Simply put, COVID-19 has accelerated many things, and the demand for automation is one of them.
Broken into parts, warehouses and back offices have seen a significant increase and will continue to automate in the next few years. However, there will be a great differentiation amongst big and small companies as it will depend on the type of technology available to carry out the tasks. On the side of “Driver automation”, it has already emerged due to the shortage of workers. Nonetheless, this movement will be slower due to government regulations.
Overall, COVID-19 propelled the supply chain to operate at any cost, driving stress and the explosion of the e-commerce environment, resulting in the soar in freight demand. Fast forward to today, with demand declining due to inflation, big supply chains are expected to cut some space in the next 18 months.
-Rosario Pecoraro, Operations Manager
Read more about the acceleration here.