Labor and skills shortages are pushing consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to invest in warehouse automation solutions, according to the newly released “Packaging and Automation in the Warehouses of the Future” report produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. Additionally, growing e-commerce activity and rising direct-to-consumer demands mean many CPG firms are seeing their warehousing and fulfillment operations become more complex, increasing the demand for mixed and layered pallets.
With these new trends, CPG companies are turning to warehouse automation solutions such as palletizers and mobile robots, according to the PMMI report. More than one in four (25%) warehouses will have some form of automation installed by 2027, leaping from just 14% in 2017 to 18% at the end of 2021. The PMMI survey shows that less than 20% of CPG firms operate mostly automated warehouses today and very few report they are fully automated.