Picking Hits Tipping Point
• Collaboration
• WMS, WES, WCS
• MRO services

Emerging Technologies

• Warehouse Drones
• Vertical Solutions
• Underground Logistics

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ny0eaj

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