Looking at the massive transformation happening in the material handling equipment business, MHE experts notice an increase in the use of battery-operated, electric-powered automated equipment for eased operations. 

Logistics and warehousing play an essential role in bridging the gap between manufacturers and end-users. The Indian automated material handling market is expected to grow to USD 2729.34 million by 2026. Furthermore, warehousing is an essential component of the supply chain, so the government of India is focusing more on infrastructure expansion by heavily investing in indigenous equipment manufacturing in India.

The market outlook for warehousing equipment

For the past two years, India’s warehousing equipment market has grown exponentially due to the establishment of large fulfilment centres across the country in various industry segments. The following section discusses how technology in the warehousing equipment sector is evolving.

Manojit Acharya, Director, South Asia & Thailand, Jungheinrich Lift Truck India Private Limited, says “growth in FMCG, retail, e-commerce, and pharma has established the trend towards the creation of warehouse facilities with 24/7 operations employing efficient handling technology with minimal human intervention.” These changes have increased the need for cutting-edge, effective handling equipment. Growth is being stimulated by programmes like PLI in the manufacturing, retail, and e-commerce sectors. Currently, the market for warehousing equipment is stable, and in the next two to three years, moderate growth is predicted.

Whereas Anil Lingayat, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Godrej Material Handling, believes that “the storage market in India is fast expanding, increasing in consumption with a trend toward palletised items held at heights.” Third-party logistics, e-commerce, modern retail, and the pharmaceutical industry contributed significantly to expansion. Warehouses were required to mechanise handling procedures to boost productivity and remain cost-competitive for the sectors to stay competitive and relevant in terms of reach, timeliness, and accuracy, which fuelled the rise of the material equipment business.

Emerging technologies in warehousing equipment 

Warehouse navigation software, logistic interfaces, fleet management systems, and other digital solutions used with material handling equipment are the latest drivers in the warehousing equipment sector.

“With this addition of digital solutions to material handling equipment, equipment will operate efficiently as semi-automatic trucks and warehouse operations will optimise standardised operations within manufacturing units as well as warehouse operations,” Majnojit explains. He also believes that the demand for automated vehicles is increasing in the Indian market. Across the industry, consider replacing manually operated trucks with automated guided vehicles.

As companies face new issues in transportation, storage, and handling, as well as the requirement to reduce human interaction within the four walls of the warehouse to preserve social separation and safety, companies are increasingly turning to their material handling partners for answers. Anil notes that customers are looking for ways to improve warehousing productivity with the least amount of human intervention. Therefore, many automated solutions are being investigated, one of which is automated material handling. As more companies automate their warehouse operations, warehouse management systems (WMSes) are becoming more vital. Here, Godrej offers a fleet management system called “Godrej Safelog” that can monitor the fleet at a central level, which allows for better fleet utilisation and scheduled maintenance to avoid breakdowns.

When discussing the demand for automated material handling equipment, Manojit emphasises that the rise in e-commerce and retail has increased the demand for equipment like battery-operated pallet trucks and stackers. He continued, “We are seeing an increase in grade warehousing in Tier-I and Tier-II cities, which has led to an increase in demand for our system trucks, Very Narrow Aisle Trucks, and Order Pickers.”

Native twin motors on 3W and 4W electric counterbalance trucks with wet-disc brakes offer performance comparable to diesel trucks. According to all the available data, the sector has a lot of room to grow. Anil cites technological improvements at Godrej Material Handling and claims that the company is adjusting to new ideas and technology to fulfil changing consumer demands and provide top-notch performance with our equipment.

Shifting towards electrification and connected vehicles in warehousing 

Currently, the supply chain sector is witnessing the increased implementation of automation solutions in the form of AGVs such as forklifts, automated stackers, small rack-carrying robots, and pallet trucks.

According to Manojit, who commented on the trend, it is evident in the supply chain sector that big firms are adding more automated cars instead of more traditional and labour-intensive models. Many clients in supply chain management are weighing the advantages of AGVs. In addition, he proudly mentions that Jungheinrich was the first to introduce Li-Ion technology to the industrial truck market in 2011 with pallet trucks and that today more than 90% of its equipment can be provided with Li-Ion batteries. Additionally, we were able to lower its product emissions by 20 per cent between 2010 and 2020 by making substantial progress toward becoming carbon neutral.

Numerous new infrastructure trends, including expanding urbanisation, aim to speed up processes and reduce the incidence of human mistakes. As a result, we offer electric forklifts, reach trucks, articulated forklifts, and stackers to customers by their applications, which are determined by the load and the height at which the load must be placed, as Anil explains. Because of this, it becomes more productive and efficient for the operators, earning the moniker “multi-purpose workhorse”.

Additionally, battery-powered fork trucks like Reach trucks and Articulated trucks essentially cover the complete spectrum of handling equipment required in a contemporary warehouse. Anil stresses Godrej’s expansion of green forklifts by launching the new UNO Electric Forklifts, which are simple to use and offer maximum throughput in our clients’ factories and warehouses, to address the issue.

The impact of this trend on equipment rental 

The demand for intelligent material handling equipment in warehousing is growing, and this trend is expected to continue shortly. In a country like ours, where our present logistics and distribution costs are among the highest amongst the benchmarked countries, modern material handling and storage solutions are crucial to increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

Anil believes that modern technology and advanced material handling and storage systems facilitate smooth order-to-delivery cycles and help businesses deal with ever-changing consumer demands from supplier factories to the last mile of consumption. He further enlightens us with the technical details, “With technologically advanced solutions of narrow aisle equipment which can reach a height of 12 meters, including automated storage and retrieval options, it helps in efficiently managing supply chains’ correctness, timeliness, and cost, delivering enhanced value to all the stakeholders.”

Growth projections for warehouse equipment

With the growing Indian economy and subsequent growth in the warehousing segment, as well as policy initiatives by the GOI, we anticipate good growth opportunities for us in the medium and long term. Taking advantage of these opportunities, organisations develop a diverse range of equipment at their state-of-the-art factories. Customers appreciate the industry’s efforts to sustainably provide enhanced efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and these innovations are gaining market attention. Furthermore, we anticipate significant investments in automated, battery-powered, and electricity-powered equipment to maintain the growth trend in the coming years.

The industry is considering moving away from manually operated trucks to automated, guided vehicles.

Manojit Acharya, Director, South Asia & Thailand, Jungheinrich Lift Truck India Private Limited.

The warehousing industry in India is rapidly changing, with a shift toward palletised goods stored at heights.

Anil Lingayat, Executive Vice President and Business Head, Godrej Material Handling.