Technology & Business: Warehouses Invest in Robots To Speed Up Orders, Cut Costs

 

 

“Rising wages coupled with consumer demand for speedy home delivery are pushing logistics operators to automate more warehouse operations.

 

North American companies ordered nearly 18,000 robots valued at about $1.2 billion in the first half of this year, according to a recent report from the Association for Advancing Automation. That was up 2% from the same period last year in terms of units ordered and about 7% in value.

 

Companies last year bought more than 36,700 robots, the highest number of orders since 2022, when businesses were rushing to outfit their warehouses with technology to meet soaring e-commerce demand during the pandemic.

 

Businesses are now investing in the technology even as they adjust to new U.S. tariffs and surging fuel prices, in part because they are looking to rein in costs, logistics experts say.

 

"The urgency to get cost out of the supply chain is increasing," said Patrick Kelleher, chief executive of third-party logistics provider GXO Logistics. "Technology and automation is a perfect solution for that."

 

GXO has spent nearly $1 billion over the past five years to automate more of its buildings, which serve customers such as Levi Strauss, Nike and Verizon Communications.

 

It has rolled out technology from autonomous forklifts to drones that can scan inventory, and is piloting humanoid robots that can lift and carry goods.

 

Rueben Scriven, senior research manager at market-intelligence firm Interact Analysis, said investments in warehouse technology are expected to keep growing. Ninety-two percent of companies recently surveyed by Interact Analysis said they plan to spend more on warehouse automation this year.

 

"Labor costs are high, labor availability is low, and when you couple that with the competitive threats of companies like Amazon and Walmart investing significantly, you're left with almost no other alternative," Scriven said.

 

Retailers Amazon.com and Walmart have each invested heavily to automate and speed up more of their fulfillment processes to get online orders to customers as fast as possible. Companies have said faster fulfillment speeds help drive increased sales.

 

Warehouse wages have risen sharply over the past decade. The average hourly wage for a U.S. warehouse worker rose to $26.85 in June, up about 5% from 2025 and 41% from 10 years earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

Rising labor costs have made it easier for warehouse operators to justify the cost of warehouse automation, which can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, industry experts say.

 

Some of the most popular new technologies were designed to take over the least desirable jobs in warehouses, tasks that require physical labor like loading and unloading trucks or picking merchandise for online orders. The difficulty of the work can make it hard to find and retain workers long term.

 

About 392,000 jobs were open across the transportation, warehousing and utilities industries in June, up by 87,000 from a year earlier, according to BLS.

 

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Liz Young writes for WSJ Logistics Report.” [1]

 

1. Technology & Business: Warehouses Invest in Robots To Speed Up Orders, Cut Costs. Young, Liz.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 18 Aug 2026: B4.