At the end of June, Frank Keilacker summarised the EHI study “KI und Automatisierung in der Handelslogistik 2026” (AI and automation in retail logistics) for the German trade publication GFM Nachrichten.[1] Most of his piece is about delivery robots on the pavements of Los Angeles, Milton Keynes and China. Interesting, but still a long way off for most retailers and logistics companies in Austria. The part that stayed with me was the first one, about the warehouse.
Figures: EHI Retail Institute[2], as reported by GFM Nachrichten[1]
The machine is rarely the most expensive problem
When a company plans a shuttle warehouse or automated guided vehicles, the business case is usually built around the equipment: throughput, staff, error rate. What often comes up late is everything the equipment needs in order to run. Enough grid capacity, a building whose systems work together with the warehouse technology, and IT that is available around the clock.
If this only becomes visible during construction, change orders follow. In my view, that explains part of the almost 70 % who name high investment costs as their biggest hurdle.
Three topics I would raise early in every automation project
1. Energy management
An automated warehouse often runs in several shifts or around the clock. Conveyors, vehicle charging, cooling and IT all draw power at the same time. In Austria, businesses billed on measured power demand also pay grid fees for their peak load. An energy management system that meters consumption per installation and shifts charging cycles can bring those peaks down. Many warehouses now have solar panels on the roof, and they are worth more when you know which installation needs how much power, and when.
2. Building management system
In an automated warehouse, the building becomes part of the installation. Climate control, fire protection, doors, access control and lighting have to fit the warehouse technology. Areas where only machines work, for example, need hardly any light. A building management system that brings alarms from the building and the warehouse technology together in one place saves time in operation and makes faults visible sooner.
3. Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
Warehouse management, conveyor control and robotics run on servers, often right on site. If power or cooling fails there, the whole warehouse stops. At Schneider Electric I was responsible for the Secure Power business, among other things, and I know the pattern: small server rooms and edge sites tend to be monitored less closely than the central data center. With DCIM, operators see UPS, cooling, temperature and load across distributed sites in one system, and get a warning before something fails.
A predictable environment starts with the building
The GFM piece closes with the thought that automation works best where processes are standardised and environments are predictable. It is talking about the last mile, where exactly that is hard.[1] I would apply the same thought to the warehouse: the environment only becomes predictable when power, building and IT are planned together with the warehouse technology.
What this means for suppliers
For manufacturers and system integrators in Austria, I see a sales opportunity here. The decision on an automated warehouse is rarely made by one person. Logistics, facility management, IT and senior management each have their own questions. Anyone offering energy management, building management or DCIM should get everyone around the table early and show the benefit in their numbers:
- energy and grid costs for senior management,
- availability for IT,
- day-to-day operating effort for facility management.
Account-based marketing is a good fit for this: a small number of target accounts you know well, and the right message for every role in the buying center.
If you sell in this space and would like to talk it through, get in touch.
Sales and marketing consultant based in Vienna. Previously Sales Director IoT & Energy Management DACH at Schneider Electric and Head of Enterprise Sales at Drei (Hutchison Drei Austria), among other roles.