As the UK positions itself to become *Europe’s largest warehouse automation market by 2025, businesses face mounting pressures from labour shortages, space constraints, and the constant drive to reach peak operational efficiency. Industore’s advanced warehouse storage solutions, notably the Hänel Lean-Lifts and Rotomats, are at the forefront of addressing these challenges, offering transformative benefits to the logistics and operations sectors.
Labour Shortages and the Drive for Automation
The UK’s warehousing and logistics sectors have been grappling with significant labour shortages in recent years. This scarcity has accelerated the adoption of automation, with businesses seeking to maintain The UK’s warehousing and logistics sectors have been grappling with significant labour shortages in recent years. This scarcity has accelerated the adoption of automation, with businesses seeking to maintain productivity against the backdrop of a thinning manual handling workforce. Industore’s automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are designed to mitigate these challenges by reducing dependence on manual labour. By automating repetitive tasks, companies can reallocate human resources to more strategic roles, enhancing overall operational efficiency. Industore’s case-studies show time and again that Industore solutions free-up warehouse workers to use their deep product knowledge, sometimes developed over decades, to work incredibly effectively in customer service and knowledge roles, while improving pick times, pick accuracy, and security in the warehouse thanks to our automation.
Optimising Space with Vertical Storage Solutions
Space constraints are a persistent issue in warehousing, especially with rising property or rent costs. Traditional storage methods almost always fail to utilise vertical space effectively, leading to inefficient layouts, and effectively, paying a lot for thin air. Industore’s Hänel Lean-Lifts and Rotomats are engineered to maximise vertical storage, enabling businesses to reclaim up to 80% of their floor space, immediately, and repurpose it into money-making space. This optimisation not only alleviates space pressures but also reduces the need for facility expansions, resulting in significant cost savings, without disruption
Enhancing Accuracy and Throughput
Inaccuracies in order picking can lead to customer dissatisfaction and increased return rates. Industore’s solutions incorporate advanced pick-to-light technology, guiding operators to the precise location of items and ensuring near-perfect accuracy. This precision accelerates picking processes, boosting throughput and enabling businesses to meet growing consumer demands efficiently.
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency
Sustainability has become a critical consideration across the board in the UK, and warehousing is no different. Industore’s systems are designed with energy efficiency in mind. Features like EcoDrive, which recovers up to 40% of energy during operations, and EcoMode, which powers down systems when idle, contribute to reduced energy consumption. These innovations align with global sustainability goals and can enhance a company’s environmental credentials. Moreover, our solutions require less ‘in-person workforce’, which reduces the number of cars on the road, and of course, our solutions save-space, reducing companies’ needs to expand, again, reducing CO2 heavy activities.
Integration with Existing Systems
Today, seamless integration with existing warehouse management systems (WMS) isn’t a nice to have, it’s crucial to success. Industore’s solutions are designed to integrate effortlessly with current IT infrastructures, ensuring a smooth transition to automated processes without disrupting existing workflows.
Stephen Froude, Industore’s Systems and Software Manager:
“Industore has never failed to integrate to a customer’s existing WMS or ERP system, and over the years, we have integrated to scores of different systems. In some cases, we work with clients who don’t have a WMS (or similar), so we work with them to introduce HanelSoft, our own, proprietary system.”
Government Support and Investment Incentives
The UK government’s recent initiatives, such as the ‘Invest 2035’ modern industrial strategy, underscore a commitment to advancing industrial automation. With strategic funding allocated to manufacturing sectors, businesses have a unique opportunity to invest in automation technologies. Industore’s solutions are well-positioned to help companies leverage these opportunities, driving growth and innovation across all sectors, but particularly those with physical inventory.
As 2025 unfolds, the growing problems of labour shortages, space constraints, and the need for heightened efficiency will highlight, perhaps more than ever before, the importance of advanced warehouse storage solutions. Our Lean-Lifts and Rotomats offer a comprehensive answer to these challenges, empowering businesses to optimise operations, reduce costs, and stay competitive in an evolving market landscape.
* https://interactanalysis.com/insight/why-the-uk-is-set-to-become-europes-largest-warehouse-automation-opportunity/#:~:text=From%20a%20CAGR%20perspective%2C%20looking,%240.9bn%20larger%20than%20Germany’s.
