A robot-ready warehouse needs a building shell designed around the automation from the start, with the column grid, clear height, floor, roof loads and expansion path all set by the system that will run inside it. Most automation planning begins inside the four walls, with the stock profile, the storage system and the handling equipment. […]

A warehouse automation project can encounter constraints before a robot, conveyor or storage machine is selected. The location of stock, the routes available to handling equipment and the space needed for people all depend on how the building is organised. Treating storage as a separate facilities decision can therefore leave automation planning with a layout […]