May 2024
Investment in warehouse automation systems continues to accelerate. Watch for this trend to impact the pallet requirements of system users. However, it is certainly a manageable shift as pallet suppliers and automated systems vendors make accommodations to better ensure the functionality of wood pallets in AS/RS systems and other automation. This exclusive WPA report looks at what drives this trend, the types of automated systems involved, and expectations for pallets.
Why Automation?
Interest in warehouse automation is not new, but it continues to grow as warehouse capacity has become increasingly under pressure. The growth of e-commerce in particular, has put warehousing under particular strain. At the same time, shortages of labor and available warehouse space are also fueling this trend.
“The impact (of e-commerce) has been huge,” Bob Trebilcock told us in a 2022 interview. “At the facility level, your half-a-million square foot distribution center might have shipped out 200,000 items a day before ecommerce,” explained the now recently retired editorial director of Supply Chain Management Review. “And if there were 1,000 items on each pallet, the forklift guys had to move 200 pallets. Well, now they have to move 200,000 individual items. So, it’s just incredibly labor-intensive because you have to have somebody pick those 200,000 items.”
Investment in automation is expected to grow quickly. It is expected to reach $44 billion worldwide by 2028, at a CAGR of almost 15% between 2023 and 2028. It is important to recognize that while automation is not new to the marketplace, it will become an increasingly prominent role. According to a 2021 report, 80 percent of warehouses had no automation, and only 5 percent were using advanced automation technologies.
What forms of automation?
Remember that some automated systems are relevant to pallet usage, and some are not. Pallet-based forms of automation include Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS), pallet shuttles, conveyors, and pallet-based Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs). Other systems, such as robot-based goods-to-picker systems or gantry crane systems that stack crates on top of stationary pallets, are generally less sensitive to pallet quality. Let’s review some forms of automation systems where pallet quality is crucial.
AS/RS
AS/RS are advanced mechanical systems designed to automatically place and retrieve pallets from specific storage locations in a warehouse. These systems are highly efficient for managing large volumes of inventory, enhancing storage density, and improving the overall speed and accuracy of warehouse operations.
A typical pallet AS/RS consists of a series of aisles, each equipped with a computer-controlled crane or shuttle system that moves along rails. These cranes can retrieve or store pallets at various heights and depths, making optimal use of vertical and horizontal space. The system operates under the direction of integrated warehouse management software, which tracks each pallet's location and directs the machinery's movement. When an item is needed, the system automatically retrieves the pallet and delivers it to a pickup area, minimizing the need for manual handling.
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