MHIA: AS/RS industry group releases spring 2011 quarterly report

The Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) Industry Group of Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) has released it’s Spring Quarterly Report titled AS/RS: An Investment in the Future. The report asserts that sales of AS/RS are enjoying a strong comeback due in part to renewed confidence in the U.S. economy.

According to the report, several market dynamics are contributing to the rebound in AS/RS sales including:

—Pent-up demand
—Investment in distribution infrastructure
—Automation in the healthcare industry
—Government stimulus
—A resurgence of confidence in the U.S. economy

As companies resume investing in their businesses, they are turning to AS/RS because it’s a proven solution. “As these companies that slowed growth or retracted during the recession start to move forward again, they don’t want to do things the same old way. They want to move forward with innovation,” according to Swisslog Logistics’ Brad Moore, vice chair of AS/RS Industry Group.

For companies that had previously invested in automation, the desire to innovate leads to plans to add more sophisticated equipment to their operations. Distributors that already used large fixed-aisle AS/RS for pallet handling, for example, are preparing to install mini-load AS/RS that will allow them to offer customers products by the case as well as by the pallet. “Adding that kind of value upstream in the supply chain makes a big difference in which suppliers a company will select as its partners,” says Moore.

View the complete report — AS/RS: An Investment in the Future.

Quarterly Reports are an information source from several Industry Groups of MHIA. Each report will focus on trends in the use of material handling and logistics equipment, such as guided vehicles or automated storage, to solve challenges in the plant and warehouse ranging from sustainability to productivity in the new economy.

Members of MHIA Industry Groups are suppliers of material handling and logistics equipment and systems. These industry experts make it their business to evaluate operational challenges and solve them efficiently and cost effectively. That makes them authoritative sources for solutions to challenges that end users face on a daily basis.

AS/RS is an Industry Group of MHIA. AS/RS members are the Industry’s leading suppliers of automated storage/retrieval systems. They supply systems worldwide and in virtually every major manufacturing and distribution sector.