Europe Warehouse Robotics Market - Growth, Trends, Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

[Report Description]

Europe warehouse robotics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.84% during the forecast period. The growth in the e-commerce industry in Europe and the growing need for efficient warehousing and inventory management are driving the market studied.

Key Highlights

• Automation in warehousing offers extreme convenience when it comes to cutting down overall business costs and reducing errors in product deliveries. According to DHL, a prominent 3PL company and a significant end-user of warehouse automation solutions, despite the advantages, 80% of warehouses are “still manually operated with no supporting automation.” Furthermore, warehouses, i.e., those that use conveyors, sorters, and pick and place solutions, account for 15% of the total warehouses. In contrast, only 5% of current warehouses are automated.


• The rising number of warehouses and increasing investments in warehouse automation, coupled with the rise in labor costs and availability of scalable technological solutions in Europe, have been driving the market for warehouse robots across the European countries. For instance, in September 2019, ThyssenKrupp Materials Services, the distribution and service provider of the ThyssenKrupp Group, revealed its plan the to invest EUR 70 million to modernize the existing a state-of-the-art logistics center and expand by new warehouses in Germany, Poland and Hungary.


• Further, the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the advent of a network of connected systems are helping industries perform a multitude of tasks, such as material batching, picking, ordering, packaging, warehouse security, and inspection, as well as improve the operational efficiency by huge margins.


• Despite the potential of warehouse robotics, the market growth has been challenged by high costs. However, the vendors in the market, such as Kuka Robotics is not only providing robots for lease but has also launched a SmartFactory as a Service initiative to give their customers an option to rent out an entire robot-staffed automated plant.


• Also, in 2020, the company has launched LBR iiwa, first series-produced sensitive robot suitable for human-robot collaboration. It is a collaborative, sensitive lightweight robot can work together with the human operator on highly sensitive tasks in close cooperation.

Key Market Trends

Increasing Investment in Manufacturing sector in line with Labor Cost in European Countries is Driving the Studied Market

• The manufacturing sector contributes significantly to the economic growth in European countries. Throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, political, economic, and technological developments are impacting the growth of the manufacturing industry, proportionally. Although the BREXIT vote sent shockwaves across all industries, the manufacturing industry remained positive.


• According to United Nations Industrial Development Organization, among the developing and emerging industrial economies of Eastern Europe, the manufacturing sector registered an impressive growth figure of 7.7 % in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the first quarter of 2017.


• In addition to this, the predicted labor shortage combined with increasing labor wages is strengthening the case for logistics automation, as firms seek to make their operations less labor-intensive. According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2019, 43.2% of industrial companies in the Czech Republic stated that labor shortages would restrict their output. In Poland, a figure of 49.7% was recorded and, in Hungary, 86.6%.


• Thus, most of the manufacturing industries are replacing the storage rack function with automated lift devices or automated storage and retrieval systems to put the racks together, which frees up time for the personnel and increases the productivity.


• Moreover, international players are also collaborating with local vendors in the market due to growing demand for automation from the small and medium enterprises. For instance, in June 2020, the Chinese robotics manufacturer, Hikrobot, announced a partnership with UK firm OW Robotics. The partnership with Hikrobot aims to make robotic automation more accessible for small and medium businesses, as well as larger organizations. The Chinese manufacturer develops some of the most advanced industrial technologies available, including robots, machine vision, and industrial unmanned aerial vehicles.


• The automotive sector in Germany is implementing robots to add flexibility and safety to the automotive production line by collaborating with the vendors in the market. For instance, in May 2020, Canadian robot software provider RoboDK teamed up with automation specialists RobCo S.W.A.T. from Bulgaria to provide automotive experts with advanced Industry 4.0 solutions. The RoboDK has partnered with RobCo S.W.A.T. to provide flexible and efficient automation systems for global automotive car manufacturers, such as Audi, Volkswagen, Lamborghini, and Porsche.

Growing Adoption of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems in Automotive sector is expected to Drive the market

• Europe is home to many world-famous automobile brands such as Mercedes, Volvo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc. Thus, Germany, France, and United Kingdom have many automobile manufacturing facilities that extensively use AS/RS solutions to remain ahead in the market. UK-based Exmac Automation provides storage solutions for leading car manufacturers in this region such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, and IBC vehicles.


• According to ACEA, although new passenger car registration in Europe shrunk by 3.9% in March 2019, still demand AS/RS is expected to grow in the forecast period due to continued automobile manufacturing. And as per European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) 2020 report, the sales of electrically chargeable cars in the EU increased by 110% over the past three years, which reflects the rapid adoption of electric cars in European countries.


• Vendors in this region are also investing in AS/RS facilities, which contributes to market growth. For instance, in 2018, TTI Inc. expanded its existing distribution center in Germany near Munich, building up a new warehouse and investing in an automated storage and retrieval system. This AutoStore system, which is empowered by Element Logic, helped TTI to more than triple their storage volume.


• Industore, a leading AS/RS solution provider in the United Kingdom, has a comprehensive product line, which is used in warehouses, small storage units, and large storage units. ExMac Automation, another market leader in AS/RS solutions, supplies automated storage, and retrieval crane systems (from high-capacity mini-load cranes and racking, to high-bay warehouse cranes) for several industry sectors in the country.


• In May 2019, ICAM, the Italian manufacturer of automated storage systems, signed an agreement with Diamond Phoenix Automation for the distribution of its SILO range of vertical lift modules (VLMs) in the UK and Eire. The SILO series of vertical storage solutions features a central vertical lift system for the automatic retrieval of items.

Competitive Landscape

The Europe warehouse robotics market is concentrated due to higher initial investments. It is dominated by a few major players like ABB LTD., KUKA AG, SSI Schaefer AG, KION Group AG, and KNAPP AG. These significant players, with a prominent share in the market, are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability. However, with technological advancements and product innovations, mid-size to smaller companies are growing their market presence by securing new contracts and tapping new markets.

• September 2020 - ABB extended its family of small six-axis industrial robots with the launch of IRB 1300 to meet the demand for faster and more compact robots able to rapidly lift heavy objects or loads with complex and irregular shapes. The robot offers improvement in cycle times and is nearly 60 % lighter and 83 % smaller than the IRB 1600. With a footprint of just 220 mm by 220 mm, the IRB 1300 is designed for use in small spaces, enabling more robots to be deployed in a confined area. ​


• September 2020 - KUKA AG launched the KR SCARA horizontal jointed-arm robots that are ultra-compact and at the same time deliver maximum cost-effectiveness. The robot has a reach of 500 or 700 millimetres, an extremely short cycle time of just 0.36 or 0.38 seconds. The KR SCARA robots are ideal for pushing ahead with automation in cost-sensitive markets.​

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format


• 3 months of analyst support