Top 20 Worldwide Materials Handling System Suppliers in 2019

Modern’s 22nd-annual Top 20 Systems Suppliers list showcases the performance of companies that have spent the previous year working to help clients manage staggering change. Some spokespeople from companies on this list even acknowledged the risks—to themselves and customers—of taking on too much too fast.

“The Top 20 and many others are so busy, they are not bidding on RFPs for large automated systems,” says Norm Saenz, managing director at St. Onge Co., who adds that spending on automation is not slowing down. “In 2019, the suppliers that can fabricate and integrate the required equipment within the approved capital budgets and expected leads times will continue to dominate the top of the list. Fall behind, and the new start-ups and smaller system providers may start to gain more share of the ever-increasing capital spend on automation.”

For now, there’s not much to complain about. Following a 16.5% surge in 2017, the list’s combined 2018 revenues grew 12%. The scope of available hardware and software solutions continues to broaden, but whether tried, trusted or transformative, solutions must be future-proof and protect against the guaranteed disruption that lies ahead.

The Top 10

Pulling even further ahead of the pack, Daifuku retains the No.1 spot after reporting 2018 revenues of $4.2 billion, a 14% increase. The growth follows a 25% increase in 2017 that results in a three-year growth rate of 53%.

Stuart Oliphant in Daifuku’s corporate communications department says 2018 sales grew steadily as a result of enhanced production capacity in line with robust demand from a range of industries including e-commerce and other distribution sectors, semiconductor, flat-panel display (FPD), automotive and airport systems.

SSI Schaefer Systems International held steady at No. 2, posting a 5% increase to $3.2 billion.

“We continue to see both retail and wholesale work toward omni-channel solutions,” says Michael Mohr, executive vice president of sales for SSI Schaefer. “Manufacturers are also starting to fulfill orders directly to the consumer with their own e-commerce programs as online shopping continues to grow.”

As clients work to lower costs and save on labor, Mohr says enhancements to Schaefer’s warehouse management software are providing greater visibility throughout the entire supply chain and operations.

Following its acquisition by forklift and logistics leader KION Group in late 2016, Dematic is now a supply chain solutions operating unit of KION. The unit includes Dematic as well as Egemin, an automatic industrial vehicle specialist that previously placed 18th on this list and was acquired by KION in 2015.

Dematic again finished third with $2.4 billion in revenue. Growing about 4% year over year, the company has achieved a three-year growth rate of 18%.

Climbing from sixth to fourth, Honeywell Intelligrated’s estimated $1.7 billion in revenues represents a 70% increase. The number is based on the $6.3 billion in revenues reported by Honeywell’s Safety and Productivity Solutions business, 27% of which is from the warehouse automation division.

“We saw strong growth in the warehouse automation sector in 2018,” says Pieter Krynauw, president of Honeywell Intelligrated. “This was the result of improving the user experience for our customers, introducing efficiencies throughout our supply chain and continuing to invest in our Connected Distribution Center offerings.”

Krynauw highlighted the November acquisition of conveyor solutions provider Transnorm, which he says expands Honeywell Intelligrated’s solutions portfolio to support distribution centers and parcel delivery providers globally. In the years since Intelligrated placed 15th on the 2009 Top 20 list, it has grown by double digits in all but one year. In a 2016 transaction valued at $1.5 billion, Honeywell acquired Intelligrated.

After climbing up to fourth place last year, Vanderlande Industries was unable to report revenues by press time, so its 2017 revenues of $1.5 billion have been carried over. The same goes for Murata Machinery, whose 2017 revenues are good enough for sixth place.

Shortly before publication of the 2017 Top 20 list—when Vanderlande posted the highest growth rate on that list at 18%—Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) acquired the company. Following TICO’s 2017 acquisition of 16th-place Bastian Solutions, Vanderlande became the second business to join TICO’s new business division called Toyota Advanced Logistics Solutions (TALS), which manages North American activities in the area of logistics solutions.

Knapp’s last taste of the Top 10 was when it secured 10th place in 2013. It has now reappeared in seventh, climbing four ranks after growing more than 60% to cross the billion-dollar mark with $1.05 billion.

“Last year was a very good year, and longer-range projections are also very good,” says Kevin Reader, director of marketing and business development. “Knapp continues to grow significantly in North America and globally with a three-year, 370% increase in order intake.”

Reader noted strong demand for highly automated warehousing, distribution, fulfillment and e-commerce solutions driven by strong consumer demand, labor shortages and an aging workforce in the United States. He also emphasized development of solutions optimized for the digital supply chain to leverage big data, predictive modeling, analytics and artificial intelligence.

In February 2018, Knapp acquired Apostore/KHT Group. KHT’s product range includes devices for the weighing and measuring of stock items in warehousing, distribution and fulfillment operations. Apostore develops automated picking robots for pharmacies and wholesalers and is expected to complement Knapp’s ongoing expansion into urban fulfillment and retail operations.

Retaining in eighth place, Beumer Corp. crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time on this list, an 11% improvement. “Last year was a very strong, successful year with both order intake and revenue on record level,” says Uwe Kinski, CFO of Beumer Corp.

Gaining one spot to finish at No. 9, Swisslog reported global revenues of $923 million. According to a representative, the company is the top integrator of AutoStore, with 130 systems sold, and its CarryPick automated goods-to-person solution is rapidly gaining market adoption. Swisslog’s next generation ItemPiQ robotic picking solution was demonstrated at ProMat and is already in pilot operation for several accounts.

“We are seeing the benefits of focusing our organization around two key market segments: e-commerce/retail and consumer goods,” says Markus Schmidt, president of Swisslog Logistics Automation, Americas. “Strong interest from these segments in our flexible, robotic and data-driven solutions resulted in another record year in 2018.”

