Identifying What to Automate in the Warehouse
Article from MHI Solutions Magazine
As supply chain workforce shortages persist, operations are relying less on recruitment and retention incentives to cope with insufficient headcount. Instead, according to a Descartes survey of 1,000 supply chain and logistics leaders released last year, 54% are applying automation in warehouse applications.
Contrary to what the public—and even workers themselves—may believe, the motivation for automation deployments is not job elimination. Rather, the Descartes report found that executives are identifying and applying automation to the repetitive, non‑productive work that employees dislike the most. That’s backed up by research from the McKinsey Global Institute, which found that automating low‑skill, mundane, repetitive—and ultimately high‑turnover—tasks can increase job satisfaction and productivity among current employees.
The McKinsey team noted that for every one job automated, two to three new ones are created…
