Robot‑centric warehouses
Analysts say that by 2030 roughly half of new warehouses in developed markets will be designed as "robot‑centric" facilities rather than human‑centric ones. A new system from Locus Robotics was reported as having potential to replace thousands of pickers, underscoring a shift toward automation-led warehouse layouts. (communicationstoday.co.in) (bostonglobe.com)
Warehouses are being redesigned around robots instead of people, and Locus Robotics this week unveiled a system it said can automate picking work inside the aisles. (gartner.com) (dcvelocity.com) Gartner said on April 13 that by 2030, 50% of new warehouses in developed markets will be built as “robot-centric” sites, with humans optional in core workflows. Locus launched its Array system the same day at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta. (gartner.com) (robotics247.com) Picking is the job of walking to shelves, grabbing items, and moving them into orders, and analysts at Interact Analysis said it accounts for about 50% of labor costs in a manual e-commerce warehouse. Locus said Array combines mobile robots, a picking arm, and machine vision so the system can do induction, picking, putaway, and consolidation without manual intervention. (interactanalysis.com) (locusrobotics.com) Locus said Array can reduce labor by up to 90%, while the Boston Globe reported that, if the system works as intended, it could replace thousands of warehouse pickers. Early deployments are underway in North America, including with DHL Supply Chain. (locusrobotics.com) (bostonglobe.com) (dcvelocity.com) That changes the building itself. A human-centric warehouse is laid out around walking time, break areas, and safe separation between people and machines; a robot-centric one shifts inventory, traffic flow, and software around fleets that can run around the clock. (gartner.com) (mckinsey.com) Warehouse operators have been moving in that direction for years. DHL and Locus said in March that their robots had completed 1 billion picks across more than 40 DHL sites, and DHL has expanded plans to deploy 5,000 autonomous mobile robots in its network. (roboticsandautomationnews.com) (dhl.com) The economics are shifting too. Interact Analysis said in March 2025 that global sales of robotic picking units are forecast to grow 42% a year through 2030, and it expects average robot prices to fall 40% by 2030 while warehouse labor costs rise about 30%. (interactanalysis.com 1) (interactanalysis.com 2) Companies still face tradeoffs. McKinsey said automation projects can fail when operators buy hardware without redesigning processes, and Interact Analysis has warned that vendor instability has made some customers more cautious about new investments. (mckinsey.com) (interactanalysis.com) For warehouse workers, the shift does not end hiring overnight, but it does move jobs away from miles of walking and toward exception handling, maintenance, and supervising automated flows. The next fight is not whether robots enter the building; it is how many new buildings are designed for robots first. (interactanalysis.com) (gartner.com)
