Warehouse Robotics To Hit $4.44B By 2022

The market for automation technology in warehouses are set to take off in the next five years due to sustained growth in the eCommerce industry and demand for enhanced quality, according to a new report from Research and Markets. Here are some of the key findings.

In the report, Research and Markets projects that the warehouse robotics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.8 percent between 2017 and 2022. At this rate, by 2022 the warehouse robotics market will have grown to a value of some $4.44 billion.

The study found that the eCommerce industry has been one of the major contributors to the growth of the global warehouse robotics market. By the end of this year, the study indicates that the eCommerce industry could hold the largest share of the overall robotics market of any industry.

According to the study, other drivers of growth include a need for enhanced quality and reliability in warehouse operations, funding from venture capitalists for startup robotics companies, and increasing adoption of warehouse robotics by SMEs.

By world region, primary participants in the growth of the warehouse robotics industry were found to be segmented as such: North America, 35 percent, Europe, 25 percent, Asia-Pacific, 30 percent and the rest of the world, 10 percent. The study anticipates that the warehouse robotics market in Asia-Pacific will grow tremendously between 2017 and 2022 due to major growth online retail shopping, growth in robot tech startups in India and China, and high attrition rate of warehouse workers.

Last year was already a record year for robots in manufacturing in North America. In total, 14,583 robots, at a value of $817 million, were ordered by North American companies during the first half of 2016 — 2 percent growth over the totals from the same period last year (when those figures had also been a record high for the time).