DC Velocity - March 2020

The fast pace of advancing technology is helping to move the process forward. As technological capabilities expand and costs come down, designers and engineers have a wider variety of tools at their disposal and can create more flexible, affordable solutions, Zoghzoghy adds.

CHALLENGE #3: ROI

As Zoghzoghy notes, cost still remains the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of automated truck loading and unloading solutions. Although implementation costs can vary widely depending on a company’s needs, experts warn that the outlay can be considerable. Nonetheless, demand for such solutions is only going to increase.

Statistics on the warehouse automation market in general bear this out, with some projections showing the overall market for automation will more than double by 2025—reaching $27 billion compared with $13 billion in 2018. What’s more, the market for collaborative robots—those that work alongside humans—is set to increase to $5.6 billion in 2027 from $550 million in 2018, according to research firm Interact Analysis, which says the majority of that growth will be driven by the logistics sector. Today, material handling, assembly, and pick-and-place applications of all kinds account for about three-quarters of the collaborative robot market, the company said in a 2019 report.

It only makes sense that the loading
dock will eventually see its fair share of
that investment.

“The trend is that technology is getting better and more cost-effective, the labor shortage is making demand from customers greater, and at some point, those lines cross and the idea is that it will become more broadly used in the market,” Criswell says.

Zoghzoghy agrees.

“I definitely see this type of robotic
solution becoming more common on the
[loading] dock over the next few years.
But I don’t think it will be overnight; it
will be a process,” he says. “A lot of people
are excited to see this type of technology
within their hands, and we are working
hard to get it out there.” ;
cer for Bastian Solutions, a material
handling systems integrator that also
develops robotic truck loading and
unloading equipment.

“[Robotic loading and unloading]
is not a solution that you can pro-
vide right away to customers because
it’s a very complicated setup,” he
says, emphasizing the need to tai-
lor solutions to different clients and
their varying requirements. “[But]
a lot of people are trying to figure
it out and get it to a point where it
can be scaled up. … There are a lot
of challenges, but it’s only a matter
of time.”