Look at any of the technologies we use in our daily lives, and you’re sure to see the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) on full display. Automated material handling systems are no exception. AI-enabled robotics and other automated technologies are helping companies better manage their supply chains during what has been widely described as a year of uncertainty, due to shifting trade policies that have created uneven demand cycles.
An ongoing shortage of warehouse workers, which has been intensified by tightened immigration policies, has also driven many companies to look to automation for answers. The good news is that advances in robotics and other technologies have leveled the playing field where costs are concerned, making equipment that was once accessible to only the biggest companies affordable for even small and medium-sized players.
As we head into the last part of 2025 peak season, we asked a panel of four material handling experts for their take on the current state of automation and robotics—what is driving demand and where benefits and efficiencies are to be found.
Participants:
ROBERT NILSSEN, Chief Commercial Officer, Vargo
ANDREA PONGOLINI, EVP Sales North America, E80 Group
RICHARD SMITH, VP of Sales, Solutions, and Design, Swisslog
MATT WICKS, Vice President and General Manager, Zebra Robotics Automation
Q: WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST FACTORS INFLUENCING CURRENT AUTOMATION DECISIONS?
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: I think the labor market is the biggest factor, as it has been throughout my career. Finding the resources you need to do the work that needs to get done as you expand and grow your business continues to be a challenge.
Another factor is the investment cost of the automation itself. How you invest and what types of technologies you invest in varies by company size and, quite frankly, how deep their pockets are and how quickly return on investment [ROI] can happen.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: The primary factors influencing current automation decisions include overall ROI, system reliability, and the longevity of the system, which entails its ability to remain efficient and adapt to shifting business objectives. Although tariffs have received significant media coverage and are often highlighted for their impact on the final cost of solutions, their actual effect on total costs is not as substantial as portrayed. If the ROI is justified without considering tariffs, their impact should not significantly alter the final decision.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: The most decisive factor right now is the shift from short-term ROI thinking to long-term strategic value. Companies are no longer just looking for point solutions that solve a single issue. They’re prioritizing integrated systems that reduce operational complexity, enhance supply chain resilience, and offer data transparency across the entire operation.
Labor shortages, rising costs, and the pressure for just-in-time performance are certainly accelerating decisions. But what really tips the scale is when decision-makers realize that automation isn’t just about doing things faster—it’s about building smarter, more agile systems that can evolve with their business.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Companies are automating to boost throughput, reduce errors, and meet growing customer demands for speed and flexibility. They’re also aiming to move away from tribal knowledge and improve transparency and efficiency.
Q: HAVE NEW TARIFFS—PARTICULARLY TARIFFS ON IMPORTED EQUIPMENT OR RAW MATERIALS USED TO MANUFACTURE THE EQUIPMENT—AFFECTED THE COSTS OF AUTOMATING?
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Tariffs have created uncertainty, with costs fluctuating depending on timing and volume of imports. This unpredictability has made some companies hesitant to invest in automation.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: Tariffs are impacting the cost of some parts and raw materials for suppliers that have no presence in the USA. For suppliers with a presence in the USA, they can ship the materials/parts to themselves and then perform a “value-added” process, and the tariffs will not apply. Japanese companies, for example, have been doing this for years. There are many loopholes that knowledgeable companies are leveraging.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: Our strategy is clear: Rather than simply passing tariff costs on to our clients, we’re investing in greater operational efficiency and innovation, ensuring we remain competitive and responsive in the U.S. market without compromising on performance or service quality.
Thanks to our vertically integrated production model, we maintain full control over design, engineering, and manufacturing—allowing us to optimize processes, reduce inefficiencies, and drive down internal costs. These efforts help us offset the additional burden of tariffs, while continuing to deliver the high-quality, fully integrated automation systems our customers rely on.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: The goal of Zebra’s automation and robotics solutions has always been to add the most value we can for our customers, regardless of the current economic climate. We remain focused on improving return on investment by optimizing robots and worker operations.
Q: THE TERMS “AUTOMATION” AND “ROBOTICS” ARE OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY. HOW DO YOU DEFINE THE TWO, AND IS ONE A SUBSET OF THE OTHER?
