Many companies fear over-automating and losing flexibility in their operations. Will Mansard, vice president of systems sales with Toyota Automated Logistics, explains how those concerns can be assuaged.

Warehouse operations can’t tolerate an inability to scale up or down in line with current demand or sudden disruptions, Mansard says. It’s vital that they be able to handle both peak-season orders as well as “normal” days.

Automation is proving to be key to achieving that level of flexibility, but adoption needs to be preceded by extensive analysis of a particular facility’s needs. Too often, Mansard says, operations think about automating everything. The better approach is to determine the best areas for adding technology. “There’s going to be a learning curve,” he says.

Many factors come into play when the decision to automate is made. “It’s a long process,” Mansard says, extending for weeks or even months. Onsite observation is a must, as well as involving both the digital and operations teams, to ensure that the new systems will integrate smoothly.

“You always want to make sure that the user understands how the automation is going to work,” says Mansard — how it’s going to affect not just the day-to-job of operators, but also [facility] leaders.” Any automation initiative must be geared to meeting key performance indicators.

Even in a world of automation, the human role remains, Mansard says. “It’s more about leveraging the automation to make the operators’ lives easier.” With people working alongside automated systems, facilities can take away some of the variability that comes with seasonal demand. There’s also the need for humans to be making decisions about how to deploy the systems on a daily basis.