Lagerautomatisering inom svenska e-handelsföretag: drivkrafter och svårigheter

Abstract

Warehousing and inventory management has undergone significant changes in the last few years. Today, it is of great value to meet consumer demands and expectations throughout the entire supply chain. The rapid development of e-commerce necessitates companies to provide fast delivery times, which can be achieved through automated warehouses. Consequently, companies must keep pace with developments in warehouse management to remain competitive. The purpose of this paper is to identify the primary driving forces and challenges associated with the automation of e-commerce companies. The paper also examines the effects of these challenges on the operations and contributes to understanding how Swedish e-commerce companies manage them. The study is based on qualitative research methods, and the empirical data has been collected from four anonymized Swedish e-commerce companies operating in different markets, all of which have either automated warehouse management systems or are undergoing a transition to automation. Several driving forces are identified in the study as foundational for choosing to automate the warehouse management process. Among these driving forces are efficiency, competitiveness, and economic gain. Running an automated warehouse operation requires companies to address challenges associated with automation. While there are several common difficulties and approaches to managing them, there are also differences in how companies handle these challenges. Difficulties that can not be managed may lead to adverse effects on the entire operation. Challenges include personnel skill shortages, order picking and product variation, operational disruptions and downtime, and data management and technical complexity. Ergonomics and the ability to manage demand variations are factors that can be both driving and challenging. Despite encountering challenges with automated warehouse management systems, the conclusion drawn is that by working proactively and continually evaluating the systems and operations, the authors believe that Swedish e-commerce companies can benefit from investing in automation and thereby become competitive and market leaders.