Zebra Technologies Corporation recently conducted a new global Warehousing Vision Study to explore the trends and sentiments driving operational decisions and spend in warehouses. The findings deliver encouraging news: warehouse operators are making significant investments to better fulfil the needs of both customers and workers and make it easier to fill open jobs.

Market pressures become catalysts for positive changes

Nearly nine in 10 warehouse operators around the world agree they must implement new technology to be competitive in the on-demand economy, with 80 percent confirming the pandemic has prompted them to evolve and modernise quicker.

In Europe specifically, over three-quarters of operators have accelerated their efforts. They’re turning their focus and spending most heavily toward technologies that support workforce augmentation and workflow automation. For example, the use of wearables, mobile printers and rugged tablets will increase in the next few years, along with mobile dimensioning software that automates parcel and carton measurements. Additionally, 23 percent of European warehouse operators have already deployed some form of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) today, which is in line with the global trend (27 percent). Within five years, that number is expected to grow to 88 percent in Europe and 90 percent around the world.

“We’re seeing a positive shift occurring in the supply chain and, specifically, within warehouses,” says Mark Wheeler, Director of Supply Chain Solutions, Zebra Technologies. “Most decision-makers believe investments in automation far outweigh the risk of doing nothing, and they are becoming more comfortable integrating all sorts of new technologies into their current operations and infrastructure.”

Warehouse associates are also becoming more comfortable with their employers’ use of advanced technologies. Less than half globally (45 percent) and in Europe (47 percent) say their employers have increased wages or offered bonuses amid labour constraints, yet most (82 percent globally and 81 percent in Europe) feel positively impacted by the situation.

Employers are improving work conditions in other ways, such as giving them more technology to use on the job and leveraging technology to create more flexible work shifts. In fact, an overwhelming nine in 10 warehouse associates agree on some level that technology advancements will make the warehouse environment more attractive to workers, even in times like these when supply chains are strained, demand is surging and there’s increasing pressure to meet tighter deadlines.

Top warehouse challenges

Decision-makers are having a harder time getting customer orders out the door on time than they did three years ago and they’re struggling to maintain inventory accuracy and visibility. They also admit they’re expected to deliver orders faster than ever to keep up with the on-demand economy, with rising transportation costs taking their toll on over 40 percent of warehouse operators spanning manufacturing, transportation, wholesale distribution, logistics and retail. This may not be surprising when you consider that respondents indicate their shipping volumes have increased more than 20 percent on average over the past two years.

Like associates, though, warehouse operators are viewing these challenges as catalysts for change and growth. Between now and 2025, over eight in 10 expect to increase the number of stock keeping units (SKUs) they carry and the volume of shipped items. They also plan to expand returns management operations, offer more value-added services and increase their physical footprints, with both the number and size of warehouses increasing.

While six in 10 warehouse operators worldwide also want to increase headcount within the next year to right-size their workforces, around half admit finding (55 percent) and training (54 percent) workers in a timely manner remain big challenges. This is especially true in Europe, where 48 percent report it difficult to find workers and 50 percent say training is challenging. As a result, around eight in 10 decision-makers agree they will have to rely more on automation in the future.

Balancing the scales: augmenting the workforce with automation

While most warehouse operators both in Europe (88 percent) and globally (90 percent) will deploy AMRs for person-to-goods (P2G) picking, material movements and other automated inventory moves, 92 percent in Europe and 94 percent globally will invest in software that helps automate analytics and decision-making. They want to raise worker effectiveness and efficiency and reduce labour costs.

“As the pace of operations accelerates and workflows become more complex, warehouse operators have found the average time to get workers to full productivity is 4.7 weeks,” says James Lawton, Vice President and General Manager, Robotics Automation, Zebra Technologies. “Right now, decision-makers feel the most important labour initiative is to reduce unnecessary tasks so associates can focus on more customer-centric work. If warehouse operators automate through AMRs and workflow optimisation software, it will be easier to scale operations and meet service level agreements as customer demands and labour availability fluctuate.”

Job satisfaction – and worker retention – are by-products of automation

With warehouse operators planning to increase automation, some might say jobs will be lost. Yet, study respondents believe automation may help keep more people in their jobs and fill empty ones. Over three-quarters of warehouse associates in Europe (75 percent) and worldwide (78 percent) say walking fewer miles per day would make their jobs more enjoyable, even if they had to pick or handle more items, and 81 percent strongly believe AMRs could make warehouse jobs less stressful.

Decision-makers should take note, as only 35 percent in Europe and 41 percent globally completely agree implementing warehouse technologies such as robotics and devices can help attract and retain workers even though most associates:

• who work alongside AMRs today confirm they have helped increase productivity and reduce walking/travel time (83 percent), reduce errors (73 percent) and enable advancement to new roles or opportunities (65 percent).
• claim they are more likely to work for an employer that gives them modern devices to use for tasks versus an employer that provides older or no devices (83 percent globally and 87 percent in Europe).

“Automation is the great equaliser, especially when labour is constrained or during unexpected surge periods or seasonal peaks when it may be difficult to scale the workforce quickly,” adds Wheeler. “What’s interesting is associates feel more strongly about this than warehouse operators right now.”

Five-year technology outlook for warehouse operations

Eighty-five percent of decision-makers say they have implemented mobility so frontline workers can capture each inventory move they make, and most feel they are optimising the use of their devices to fit the task, safety and ergonomics. However, more than eight in 10 warehouse associates and around three-quarters of decision-makers in Europe and worldwide are concerned they will not meet their business objectives unless more technology investments are made to improve operations, with associates in transportation (92 percent) and logistics (88 percent) sectors feeling most strongly about this need. As a result, more than six in 10 decision-makers say they will invest in technologies that increase inventory and asset visibility within their warehouses and overall visibility throughout supply chains over the next five years.

Nine in 10 expect their use of sensor-based technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), computer vision, fixed industrial scanning and machine vision systems to become more prevalent over the next five years. s businesses invest in advanced technologies that enable more visibility, real-time guidance and data-driven performance, they’re focusing on increasing team productivity and better utilisation of assets, equipment and people, which equates to improved worker well-being and overall market competitiveness. However, it will become critical for warehouse operators to become more thoughtful about how they implement and integrate technologies as they increasingly digitalise workflows and scale systems. Following a phase-based roadmap will be key to steady, sustainable maturity.

Key regional findings

Asia Pacific: Nine in 10 APAC decision-makers agree machine vision and/or fixed industrial scanning technology in key areas would save time and eliminate errors, even though only one-quarter are currently using them.

Europe: European warehouse associates were the most likely to say they would view their employer more positively if provided with mobile devices and technology (85 percent).

Latin America: 96 percent of associates in LATAM believe implementing warehouse technologies such as robotics and devices would help attract and retain workers, the highest of any region.

North America: 86 percent of North American decision-makers say the pandemic has prompted them to evolve and modernise more quickly, the most of any region.