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Study finds about 60% of warehouse workers say the adoption of new technology is a change for the good

Zebra’s new global study finds that eight out of ten warehouse associates report improving work conditions and better adoption of technologies amid labour shortages.

This Warehousing Vision Study was conducted in January and February this year by third-party research firm Azure Knowledge Corporation. It includes feedback from over 1,500 decision-makers and associates that manage and maintain warehouse or distribution centre operations in manufacturing, retail, transportation, logistics and wholesale distribution across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

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

In Europe specifically, over three-quarters of operators have accelerated their efforts. They are turning their focus and spending most heavily towards 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% of European warehouse operators have already deployed some form of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) today, which is in line with the global trend (27%). Within five years, that number is expected to grow to 88% in Europe and 90% around the world.

“We’re seeing a positive shift occurring in the supply chain and, specifically, within warehouses,” said Mark Wheeler, director of supply chain solutions at 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 workers are also becoming more comfortable with their employers’ use of advanced technologies. Less than half globally (45%) and in Europe (47%) say their employers have increased wages or offered bonuses amid labour constraints, yet most (82% globally and 81% 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 ten 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.

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% 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% on average over the past two years.

Like workers, though, warehouse operators are viewing these challenges as catalysts for change and growth. Between now and 2025, over eight in ten expect to increase the number of stock-keeping units (SKU) 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 ten warehouse operators worldwide also want to increase headcount within the next year to right-size their workforces, about half admit that finding (55%) and training (54%) workers in a timely manner remain big challenges. This is especially true in Europe, where 48% report it difficult to find workers and 50% say training is challenging.

As a result, about eight in ten decision-makers agree they will have to rely more on automation in the future.

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

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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, 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.

James Lawton, Vice President and General Manager, Robotics Automation at Zebra Technologies

You can find more of the findings here: https://connect.zebra.com/warehousevs_2027_gb_en