Monitoring automation trends

THE INTERNATIONAL logistics group is large in scale, with more than 52,000 employees operating across 162 countries. The group generated revenues of 11.6 billion euros in 2023. 

The company’s Ambition 2027 plan is designed to support clients with value-added solutions; boost operational excellence; and make ESG a central pillar of its growth strategy.

Automated warehousing certainly plays a role in achieving these objectives. Christian Flesch has more than 30 years of experience in this rapidly evolving world. More than that, Christian leads a team that is dedicated to mastering automation at the 3PL. This cohort of engineers and logisticians surveys the market to pick out the technologies that will best satisfy the company’s customers. The team of 30 engineers is active across Europe, the United States and Asia.

Christian explains: “We are seeing a lot of solutions emerging on the market, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well robotisation. There are a lot of new suppliers entering the market, and we are seeing suppliers up their game, going from, for example, a standalone provider to offering fully integrated solutions.”

This newly competitive market is a boost to 3PLs in many ways, first modular, robotic solutions are often easier to implement and can provide faster ROI. It also provides more competition and choice.

“These innovations are completing existing solutions. So it means that in total, we have more and more solutions,” says Christian.

“It's beneficial for our clients, but it means that we have to really stay aware of the market. Another important point is to make sure we can integrate multiple solutions to work seamlessly in the best interests of the customers. 

“To solve this we sign a contract with a main integrator partner, who will provide WCS to manage automated solutions and connect with our WMS.”

The Geodis WMS is capable of integrating with different WCS. WCS engineers from Geodis are spread over the globe and are tasked with seamlessly integrating new vendors into the system. The 3PL has a mix of experience in procuring and implementing automation, as well as experts who handle the key role of integration.

Focusing on order fulfilment, Geodis is deploying AMRs to assist pickers, and developing the use of robotic arms to add efficiency to these operations.

Christian explains: “In the coming years, we’ll see a stronger improvement in the efficiency of picking, and also automatically unloading containers.”

Fascinating stuff. And does Geodis tailor solutions to suit certain verticals? No, says Christian, the customer comes first, with awareness that every customer is different. In this way, the full palette of solutions are available to be deployed, and the ones that best suit are selected for each given customer.

Christian explains: “We take time to analyse the data and identify the specific needs of the customer. We choose whichever solutions works best from a fast-changing market, and integrate these into a compelling solution for the customer.”

Geodis has already implemented a wide range of automation solutions from mini-load shuttles, to pallet stacker cranes, sorters, AMRs and much more. The firm believes it is important to look not just at the direct benefits but also the associated benefits that robotics and automation bring.

That said, Geodis is very clear that a complete assessment needs to be made to determine if mobile robots are indeed the best option for companies.

Christian explains: “A client should be definitely right for modular robotics or traditional automation. There are cases where it is less clear and requires more thought.

“There is no clear cut answer, it comes down to the customer's requirements, and often, to contract duration. The longer the contract, the more favourable the project is to automation. 

“In the USA, a lot of customers are happy to sign a long contract, which can pave the way for a fully-integrated automation solution. 

“That is less common in Europe where duration of contract is quite often low. These projects would tend to favour modular solutions.”

Geodis will also look carefully at seasonality, as that can have relevance to the choice of technology. Typically, robots flex up and down relatively easily according to throughput demands.

Extending the theme of growing and shrinking the robot fleet, Christian sees Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) as an interesting trend, if still relatively immature in the market currently.

He says: “It is obviously a very attractive business model because it avoids initial capital expenditure. However, the RaaS model is offered by a very limited number of vendors and is currently not competitive, in our opinion.”

As sustainability, labour shortages and market volatility all present challenges to end users looking to manage logistics operations well, it is worth considering securing support from a 3PL. And with automation technologies sweeping the warehouse world, it is wise to consider a 3PL with the expertise to match.

For more information, visit www.geodis.com