The Warehouses Of The Future

Supply chain managers are already dealing with a myriad of technology and market changes as they implement modular, automated solutions to increase productivity and throughput in their warehouses. The pace of change has never been as fast as it is today, and those changes will ultimately influence the warehouse of the future

- Kruti Bharadva

From demographic shifts to increasing urbanisation, and from drones to 3D printing, social and technological changes will put pressure on supply chain managers to move goods closer to consumers and develop warehouses with the flexibility and speed to support local, faster delivery through multiple channels.

Supply chain managers are already dealing with a myriad of technology and market changes as they implement modular, automated solutions to increase productivity and throughput in their warehouses. The pace of change has never been as fast as it is today, and those changes will ultimately influence the warehouse of the future.

What will the warehouse of the future look like? If you were blessed with an active imagination, you might picture warehouses that extend vertically into the sky, drones buzzing about in delivery activities, and robots being utilised for lights-out order fulfilment. This scenario is not as far off into the future as you may think. Many warehouses have already put the ‘human touch’ on the back foot. Robots and automated materials handling systems do virtually all the warehousing and order fulfilment work.

While fully automated facilities are still an exception to the rule, there are some significant trends and market changes that are shaping the warehouses of the future. Here are some of them:

FULFILMENT, SELECTION & VELOCITY