Taking Stock of Today’s Robotics Market and What the Future Holds
With next-generation humanoid working robots on the way to automate warehouse processes, we look at today's robotics market
Managing through uncertainty is nothing new for supply chain leaders and is expected to be an ongoing challenge with further economic instability and geopolitical challenges projected. Today’s supply chain leaders are in a unique position to leverage their experience navigating uncertainty to devise a roadmap that shows how technology can help their businesses remain successful and drive competitive advantage, despite these uncertainties and pressures.
One such technology area that continues to draw interest for advancing supply chains is robotics. According to a Gartner survey of over 500 supply chain professionals, 51% of respondents said they believe robots are highly disruptive technologies, and about 60% also said that they believe these are highly important to their businesses.
While supply chain demand for robots remains very high, in particular, Gartner predicts that by 2027, 10% of new intralogistics smart robots sold will be next-generation humanoid working robots. These AI-enabled robots—which resemble a human in shape and can interact in a natural human way—have the potential to be the missing link in fully automated warehouse processes.
Let’s take a closer look at robotics available today, as well as progress being made on humanoid robots.
Warehouse robotics today have limitations
We are already starting to see advancements being made to address the limitations of warehouse robotics. This includes successful examples of humanoid robots that adopt a human form factor using arms and legs to navigate, pick up, manipulate, and move items.
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Dwight Klappich is a research vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner's Supply Chain Practice. Dwight's research focuses on the strategic role logistics plays in leading-edge SCM organizations and how SCM leaders' technology strategies and tactics are differentiated from their peers. Dwight also leads Gartner's Intralogistics Smart Robotics research. His primary focus is on the role that technology plays in transforming logistics operations.
