Global warehouse automation market is expected to touch the mark of $41 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of almost 15% between 2022 and 2027.
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Year 2021 witnessed a huge order intake for warehouse automation companies but revenue growth was limited due to supply chain constraints.
As a result, industry has also entered in 2022 with a record order backlog which is great sign for the future potential of this market.
Order intake has been led by Dematic with more than $5 Billion in 2021 followed by Honeywell Intelligrated (~50% YoY growth) and Daifuku (~30% YoY growth).
The growth of this market can be attributed to the growth in the e-commerce industry, multichannel distribution channels, e-grocery penetration with dark stores & ultrafast delivery services, globalization of supply chain networks, emergence of autonomous mobile robots and 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.
Of course, the push to automate the warehouses was in full force before the Covid-19 but global pandemic forced the companies to change their strategy w.r.t warehouse automation from "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 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, Dark Stores and automated cold storages.
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. ■