The Most Popular Ways to Use Robotics in Your Warehouse

Last updated 6/18/26

Summary:  Warehouse robotics are helping fulfillment operations improve productivity, reduce training time, gain real-time operational visibility, scale during peak periods, and automate more workflows than ever before. As robotics adoption continues to grow, warehouses are using autonomous systems to increase throughput while making better use of available labor.

Warehouse robotics are no longer an emerging technology. According to a 2025 study from MHI, Peerless Research Group, and The Robotics Group, 48% of organizations now use robots in their manufacturing or warehouse operations, up from just 23% three years earlier. As adoption continues to accelerate, warehouse leaders are increasingly looking for ways robotics can improve performance, flexibility, and operational efficiency.

If you're evaluating warehouse robotics for your operation, understanding how other organizations are using them can help identify where automation may deliver the greatest impact.

Improve Picking Productivity

For many warehouses, order picking remains one of the most labor-intensive and time-consuming activities in the fulfillment process. Robotics help improve productivity by reducing travel time, guiding associates through optimized workflows, and enabling more efficient execution.

At GEODIS, warehouse associates who previously averaged approximately 100 units per hour using traditional picking methods increased performance to 175-200 units per hour with the Locus Robotics solution.

"Some of the benefits we've seen with Locus are picking productivity and efficiency," said Eli Camplei, Director of Operations at GEODIS.

Kenco experienced similar results.

"Prior to the Locus Roots, we were at 30-40 units per hour per picker," said Kristi Montgomery, VP of Innovation, Research and Development. "We're now in the range of anywhere from 120-150 units per hour." Those improvements translate into increased throughput, greater labor efficiency, and the ability to process growing order volumes without proportionally increasing headcount.

Reduce Walking and Non-Productive Travel

One of the biggest opportunities for robotics is reducing the amount of time associates spend walking through the warehouse. Traditional workflows often require workers to spend a significant portion of their shift traveling between pick locations, staging areas, and workstations. Robotics help minimize that travel by bringing work closer to associates, guiding them through optimized routes, or autonomously transporting inventory and materials throughout the facility.

By reducing non-value-added travel, warehouses can improve labor utilization while helping associates focus on higher-value tasks that directly contribute to order fulfillment.

Get New Associates Productive Faster

Training and onboarding remain ongoing challenges for warehouse operators, particularly during periods of rapid growth or seasonal demand. Facilities using robotics frequently report faster onboarding because associates can quickly learn guided workflows and begin contributing sooner.

"It's very simple," said Elio Rodriguez, Warehouse Picker at GEODIS. "I like working better with the robot because it's faster and it's easier." The simplified workflows can help reduce training complexity while enabling new associates to become productive more quickly than with traditional paper-based or handheld-driven processes.

As Felix Torres, Assistant Operations Manager at GEODIS, explained, reducing training time can have a meaningful impact during peak periods when facilities are hiring and onboarding large numbers of temporary workers.

Gain Real-Time Operational Visibility

Modern warehouse robotics solutions generate operational data that can help managers make better decisions throughout the day. With access to real-time dashboards and live operational insights, organizations can identify bottlenecks, monitor productivity, track inventory movement, and adjust workflows as conditions change.

Carhartt uses operational data from its robotics deployment to better understand product movement and warehouse activity. "With the dashboard, we can see when products are starting to ramp up and go out by tracking where the robots are going on a day-to-day basis," said Tony Gariety, VP of Distribution Operations. "We make adjustments based on that data to place more products into the needed areas to reduce traffic." These insights help operations teams make proactive decisions rather than reacting after problems occur.

Scale Through Peak Demand

Seasonal surges, promotions, and changing order volumes can place significant pressure on warehouse operations. Robotics provide a flexible way to increase throughput while reducing the challenges associated with rapidly hiring, training, and managing large numbers of temporary workers.

At DHL, robotics helped support record fulfillment volumes during peak operations. "We had a record day of over 110,000 units picked that were supported by Locus Robotics in the each-pick process," said Justin Kastman, Director of Operations. The ability to scale capacity while maintaining operational consistency has become one of the primary reasons organizations invest in warehouse robotics.

Expand Automation Beyond Picking

While picking remains one of the most common applications for warehouse robotics, today's systems support a much broader range of workflows.

Organizations are increasingly using robotics for:

• Inventory transport
• Putaway
• Replenishment
• Returns processing
• Material movement
• Cross-docking operations
• Autonomous transport between work areas

This expansion allows warehouses to automate multiple workflows within a coordinated system rather than addressing only a single operational challenge.

Read about the expanding role of AMRs in modern warehouses that goes beyond picking. 

Improve Labor Utilization and Operational Flexibility

Labor availability continues to be a major concern across the supply chain industry.

Rather than replacing workers, most warehouse robotics deployments are designed to help organizations make better use of available labor by reducing repetitive travel, simplifying workflows, and increasing productivity. The result is a more flexible operation that can adapt to changing demand, workforce fluctuations, and evolving customer expectations.

Reduce Costs Without Major Infrastructure Changes

Robotics can also help reduce costs by improving productivity, minimizing onboarding requirements, and enabling organizations to scale more efficiently. Many companies also prefer Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) models because they allow operations to align automation costs more closely with business activity rather than making large upfront capital investments. This flexibility helps organizations expand automation while preserving capital for other strategic initiatives.

The Future of Warehouse Robotics

Warehouse robotics adoption continues to accelerate as organizations look for ways to improve throughput, increase flexibility, and better utilize labor. What began as a solution primarily focused on picking has evolved into a broader operational strategy that spans fulfillment, transport, replenishment, putaway, returns, and inventory movement. As robotics become a larger part of warehouse operations, the question is increasingly shifting from whether automation belongs in the warehouse to where it can deliver the greatest value.

Ready to Build a More Flexible Fulfillment Operation?

From picking and transport to putaway, replenishment, and inventory movement, today's warehouse robotics can support far more than a single workflow.

Locus Robotics combines autonomous mobile robots, AI-orchestrated software, and real-time operational intelligence to help warehouses increase throughput, adapt to changing demand, and scale automation over time.

See how Locus Robotics can help you achieve your warehouse automation goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many warehouses use robots today?

According to a 2025 study from MHI, Peerless Research Group, and The Robotics Group, 48% of organizations reported using robots in their manufacturing or warehouse operations, up from 23% just three years earlier.

What warehouse tasks can robots automate?

Warehouse robots can support picking, inventory transport, putaway, replenishment, returns processing, material movement, and other fulfillment workflows.

Do warehouse robots replace workers?

Most warehouse robotics solutions are designed to work alongside associates, helping reduce repetitive tasks and improve productivity rather than fully replacing workers.

How do warehouse robots improve productivity?

Warehouse robots reduce travel time, streamline workflows, provide task guidance, and help associates complete more work within the same amount of time.

Are warehouse robots only for large enterprises?

No. Robotics solutions are used by organizations of many sizes, including retailers, third-party logistics providers, manufacturers, distributors, and e-commerce fulfillment operations.

How do warehouse robots help during peak season?

Warehouse robots help increase throughput, simplify onboarding, improve labor utilization, and provide scalable capacity during periods of increased demand.

What is Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS)?

Robotics-as-a-Service is a subscription-based model that allows organizations to deploy warehouse robotics without a large upfront capital investment.

What are the benefits of warehouse robotics?

Common benefits include higher productivity, improved throughput, faster onboarding, greater operational visibility, increased flexibility, and more efficient use of labor.