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: In our view, robotics is a branch of automation—and refers specifically to the use of programmable machines to perform tasks. Automation, on the other hand, is a broader concept: It’s the orchestration of processes, software, machines, and data to optimize performance.
For example, a laser-guided vehicle (LGV) is a robotic system. But when that LGV becomes part of a fully integrated flow that includes software, warehouse control systems, and real-time data management—that’s automation in action. Robotics are key enablers, but they deliver real value only when embedded in a cohesive automation strategy.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: “Robotics” refers to specific machines like AMRs [autonomous mobile robots] or robotic arms, while “automation” is a broader concept that includes software and systems. Robotics is a subset of automation, often used within larger automated solutions.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: “Automation” is a broad term encompassing any equipment used to assist or replace manual processes, ranging from simple powered conveyors to fully automated facilities. It includes technologies like pick-to-light systems that ensure accuracy in order fulfillment. The term “robotics,” a subset of automation, covers various applications and forms, from large robotic arms used for lifting to smaller arms for picking and sorting. It also includes AMRs, gantry systems, and even bipedal robots that mimic human movements.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: I would define “automation” as the overall umbrella, which includes a lot of different technologies, from robotics to software and other types of material handling equipment, and even processes driven through our wearables or handheld devices. Those are all in the envelope of automation.
Robotics is a subset that may or may not be leveraged to create an automation solution.
Q: HOW SHOULD A COMPANY THAT RELIES LARGELY ON MANUAL PROCESSES BEGIN ITS ROBOTICS JOURNEY?
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: It starts with understanding your operations today and asking: “Where are we going?” Then we look at how we can leverage our robotic fulfillment solution to help augment their resources and increase the overall efficiency of their operation beyond that baseline.
You need to consider a lot of different factors because there’s a spectrum of automation solutions around fulfillment. If you’re still handing pickers a piece of paper to fulfill orders and you want to move up to the next level of automation, person-to-goods robots could be the right technology. If you have massive volumes, you might need to look at larger applications, but that’s a greater capital investment that will require you to allocate a big area of your facility.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: Typically, the automation journey starts by attempting to eliminate specific pressure points/bottlenecks in the process. This normally starts in the receiving process, because if the facility can’t receive product in a timely manner, it can’t effectively sell and fulfill orders in a timely manner. So a simple conveyance system, with right-angle transfers to divert products to personnel at receiving stations, is the first investment. This is quickly followed by a simple conveyance system, with right-angle transfers to divert outbound parcels to the respective shipping door/carrier. Then, a myriad of automated picking processes can be considered.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Companies typically start when manual processes begin to limit growth. It’s important to assess needs with reliable data, target key areas for improvement, and implement solutions in stages to build capability.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: The first step is clarity: understanding your goals, constraints, and what success looks like. From there, it’s critical to find the right partner—one who offers not just technology but also consultancy, simulation tools, and long-term support.
We start every project with an analysis of the client’s business and needs. We model the current flows and test multiple future scenarios. This gives companies the confidence to make informed decisions, knowing how the automation will behave before it’s installed. My advice: Don’t start with the technology; start with the process. And always think beyond the short term.
Q: WHAT ADVANTAGES DO AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS HAVE OVER FIXED SYSTEMS?
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: Autonomous mobile robots offer flexibility, scalability, and integration potential that fixed systems often lack. They can adapt to layout changes, support a wide range of tasks, and grow with your operations.
In addition, mobile systems collect valuable operational data as they move. That real-time intelligence enables smarter decisions and predictive maintenance. It also minimizes costly reconfigurations if your business evolves. In short: Mobility means scalability and flexibility.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: Flexibility and scalability are two of the biggest advantages. Warehouses are dynamic environments, and AMRs are very capable of adapting to volume spikes and layout changes. Compared to traditional fixed automation systems, it doesn’t take very long to deploy robotic solutions. You have a much faster time to value. Once you work through the software integration, you’re talking a matter of weeks to get to the point where you have bots on the ground and start seeing productivity improvements.
