Automated Material Handling Equipment Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Integration of IoT devices - The integration of IoT devices such as sensors in automated material handling equipment help in assessing the condition and monitoring the performance of the equipment. AMHE with the help of IoT-enabled devices ensures proactive maintenance and collects the performance data such as energy consumption and temperature. This further increases equipment efficiency and reduces downtime and it helps in dealing with potential failures and preparing in advance for the maintenance of AMHE.
  
  Furthermore, IoT-enabled automated material handling equipment is easily monitored remotely from anywhere which boosts the growth. According to a report, there are approximately 15.14 billion connected IoT devices as of 2023.
• Growth of the e-commerce sector - The surge in the e-commerce sector has increased the demand for automated material handling equipment to deliver products fast and meet consumers’ expectations. The use of automated material handling equipment ensures efficient product packaging, better storage without any defects, and effective order picking to improve customer experience.
  
  Moreover, the rising trend of online retail boosts the demand for AMHE in warehouse and distribution centers to handle large quantities of orders which further expands the market size of AMHE. According to recent information, US e-commerce sales accounted for 15.4% of total sales in 2023, and 14.7% of total sales in 2022.
• Increasing use of AMHE in various industries - The growing demand for automated material handling equipment in various industries such as transportation, food and beverage, and metal & heavy machinery. It enhances the safety and efficiency of material handling operations of various industries which boosts the market growth of automated material handling equipment.
  
  Moreover, the quick delivery of raw materials and tracking of goods in factories and storage facilities have become easy only with the use of automated material handling equipment technology.

Challenges

• The high initial installation cost of AMHE - The high initial cost of installing, purchasing, and software integration of automated material handling equipment hinders market growth. Moreover, smaller businesses face challenges in adopting AMHE due to their limited finance and it increases extra expenditure on maintenance of AMHE.

• Technical challenges related to the sensing element - The uncertain technical challenges in AMHE related to the sensing element may stop the entire process and cause interruption. All AMHEs are connected to sensors to operate efficiently and automatically, technical errors in AMHE’s hamper their market growth.