The global market for automated material handling is worth £9.15 trillion, a figure that is expected to rise to £12.4 trillion by 2024. Given this unprecedented demand, members of the Automated Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA) – who between them turn over in excess of £3 billion a year in the UK – are working at capacity to meet the needs of this country’s manufacturing and distribution sectors. Demand for intralogistics automation is being fuelled by a combination of three factors: the need for speed and accuracy in growing e-com operations, the desire to harness the potential of digitalization and labour shortages in the supply chain.
Secretary at AMHSA
A busy year in 2019
This year has been an incredibly busy one for AMHSA. As well as providing a number of training workshops and events – including some for AMHSA’s newly formed Health and Safety Forum – the association was heavily involved in the industry’s flagship exhibition, IMHX. AMHSA’s activities at the show included staging its ‘Meet the Experts’ seminar programme – which covered a range of logistics automation topics – and involvement in the Technology Zone, enabling visitors to experience the latest vision picking technologies with an interactive demonstration. AMHSA also had a presence in the Skills Zone, promoting its Apprenticeship Scheme provided by its partner, Toyota Manufacturing UK.
Looking ahead to 2020
Attracting young people into the logistics industry will remain a key focus for 2020. A recent report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills found that only 9 per cent of the industry’s existing workforce is under 25 years old. An ageing workforce is a ticking time bomb and labour shortages are being worsened by Brexit, as the number of immigrants coming from the EU has slowed and the number of EU citizens leaving the UK has risen. Post-Brexit immigration controls may worsen this situation, putting upward pressure on wages and further fuelling the demand for automation. Material handling suppliers are also suffering from a lack of young people entering the industry, a situation that AMHSA is playing its part to address through its apprenticeship programme. Now in its fifth year, the scheme continues to flourish.
In 2020 AMHSA will continue to be active in its role as an influencer of policy and standards. The voice of the automated material handling sector, the association promotes the highest standards in terms of solutions, service, reliability and safety. This involves input to the European standards organisations, which are not EU bodies and so will not be affected by Brexit. As well as training seminars – the first of which for 2020 will be in February – AMHSA will hold its AGM in April followed by other training and development events throughout the year.
Bright future
As digitalization continues to disrupt the logistics industry, the potential of technologies such as the Internet of Things, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and collaborative robotics is beginning to be harnessed in UK distribution centres. As the power of Logistics 4.0 can only be fully embraced if warehouses are automated, the future is extremely bright for AMHSA members.
For information on membership, please call Matthew Jones on 01858 414229 or visit the AMHSA website at www.amhsa.co.uk
AMHSA
01858 414229
Comments are closed.