January 2, 2024 2024: A Forecast for the Year to Come

For many materials handling operations 2023 was a year of reflection; 2024 will be a year of action.

By Jake Heldenberg, head of solution design, warehousing North America

For most warehouses and distribution centers, 2023 marked a return to a “new normal” – normal in the sense that consumers returned to the brick-and-mortar stores post-pandemic while continuing  to shop online, and the scarcity and supply chains issues faced in 2022 began to moderate in many markets. Simultaneously, longstanding “normal” challenges also remained as many materials handling operations continued to struggle to attract and retain talent.

It was also a year of reflection, with many organizations striving to better understand what the normalization of consumers’ buying behaviors might mean, how it would impact their businesses and what it would require of their operations. Now, going into 2024, many of those same organizations have a clearer view of the road ahead and are ready to act.

With those observations and insights from customers and colleagues – as well as the disclaimer that change is the one constant in our industry – here are some predictions for 2024.

• Prediction 1: 2024 will be the year for omnichannel sales and the flexibility and performance they require.
  As we near 2024 and find ourselves in a new normal where the shifts in consumer behavior are not as extreme, retailers are looking at all of the insights they gained on shoppers and fulfillment practices over the past several years. Whereas the slowdown in e-commerce sales prompted many brands to reflect and proceed with caution, the normalization we are seeing now has prompted many to again invest in their materials handling operations with an important caveat: The focus is no longer solely on brick-and-mortar or e-commerce operations. Instead, retailers are looking at omnichannel approaches that inherently make their businesses more flexible and agile. You could say that 2024 will be the year for omnichannel. More brands will invest in retail automation, but the emphasis will be on performance and flexibility across their brick-and-mortar and online operations.
• Prediction 2: Greenfield construction of warehouses will accelerate in 2024.
  Going into 2023 most predicted that the scarcity of warehouse space would be a gating factor for retailers and materials handling operations nationwide. The good news is inventory levels of warehouse space are increasing and we’re seeing greenfield construction in places where many did not expect it, including populated areas on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Many fulfillment and materials handling operations will also continue to ‘build up’ to attain more storage, particularly in urban areas where real estate costs remain high even though the dramatic shortage of warehouse space most expected did not occur.
• Prediction 3: Robotics will achieve mainstream adoption in 2024.
  Next year we will see a dramatic increase in the number of businesses deploying robots in their distribution centers and warehouses, particularly in item picking where gains in vision software and advancements in end effectors have dramatically increased their utility and applicability across materials handling operations. This is particularly true in operations that are struggling to attract or keep labor in such roles. In 2024 we will also see more robots doing repetitive tasks like case picking and palletizing than ever before. Robotics-as-a-Service will also increase, as many warehouses look to deploy robotics either to explore the benefits they offer firsthand, or to address increased throughput needs.
• Prediction 4: Smaller warehouses will begin their robotics journey with automated vehicles.
  We will see increased use of autonomous vehicles in 2024 as more warehouses look at how they can help offload highly repetitive tasks that are not only hard to fill, but all too often are the source of many workplace injuries. For many smaller warehouses, automated vehicles – which can be deployed in many facilities with minimal upgrades – will mark their first major foray into robotics. This will be particularly true in distribution centers where the same products are consistently being moved in the same path.

As we have seen over the past several years, how consumers shop and their expectations for when and how they receive items impacts everything from the investment in technology to fulfillment operations. In the past year materials handling operations have shown that they are not only willing and able to address such changes, but are working smarter than ever, are more flexible and are capable of making course corrections when needed. This will only continue into 2024 which  will be a great year of growth and action for warehouses and distribution centers.

To learn more or share your predictions, visit Vanderlande.com.

Jake Heldenberg, head of solution design, warehousing at Vanderlande, oversees the design of warehouse systems that enable retailers of all kinds to transform their businesses for long-term, scalable success with integrated systems that combine intelligent software, robotics and advanced automation.

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