In addition, the system can flex up or down, so you don’t have to plan as far ahead if your “crystal ball” is a little cloudy about the future.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: Fixed automation, even standard conveyor, creates “landmarks” that must be navigated around and/or over. They get in the way of the egress of people, forklifts, etc. AMRs do not create the same landmarks. They can be utilized to replace standard conveyor, effectively moving boxes, totes, bags, and parcels from point A to point B without being a permanent barrier between those points. Sophisticated AMRs can avoid obstacles and even reroute themselves if people, products, forklifts, etc., get in their way.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: AMRs offer flexibility and adaptability, especially in dynamic environments. They’re ideal for certain throughput levels and operational setups where fixed systems may be too rigid.
Q: HOW DO YOU COUNTER THE NOTION THAT AUTOMATION WILL TAKE JOBS AWAY FROM HUMANS?
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Automation does replace some jobs, especially repetitive or hazardous ones. However, it also creates new opportunities and has historically coincided with overall job growth in many sectors.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: I have a friend who coined the phrase “Automation creates sustainable jobs.” For instance, the human body is not designed to repeatedly pick 50-pound objects (like bags of dog food) off the ground. When this is the expectation in a warehouse, people will quickly become sore, get injured, and/or simply quit.
However, automation can be designed to lift and transport heavy and oversized objects, and eliminate cumbersome repetitive motions to the point that the existing employees can be upskilled and trained to be “automation operators” and tend to the automation as opposed to having to make/take every single action. Employees end up with a much more enjoyable, more rewarding, and higher-paying job as a result. That employee will think long and hard about leaving their job to go be a general laborer again. This is what my friend refers to as sustainable jobs.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: That’s a question we take seriously. But in our experience, automation shifts the nature of work rather than eliminating it. Automation handles the repetitive, physically taxing, or hazardous jobs. It creates safer workplaces and reduces turnover. When deployed with a long-term vision, it becomes a tool for empowering human workers, not replacing them.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: In my experience, automation is actually a net job producer because organizations that automate grow faster and end up hiring more people. The challenge our customers struggle with most is finding enough people. Our solution increases the productivity of their workers by combining their current picking capabilities with robotics and wearable devices to optimize their picking operation while reducing walking back and forth between areas like induction and packout.
Will certain jobs be displaced? Sure, but I think we’ll still create more jobs for the workers who are in warehouses today for an overall net gain. What’s more, our ability to reskill and retrain is increasing at a rate that’s faster than our ability to automate, from YouTube videos to more formal online and AI-driven education resources.
Q: HOW DO COMPANIES NEED TO ADJUST THEIR TRAINING PROGRAMS TO PREPARE PEOPLE TO WORK WITH TODAY’S ROBOTIC SYSTEMS?
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: Training people to do picking, induction, or packout operations is super, super fast with our solution because they get all the instructions right off their wearable. We’ve literally trained people in two minutes, so it’s very simple and user-friendly.
The operations side of the equation is a little bit more involved because the decisions are more complex, like “How many pickers should I have?” “What kind of order flow am I bringing in today?” and “What’s the capability of the pickers on the floor today?” We have tools within our software to help guide the operations team.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Training should focus on collaboration between humans and robots, and understanding system limits. Teams also need skills to interpret performance data and maintain systems effectively.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: Typical staff training focuses on quickly trying to compensate for turnover and train individuals to be productive in general laborer roles. Training with automation focuses on developing the employee to support the automated process. The focus can shift from training people to perform monotonous tasks to teaching them problem-solving and continuous improvement skills so that those individuals can focus on process improvement, flow of goods through the process, and equipment utilization. This engages the entire staff to focus on driving business results as opposed to simply completing a manual task in a prescribed time.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: Training must evolve alongside technology. It’s no longer just about machine operation—it’s about understanding the full ecosystem: software interfaces, data interpretation, and system troubleshooting.
We offer tailored training programs that evolve with the customer. Our goal is to make sure operators, technicians, and supervisors all feel confident interacting with the technology. Empowered people are the key to successful automation.
Q: HOW IS THE INDUSTRY ADDRESSING THE NEED FOR MORE TECHNICIANS TO SERVICE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION?
