Business & Money | Wednesday 4 September, 2019 12:11 pm |

·      The Middle Eastautomated materials handling equipment segment is growing rapidly at a CAGR of 8.6 percent and is expected to reach US $498.5 million by 2023, across the full spectrum of industries.

·      The globalautomated material handling equipment market is expected to reach $44.6 billion by 2022, an annual growth of almost 8% (research by Markets & Markets). This makes automated material handling one of the fastest growing sectors within logistics.

·      When it comes to various sectors, retail and e-commerce markets are growing rapidly.Some of the requirements of this sector include same day delivery, efficiency in fulfillment centres and better space utilization in warehouses, all of which can be enabled by automated materials handling. According to a report by Fitch Solutions, by 2020, the UAE e-Commerce sector will be worth USD17.8bn, or 45.6% of the total value of the Middle East market. There will be an uplift from 2018/19, the major reason being Expo 2020 which is expected to attract plenty of foreign businesses and workers as well as tourists who will then make purchases primarily online.The region’s youthful demographics, with their high levels of disposable income and high internet and mobile penetration rates, are one of the prime factors for this growth. Similarly, by 2020, the GCC F&B market size is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.2% to reach US$34 Bn.

·      Automated materials handling can reduce walk time within a warehouse, as well as produce higher picking accuracy levels. As much as 70% of the picker’s time may be in travel time, something which can be easily countered with automated materials handling.

• Automated materials handling results in fewer workplace accidents by eliminating the need for heavy lifting, reducing the chances of workers tripping or falling, and making workstations ergonomic to prevent injury.

 

• The Middle East is gearing up to take advantage of digitization in a big way, and we are seeing companies in the region making real investments for real results today. A report by PwC Middle East says that 41% of participants surveyed from the region say they have already reached an advanced level of digitisation and integration and over 62% expect to be at such a level in five years’ time. Compared to other countries around the world, that is an unusually high level of digitization.

 

• Several businesses have benefitted immensely from an automated materials handling solution. Some examples (globally) – I.M.A. SpA, a leading Italian company in the design and production of automated machines reduced their space requirements by 80% with the use of AutoStore, Hamburg-based lifestyle company HAGEL GmbH attained delivery times  of less than 24 hours with the use of CarryPick and Pepsi Bottling Ventures, the largest privately-held manufacturer, seller, and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages in the United States deployed PowerStore to increase storage capacity by over 60% in its existing flat-ceiling building.

 

In the UAE such companies as Mai Dubai, Almarai are among first adopters of logistics automation solutions. Automation has more than doubled the current production capacity of Mai Dubai and the fast-growing retail and e-commerce company, Xenos, improved its pick performance by more than 50% and saved 3-4 hours shipment time per delivery per store. Not surprisingly, automation is central to several GCC countries’ future development