Swisslog, which is now fully integrated into the KUKA Group worldwide, acquired Power Automation Systems (PAS) in April 2016. PAS manufactures the PowerStore, a leading pallet shuttle system. Swisslog has also fully integrated both PAS and Forte Industries, which it acquired in April 2015 under the Swisslog brand.

Rounding out the Top 10 is newcomer Material Handling Systems (MHS). Business units include Parcel North America, Lifecycle Performance Services and research and development offices in Mount Washington, Ky., as well as distribution and fulfillment offices in Atlanta.

MHS acquired control system integrator Atronix in November 2017, global integrator VanRiet in May 2018, materials handling equipment integrator A2i in July, and sortation specialist OCM in August 2018.

“The continued transformation of retail and labor trends push companies to invest more heavily in supply chain infrastructure and automation in particular,” says Tony Mouser, CEO of Material Handling Systems. “Strategic investments and acquisitions have come together to expand our capabilities as an efficient, single-source partner, while remaining singularly focused on doing what’s best for customers.”

For years, this list illustrated decidedly top-heavy growth. In recent years, it shows there is plenty of business for everyone. In 2017, the combined revenues of the Top 5 totaled $11.5 billion and comprised 60% of the Top 20’s total value. The same cohort now stands at $13 billion, a 12.6% increase. The other 15 companies on the list collectively grew more than 10%.

Notable performances

Finishing 2018 with $817 million, TGW’s revenues increased 15% in Euros and landed it in 11th place. In addition to increasing its research and development budget for the current fiscal year by almost 25%, the company hired nearly 400 people—and is looking for 400 more.

“We will be continuing on this path in the current 2018/2019 business year, including our focus on robotics and cognitive systems,” says Harald Schröpf, CEO of the TGW Logistics Group. “Our digital startup initiated in 2018 will provide an additional impetus in the area of connected warehousing and predictive maintenance.”

In June of 2018, 700 employees moved to TGW’s new $62 million headquarters in Upper Austria, and new local offices have been opened in Atlanta, Seattle and Paris. U.S. subsidiary TGW Systems acquired a 172,000-square-foot building in Michigan, and the TGW group now has an international network of 26 offices on three continents.

Holding 12th place, its highest rank ever on our list, Witron increased revenue by 6.7% from 2017 to 2018 in local currency, following 15.5% growth the previous year. Witron has added more than 1,000 new staff members in the past four years, according to a release.

“The world becomes even more interlinked,” says Helmut Prieschenk, Witron CEO. “This trend is especially noticeable in the logistics area. Information and algorithms play a central role; data is undoubtedly the decisive resource of the future.”

Climbing a rank for the second year in a row, Kardex Group (including both its Remstar and Mlog divisions) finishing in 13th place after 12.6% growth in 2018 revenues, which caps off a three-year growth rate of 26%.

“Due to a strong economy, the efforts of our sales and service networks and the continued support from Kardex Group, our growth continued through 2018 and we achieved another milestone year in our history,” says Mark Dunaway, president of Kardex Remstar, Americas.

After reporting 36% growth to $316 million, Bastian Solutions jumped up two positions to claim 14th place. In 2018, Bastian Solutions acquired Peach State Integrated Technologies, an Atlanta-based consulting and integration firm. The company also acquired Toyota Material Handling’s autonomous vehicle group in an effort to bring Toyota’s automation business under the Toyota Advanced Logistics Systems umbrella. The company also opened its distribution network to more than 60 Toyota dealers.

“Our company has experienced tremendous growth in our integrated system group and Exacta Supply Chain Software brands, and opportunities in the areas of omni-channel and e-commerce fulfillment continue to be a large percentage of our work with new and repeat customers,” says Greg Conner, vice president of international sales at Bastian Solutions.

Two years ago, Elettric 80 just missed this list. It returned last year in 15th place, which it has held following 4.2% year-over-year growth that contributes to a three-year growth rate of more than 100%.

System Logistics SpA reported 2018 revenues of $225 million, not including revenues from Modula SpA. The increase of more than 20% was enough to propel the company from 20th to 16th place.

DMW&H reported a slight decrease in revenues, which a representative attributed to cyclical change from year to year. “We had slights delays in a few major projects, causing a minor and temporary downturn.” In 17th place, the company had grown by 31% in the previous year, and its three-year growth rate still stands at 60%.

Moving up into 18th place, viastore reported $197 million in new orders globally, up 38% from 2017.

“We attribute this growth to a very healthy intra-logistics market, growth within key industry vertical markets, as well as our continuing global expansion,” says Lisa Day marketing and business development manager for viastore. “While maintaining this level of percentage growth might be difficult, we fully expect to see excellent growth going forward, as our markets remain strong and our solutions are expanding.”

Newcomer Lödige Industries is a family-owned company turning 70 this year, with about 1,000 employees worldwide. With a U.S. office in New York and an office supporting an ongoing automotive project in South Carolina, the company reported 2018 revenues of $188 million.

“Our main markets of airports logistics, production logistics and car park solutions have experienced steady growth in 2018,” says Philippe De Backer, CEO of Lödige Industries. “There is a noticeable interest in information management software, as clients look at optimizing operations by analyzing data generated by materials handling systems.”

A newcomer to last year’s list, Stöcklin reported $148 million in revenues to claim the final spot on our list. “Stöcklin continues to see steady growth globally with a healthy backlog, though 2018 revenue was not as strong as 2017,” says Tony Varda, director of business development. “This was primarily driven by the execution of a couple large projects being delayed from Q4 ’18 to Q1 ’19.”