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Warehouse robotics are growing at a rate that exceeds manufacturing robotics. As key robotic skills improve and end users are educated in the best applications of robotics, robot adoption for warehousing tasks beyond transportation will become the drivers of growth in warehouse robotics. Warehouse robotics is growing at a faster pace than the more mature market of manufacturing robotics; by some measures it is a 12 percent CAGR compared to a 10 percent CAGR for manufacturing robots. This trend is expected to accelerate as we see improvement in robotic skills such as optical recognition and autonomous navigation. Such skills are essential in warehouse environments where SKU proliferation is a growing concern and where navigation through unpredictable environments is common. Transportation robots, which include AGVs and AMRs, is the category with the strongest growth among warehouse robotics. Sortation and order consolidation robots are typically a category of mobile robots and are therefore also in high growth mode. The relatively complicated tasks of picking and packing are slightly behind on the adoption curve, but the rapid advances in AI and deep learning means those tasks will see increasing robotic opportunities in 2019. The rate of adoption of new technologies is not limited only by the pace of development, end users are hesitant to adopt because of risk avoidance and lack of a clear ROI. Risk Avoidance: Many end users are using pilot projects with new technology but are hesitant to make a capital investment in live systems. Some have had negative experiences with new technology in the past and are hesitant with unproven solutions. In response, robotic solution providers are now introducing more flexible solutions which future-proof their technology by allowing for reconfiguration, scalability, and human collaboration. Lack of a clear ROI: This is due to both the cost of robots […]