The impact of artificial intelligence on warehouse automation has yet to become fully clear, but it’s highly useful for predicting trends, and aiding in the primary goal of warehouse management: to get the right inventory as close to the end-consumer as possible, says Corey Calla, president and chief executive officer of SencorpWhite.

In the next 10 years, Calla says, innovation will include the widespread adoption of autonomous mobile robots in the warehouse. He believes commercial real estate developers may well switch to talking about cubic feet instead of square feet, because AMRs allow for the extension of warehouse racking from a few feet tall to all the way to the rafters. 

AMRs will also help solve the warehousing staffing shortage, possibly eventually doing away with the need for humans on the warehouse floor entirelyl. “There are jobs that are a necessity,” says Calla. “But most people don’t want to fill them. Everybody we talk to is struggling with labor.”

Other advantages of AI include the ability to quickly identify trends and demand signals that a human might not be able to detect. “The software can actually alert the supply chain that it’s time to make some moves that maybe a human would recognize for a year or two, and it can recognize in a day or two,” says Calla.

“We’re still monitoring and watching what AI means, and how to build it into our products to have them quickly available for our customers and end users,” he says. “But at the end of the day, it’s going to be about delivering to the end user and the consumer what they want faster.”

Companies need to stay aware and agile in order to make the most of innovations in warehouse automation, Calla advises.