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: We’re seeing more collaboration between automation providers, educational institutions, and training academies. At E80 Group, we’ve established an internal academy and on-site learning programs to build up the next generation of specialists.
But beyond numbers, the focus is shifting to mindset. We look for curiosity, adaptability, and digital readiness, and then we invest in growing those skills. Upskilling existing teams is just as important as recruiting new talent.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: There’s definitely a recognition that, as we continue to have more and more robots in the space, we need to have the capabilities to service them. There are some apprenticeships and community college programs.
Right now, our organization handles a lot of those kinds of things. We have a global staff to help support automation applications. It’s actually another advantage of robotics that they’re very transportable. Under our robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model, you don’t need to have technicians in house. If there’s an issue with a particular robot, you can take it out of service. We have spares on site and are able to turn some bots around pretty quickly because they can literally be put on a truck and shipped out the next day.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: We are focusing on upskilling the existing workforce to take on the easier daily/weekly preventive maintenance tasks, such that the certified skilled trades personnel are only required for system repair.
Q: WHAT IS THE NEXT BIG ADVANCEMENT WE’LL SEE IN ROBOTICS?
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: The next big advancement will be robust automated trailer unloading/loading solutions that can load in sequence. However, the next big advancement that the media will focus on is the application of bipedal robots, not due to their immediate applicability and effectiveness, but because they are sexy from a technology perspective. It will be quite some time, however, before they can effectively and reliably be utilized in the process with an attractive ROI.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: I think it will be the convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics. As AI capabilities grow, robotic systems will become more autonomous, more context-aware, and more predictive in their actions.
We see this especially in applications like case picking and real-time path optimization. The ability to dynamically respond to changing priorities or constraints will unlock new levels of efficiency and responsiveness.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: We’ve been using what’s now called AI in robotics for years, but it’s getting better and more capable. In the short term, I think the advancements will be about how AI can be leveraged with AMRs to impact operations in a significant way.
There’s also some pretty amazing work being done with humanoid robotics. I think the combination of some of the advances we’re seeing in compute, sensing, and perception that leverage AI could eventually expand the available form factors, though there’s still a ways to go.
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Robotics is evolving from task-specific machines to more general-purpose systems. Future robots may handle multiple tasks, adapting to different needs in real time.
Q: WHAT WILL DISTRIBUTION CENTERS LOOK LIKE 10 YEARS FROM NOW?
Richard Smith – Swisslog: Visually, distribution centers may not change drastically—goods will still arrive and be stored, picked, packed, and shipped. But behind the scenes, automation and intelligent software will drive more efficient, data-informed operations.
Expect smarter systems that optimize workflows minute by minute, and possibly shared warehouse models like “warehouse as a service,” where multiple companies use the same automated infrastructure to reduce costs and increase agility.
Matt Wicks – Zebra Robotics Automation: I think some of them will look radically different and some will look exactly the same. Think about what we see in the industry today: Some warehouses don’t have automation at all, and that will probably continue for a percentage of operations in the foreseeable future.
Fulfillment isn’t going to go away anytime soon, and I see continued advancements with mobile robotics in that space. In addition to ongoing innovation in automated hardware and software, I think we’ll see more intelligent systems, making better and better decisions and driving more optimization of operations. For the foreseeable future, I think we’ll still see collaboration between robots and people in these areas.
Robert Nilssen – Vargo: Distribution centers, as defined as facilities that hold and distribute cases of products to stores or replenish fulfillment centers, will be nearly 100% automated. An example of this is the Symbotic systems that are currently being installed in Walmart distribution centers across the U.S. The Symbotic systems can receive, depalletize, store, pick, and build store-friendly mixed-case pallets without a human touching the cases.
Andrea Pongolini – E80 Group: We believe future distribution centers will be fully connected, software-defined environments where material flow, data, and energy consumption are all optimized in real time. The focus will shift from managing assets to managing performance. Decisions will be predictive, not reactive. And importantly, these facilities won’t be monolithic. They’ll be modular, scalable, and constantly evolving. That’s the vision we’re working toward with our customers every day.
