Human–Robot Collaboration: The Future of Smart Warehousing

When thinking about the smart warehouse of the future, many imagine a dark warehouse where robots have dominion and humans are nowhere to be seen. While this is one possible scenario, a more likely (and desirable) one is a future of optimal human–robot collaboration. This chapter explores the key drivers of increasing automation adoption, the robotics market landscape, and the emerging business models. It concludes that the smart warehouse of the future will leverage the best of robotics technology to perform tasks that are dull, dangerous, distant, or difficult, while utilizing the best of human ability to act on insights and improve processes.