Food Shippers Blog

Massive Growth in Warehouse Automation Expected in Next Three Years

Written by Staff | Oct 23, 2023 4:23:28 PM

Over 75% of companies will have adopted some form of cyber-physical automated warehouse processes by 2027, according to a recent study by Gartner.

“As robot fleets expand, companies will have to transition management practices from a focus on people to a focus on automation design, which will drive the need for these types of solutions,” according to Gartner analyst Dwight Klappich. “As robots assume more responsibility for process execution, the process changes can be dramatic. Work assignment processes, which were largely built for people, will need to be completely redesigned. As robotic fleets become more heterogeneous, coordinating work between robot platforms becomes more difficult while important.”

Based on a recent report published by Gartner, entitled “Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Execution Technologies, 2023,” by 2027, over 50% of logistics functions will readjust their carbon emissions targets to be either carbon-positive or carbon-neutral by 2040.

The survey also found that by 2027, more than 60% of large businesses will have used fourth-party logistics (4PL) as their preferred outsourcing model to improve supply chain transformation processes.

Gartner also discovered that more than 75% of last-mile deliveries in North America and Europe will have near-real-time visibility by 2027.

The top business priorities for supply chain organizations over the next two years are expected to be increasing productivity and efficiency (29%) as well as improving resiliency, continuity, risk and security (29%). Fostering innovation was the second-highest business priority for supply chain companies over the next two years (27%) followed by driving revenue/profit growth (26%).

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