The Truth about Automation in Intralogistics

We spoke with Gunter Van Deun and Frank Heptner, two of the most accomplished automation experts at the KION Group. They explain the truths behind many of the rumors, prejudices and fears that exist around the topic of automation. Many of our KION customers also tell us about uncertainties that exist in their companies: Is automation technology really sophisticated enough yet? Here is the opinion of our specialists on five common prejudices. You can find out even more in our second installment—along with five more expert assessments.

We spoke with Gunter Van Deun and Frank Heptner, two of the most accomplished automation experts at the KION Group. They explain the truths behind many of the rumors, prejudices and fears that exist around the topic of automation. Many of our KION customers also tell us about uncertainties that exist in their companies: Is automation technology really sophisticated enough yet? Here is the opinion of our specialists on five common prejudices. You can find out even more in our second installment—along with five more expert assessments.

There are people who claim that automation technology has not yet outgrown its infancy and that it is better to wait a few more years for it to advance further before actually tackling projects. Is this true? Our experts say: No, that’s not true at all!

“Of course, there are ongoing developments to further improve products and solutions,” says Gunter Van Deun, but the technology has long since outgrown its infancy. AGVs (automated guided vehicles/driverless transport vehicles), for example, have been around since the 1950s, and many systems installed at that time have been working smoothly and meeting their requirements for decades.

In the coming years, artificial intelligence will be an additional driver of automation and probably bring a new boost for development. This will be about increasing efficiency even further, and further reducing maintenance requirements. “But the technology has absolutely already matured in the sense that it is available and ready to use, and can immediately help our customers to improve their processes,” says Van Deun.

Time and again you hear the fear that automated devices require a lot of space in the warehouse, for example for maneuvering. Is this true? Can people work better in tight spaces than machinery and is automation only suitable for companies that have a lot of free space in their warehouses? No, according to our experts: That’s not true!

“The opposite is true,” says KION expert Frank Heptner. While manual warehouses used to be built mainly for width, modern and automated warehouses are built upwards—sometimes even to dizzying heights. Automated high rack pallet warehouses, for example, can now reach heights of more than 40 meters, saving on floor space. And as for maneuvering around tight spaces? AGVs can do just as well or even better than a person driving a forklift, for example.

Manual warehouses used to employ many workers, such as forklift drivers. In automated warehouses, often no one works at all anymore, or it’s just a few specialists acting as supervisors or performing software optimizations on the computer. This suggests that automation projects in intralogistics are causing many jobs to be lost and employees to be laid off. Sound about right? Well, according to our expert, it’s not that simple.

“I hear this misconception even at home among my own family,” says Gunter Van Deun from KION, “but I disagree with it.” Why? Because in times of a shortage of skilled workers, almost all companies today are desperately looking to expand their workforce. There is a lack of employees in many areas, so which means certain jobs fall by the wayside and tasks cannot be completed. Companies cannot accept this—especially if they want to grow. “For many companies, automation is the only way of operating their warehouses reliably at all or even increasing throughput,” says Van Deun.

Therefore, as a rule, customers don’t actually dismiss any employees as a result of automation projects. “People then simply take on other jobs in the same company,” says Van Deun. In most cases, the new tasks are much more pleasant for the employees because as a rule, the most boring, constantly repetitive work steps are automated, which no one in the warehouse wants anyway.

The cliché says that sometimes humans can’t compete with the power of technology and that this technology puts people in dangerous situations whereby we’re at the mercy of huge, heavy systems. Is this true, does automation really pose a risk to the life and limb of warehouse employees, and do automated systems have a higher risk of accidents than manual warehouses? Well that’s complete nonsense, says our KION expert Frank Heptner.

“No, automation definitely does not lead to a higher risk of accidents,” says Heptner. In fact, automated systems are significantly less error-prone and at risk of accidents than human-controlled trucks. “Drivers can always become briefly distracted or have a moment of carelessness,” says Heptner. In the case of automated systems, this type of human error is completely excluded.

“Modern systems work almost flawlessly,” says Heptner. Of course, accidents can never be completely ruled out—but they are much less common than in manually operated warehouses.

It sounds logical— if something breaks in a highly complex, automated system, repairing it is much more difficult and time-consuming than in a manually operated warehouse, where one forklift truck can be quickly replaced by another. But are repairs to automated warehouses really as expensive and time-consuming as you sometimes hear? There is some truth in this prejudice, says our KION expert Gunter Van Deun.

“It is true that you need trained specialists to operate and maintain complex automation systems,” says Gunter Van Deun. It is often assumed that specialists are expensive and therefore the maintenance costs of automated systems skyrocket. In fact, however, repairs are only very rarely necessary at all, according to expert Van Deun: Digital monitoring of the systems allows for predictive maintenance, and parts are routinely replaced before a defect occurs, before they can even cause errors.

In addition, workflows in automated warehouses run extremely smoothly. Due to the permanent optimization of speeds, trucks accelerate and brake far less severely than in a manual warehouse. This is far gentler on the parts installed in the trucks and another reason why repairs are rarely necessary. Many corrections can also be made via software meaning the overall maintenance costs of an automated warehouse are cheaper than in a manual warehouse.

As our examples demonstrate, many of the common assumptions about the supposed disadvantages of automation are simply untrue. Next time, our two experts Gunter Van Deun and Frank Heptner will discuss five more frequently expressed prejudices. There is also the question, for example, of whether automation is really as expensive as is often assumed. And whether the size of a company might dictate if it is really worth thinking about automation in the warehouse.