State of Warehouse Operations 2024

Introduction & Methodology

Warehouses are a fundamental piece of modern supply chains – vital to ensuring goods can reach customers efficiently, effectively and on time. Yet, many are in need of innovation, with increased investment and resources required to ensure truly effective operations and to become a key asset in supporting their organisations’ future. To find out more, Manhattan Associates commissioned market research specialist Vanson Bourne to interview 2,000 supply chain professionals across multiple countries and industry sectors.

How do warehouse operations look currently?

Most organisations are struggling with their current warehouse operations, with the majority in each country believing their warehouse operations IT infrastructure requires some or a lot of improvement. With warehousing forming such a vital part of supply chains, this could have implications for organisations; impacting on their ability to meet customer expectations and demands or to take advantage of new opportunities.

UK

Sweden/ Norway

Italy

France

Mexico

Australia

Brazil

Germany

Netherlands/ Belgium

Spain

Challenges in warehouse operations

Almost all organisations report they are experiencing some challenges in their warehouse operations, with the top three challenges being out-of-date IT hardware/software, dealing with operational complexity, and issues managing orders from different channels (e.g. in-store/ecommerce).

Out-of-date IT hardware/software

Operational Complexity

Managing orders from different channels

The human element

Staff retention and scheduling is a universal challenge for organisations with 84% of organisations reporting issues with staff retention. When it comes to staff scheduling, of the sectors surveyed, those struggling the most are Pharmaceutical, CPG, and Retail/Wholesale.

Pharmaceutical

CPG

Retail/Wholesale

Looking to the future

Staff are excited about the possibilities of generative AI (75%) and robotics (72%) to improve their job roles, with GenAI and similar low-code applications facilitating the creation of more sophisticated capabilities and efficient applications. Meeting these priorities will require innovation to ensure the warehouse is fully ready for the future - to simplify operations, meet increased demand and enhance the staff experience.

Generative AI

Robotics

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