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August 2023 - Industrial

A quarter of companies polled in materials handling survey say they have 'no plans at present' to adopt AI: A survey by Modern Materials Handling has revealed that 26% of the U.S. companies polled in the Materials Handling Technology Study have no plans to adopt AI, with just 16% saying they are now using it within their business. This is a significant change from 2022's survey, when 45% said they had no plans at present and just 12% were using.

Just over a fifth of respondents to the 2023 survey said they will evaluate whether to use it ‘within the next couple of years’ (12% up from 7%), while 14% said they are evaluating and considering it now (up from 7% in 2022. One in 10 companies said they 'need to know more about it’ before using it(down from 14% in 2022).

According to the current survey, 53% of respondents now run cloud-based applications, up from 50% last year and 36% in 2021. The survey also found that 28% said they are evaluating the cloud within the next 12 to 24 months. This is a notable increase from the 11% last year.

Respondents were also asked about the benefits of cloud-based applications with 'better visibility' seen as the most valuable aspect (37%), followed by security (36%), and 'everyone has access to the same information/data (34%). Other benefits cited were 'applications are scalable' (31%), it's more cost-effective (29%), 'access to analytical data' (29%), while a quarter said it was ‘easy to implement, deploy or upgrade applications (24%). In addition, 24% said benefits included the ability to run e-commerce apps, while accessibility speed of service and quicker access to the marketplace was also highlighted (17%).

The research also revealed that two in five companies say they typically take a wait-and-see approach to technology (21%) or are among the last to adopt it (19%). On the opposite side of the spectrum, 30% said they cautiously embrace change, with 16% seeing themselves as innovators and 13% as early adopters.  

It also highlighted that 39% of users have increased their reliance on software in the last 12 months, while 4% reported becoming less reliant on software. However, the majority of users (57%) said they have stayed level.

The survey asked respondents what they are planning to evaluate, purchase or upgrade within the next 24 months, with the top answer given being 'warehouse management systems (28%), followed by supply chain management and planning (SCP) software (27%).  Robotic control systems (19%) were also cited along with transportation management systems - TMS (18%), Labour management systems (15%), yard management system - YMS (15%) and warehouse execution systems (13%).

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