Implementing Warehouse Automation in Brownfield Sites

A 2018 study by CBRE, the world’s largest real estate company, found that the average age of U.S. warehouses was 34 years.

More recently, the company forecasted that thousands of new warehouses will be needed across the U.K. and Europe to accommodate changing consumer spending habits. As a result, many operators are now struggling to meet growing demand and changing requirements in facilities that are not well equipped to support those objectives.

This was confirmed in a Supply Chain 24/7 survey of warehouse and DC operations focused on the challenges operators face. Forty-three percent cited insufficient space; 39% the inability to attract qualified labor; 34% outdated storage, picking and handling equipment; and 32% inadequate information systems.

Today’s robotic and data-driven automation systems can address these challenges and extend the life and productivity of older warehouses. While some operators may assume their facilities can’t accommodate automation because of their age or other factors, most brownfield warehouses are in fact good candidates for automation.

The technologies available today can be configured to adapt to existing building limitations and deliver increased storage capacity and higher throughput. In addition, experienced integrators such as Swisslog can often implement the current generation of modular technologies through a phased approach that minimizes disruption to operations.