The logistics sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by automation. The shift towards intralogistics, in particular, where technology optimizes goods movement within facilities, isn’t solely about robots handling the heavy lifting but about enhancing overall efficiency, productivity, sustainability, and safety.
First, what are the benefits automation can bring?
Automation in warehouses offers numerous benefits. Primarily, it alleviates workers from physically demanding tasks such as repetitive bending, walking, and heavy lifting that can lead to chronic injuries like back and knee problems. Robots are designed to endure such tasks, needing only repairs rather than surgery, thereby reducing injury rates and improving overall workforce health and safety.
Beyond physical benefits, automation enhances operational efficiency as human errors can be minimized. The precision and predictability in conducting tasks like picking and packing not only meet customer demands for accuracy but also support the scalability of warehouse operations in response to global demand fluctuations. Moreover, automation enables warehouses to operate more sustainably by maximizing space utilization, particularly in vertical facilities that accommodate increased inventory volumes. Take, for instance, a Swisslog client, one of the fastest-growing semiconductor components distributors globally. The company needed to maximize storage and efficiency in its Singapore warehouse which was built in 2001. Since expanding the space wasn’t an option, Swisslog helped integrate an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) from AutoStore. This modular system utilized robots and bins to stack items efficiently and even worked around existing structures in the warehouse. The improved system increased picking and put-away rates while Swisslog’s proprietary warehouse management system, SynQ, ensured smooth operation and real-time visibility. The result was a 100% increase in order fulfilment rate, 80% throughput capacity increase, and overall 99.9% accuracy in order fulfilment – allowing the client to maximize efficiency within a fixed physical footprint.
Automation also allows companies to manage their workforce more effectively, reducing turnover rates and avoiding the inefficiencies that can result from mass hiring and layoffs. This intentional hiring and resource management approach ensures a stable workforce capable of meeting varying demand levels without ever compromising operational standards.
While initial investments in automation may appear significant, they yield long-term cost savings through reduced turnover, enhanced operational accuracy, and improved capacity planning. Ultimately, automation can also transform the overall warehouse workforce by ensuring worker safety and creating sustainable career opportunities in the logistics industry.
If automation can take over tasks from humans, why do we still need people?
The connection between human workers and hardware is vital. In the case of warehouses, humans will continue to be required to oversee the operations of the technology implemented. For instance, while ASRS is expected to automate much of the picking and packing, human intervention is often still required to ensure their smooth and efficient operation. ASRS itself is complex – comprising many moving parts such as cranes, conveyors, and computer-controlled systems. In this highly interconnected system that cuts across hardware and software, a minor malfunction in any one component can snowball into major issues such as misplaced or damaged inventory or, worse, safety hazards. Essentially, ASRS is designed to work in predictable environments – when such novel scenarios arise, human intervention is needed to reconfigure and adapt the system.
Apart from handling unexpected situations, regular system monitoring and operational supervision also help ensure the system is operating efficiently, maximizing throughput and minimizing downtime. After the goods leave the warehouse, someone on the receiving end must further process the retrieved pallets.
Vital to an efficiently automated warehouse is a warehouse management system (WMS) that serves as the central nervous system, orchestrating all aspects of inventory management – from receiving goods to picking, packing, and shipping. While the WMS is independent to a degree, people remain critical in several aspects:
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Data configuration and management: Accurately defining storage locations, bin capacities, and product information (dimensions, weight, handling requirements) within the WMS is a critical human task.
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Strategic decision making: WMS can provide data and recommendations, but human expertise is needed to make strategic decisions such as defining picking strategies (batch picking, zone picking), optimizing warehouse layout based on product characteristics, and setting safety stock levels to avoid stockouts or excessive holding costs.
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Performance management and analysis: While the WMS monitors performance metrics like picking accuracy and fulfillment times, human analysis is needed to interpret the data. Identifying bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement requires human expertise to translate data insights into actionable steps.
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Exception handling (beyond malfunctions): Discrepancies between physical inventory and WMS records can occur for various reasons e.g., improper handling of returned goods, shoplifting, damaged goods, and so on. Investigating these discrepancies, resolving issues with misplaced or damaged goods, and managing unexpected situations like changes in order volumes necessitate human intervention and problem-solving skills.
In essence, human expertise is irreplaceable throughout the entire process of warehouse operations, from planning and set-up to ongoing management and upgrades. In the hands of a focused and skilled staff that knows how to leverage a WMS, the organization does not only ensure the sustainability of its business but also the growth and development of its most valuable asset — the people who power the warehouses.
How warehouse operators equip their workforces to match the pace of technological innovation?
The first and most commonly discussed is upskilling and reskilling through comprehensive training programmes to equip the workforce with the necessary skills to be able to take on more strategic job scopes. Ideally, the automation service provider would provide such training programmes as part of their service offerings. These can take the form of classroom or hands-on training sessions focusing on educating employees on how to quickly resolve errors prevent downtime, and improve the long-term performance of systems.
At Swisslog, while we provide the foundation for our customers’ employees’ upskilling and reskilling, in the long run, we believe that it is up to them to chart out career paths that lead to higher value-added roles for their employees. This significant shift by companies will help drive home the message that a role in warehousing is more than a job – it can be a career. In the long run, this translates into improved working conditions and, by extension, better job satisfaction and higher rates of talent retention.
Human interaction is valued as a key component of automated intralogistics solutions – in the first place, people made such innovation possible with imagination, technical expertise, and tenacity. Without engineers, as well as researchers and technicians, the advancements we enjoy today would simply be impossible. As the industry continues to invent and improve on existing technologies, embracing technologies instead of resisting t
hem is the way forward for businesses to survive and thrive. With acceptance, the warehouse workforce will not only be able to work collaboratively with these new technologies, but they will also be able to lead implementations and upgrades required to continue actualizing top-tier warehouses.
We expect the positive working conditions set by the employer – in terms of safety and quality – will ultimately contribute to higher job satisfaction and talent retention, and consequently, lower turn-over rates. And above all, whether automation is a mere collection of technologies, or a business asset will depend entirely on the team you have assembled and nurtured.
About the author
Sherry Lu, Country Sales Manager for Swisslog Singapore, has over 11 years of experience in warehouse automation. She leads the sales team in delivering advanced solutions across various sectors, including Food & Beverage, Ecommerce/Retail, Electrical & Electronics, and Third-Party Logistics. She is dedicated to advancing the logistics industry through innovative business strategies and strong client relationships.
