Technology Trends
This year represents the culmination of fast-tracking technology in warehousing. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg in technology.
Automation moves quickly, and sometimes it can be hard to keep up. Beginning with the pandemic five years ago, technology accelerated as never before, and it hasn’t slowed down. As you look ahead at 2025 and beyond, there are many trends worth watching. From AI to robots and everything in between, automation is changing the landscape of warehousing for the better.
In the past several years, automation has advanced and opened the warehouse. What used to be a push to automate the horizontal moves in a warehouse, it now applies to vertical moves, as well. Most companies are therefore considering how and where to implement automation. Beginning with receiving/unloading, moving into storage and retrieval, and then onto shipping/reloading, there’s technology that can help operations.
When you look at those specific areas, the newest types of automation address receiving, or unloading. This was always a manual operation, or one assisted by lift trucks, but now there is automation to help facilitate. Autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are one newer technology that’s finding new applications in this area. AMRs might move your delivered materials to conveyors or automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS)units—consider this to be a connector technology right now and expect to see more iterations of it moving forward.
In the storage and retrieval area, there’s a good deal of automation development underway. Mobile vehicles can take pallets and other loads from the docks to the storage area, where ASRS and shuttle systems can take over. Here the automation is using the vertical cube available to it, saving valuable floor space.
In the picking arena, AMRs can play a big role, too. They can bring goods to the pickers, or pickers to the goods, where AMRs with loads ready for picking sit at the ready. Or the pickers move alongside the AMRs, working together to put orders together and get them ready for outbound.
When loads are ready to leave the warehouse, automation again has big roles to play. In the past, automation was mostly focused on heavy applications and limited pallets. Now, however, using sensors, automation is allowing for improved trailer loading that optimizes loading patterns and volume. As this technology improves, look for the ability to automate trailer loading with a wide variety and size of products and pallets.
No conversation on automation is complete today—and going forward—without a mention of AI and machine learning (ML). This technology is impacting nearly every aspect of the industry, and this includes at the sensor level, system level, and vehicle level. AI will only continue to adapt and evolve and find more ways to optimize existing technology and operations. Additionally, using digital twins to stress test new technology and systems will help remove uncertainty in technology spending.
To find out more about MHI’s MAG Industry Group: https://www.mhi.org/mag
For further articles/podcasts from MAG:
Common Misconceptions with Mobile Robotics
Cybersecurity and Your Robotics
Essential Sensors for Safe AMRs
Integrating Mobile Robots Into Your Operations
Building Sustainability Through Mobile Automation
Podcast: Energizing Mobile Automation
Top Misconceptions Of Mobile Automation
Podcast: MAG – How To Get Started With Mobile Automation
Podcast: Sensors Revolutionizing Automated Material Movement: Efficiency And Safety Enhanced
