North America Automated Material Handling Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The North America Automated Material Handling market was valued at USD 9862.34 million in 2020 and is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 7.73% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026).

Key Highlights

• The United States is one of the largest and most advanced markets for automated material handling (AMH) solutions in the world. The strong economy, with notable port traffic, increased e-commerce activity, and key manufacturing indices, results in significant growth in manufacturing, and it is poised to drive the demand for AMH in the country.
• Sectors, including retail, automotive, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical, are the largest sources of demand for automated material handling solutions in the country. Food and beverage is the largest industry and represents more than 35% of all US packaging shipments annually.
• Additionally, owing to low vacancy and a surge in the rental prices of warehouses, enterprises are progressively looking for smaller places to rent out for warehouse purposes. In order to optimize the productivity of these narrow spaces, they are expected to deploy more automated solutions soon.
• Moreover, the e-commerce logistics costs in the United States account for over 6.9% of the total US logistics costs. The importance of the last mile in the supply chain will never be lost; however, manufacturers realize that there is no last mile without the first. Applying the right material handling technology produces measurable cost savings while bringing an immediate ROI.
• The covid-19 pandemic revolutionized the material handling industry due to social distancing norms. A study from Cornell University showed that as many as 31% of employees were laid-off-post covid to implement automated material handling infrastructure in the industries.

Key Market Trends

Retail/Warehousing/Logistics to Hold Significant Share

• E-commerce is a significant driving factor for the demand from automated distribution warehouses, as consumers seek ever-shorter delivery times. According to Trading Economics, customer spending in the United States grew to USD 13,410.42 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, from USD 13,353.12 billion in the third quarter of 2019. According to the US Census Bureau, the US retail sales rose by 0.3% in January 2020, hitting a record of USD 3.68 trillion in 2018, according to data from the National Retail Federation, driving almost 70% of the economic growth in 2020.
• Despite growth in the manufacturing industry, there is a considerable demand from the warehousing and logistics sector dedicated to e-commerce activity in the country. The Canadian warehouse portfolio majorly comprises e-commerce, and it is estimated to make up more than 50% of the warehouse business in the country.
• In the Canadian retail industry, rising labor costs, waning employee productivity, and the need for building bigger distribution centers to accommodate the increasing number of items being sold in its supermarkets are expected to drive the demand for automated material handling solutions.
• Even with such high activities in the e-commerce and warehousing segment, more than 80% of the warehouses are still operated manually. A mere 15% of all the warehouse establishments in the country are mechanized, and only 5% are estimated to be completely automated. With the extended benefits, like the potential to cut costs, increase efficiency, and provision for new services, autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are slowly being adopted by various developed and developing countries in the forecast period.

United States to Hold Major Share

• The United States is the most advanced economies in the world. The country’s manufacturing sector, which is a huge source of demand for the AMH market, hinges on the dominant US economy, which accounts for 82% of the region’s economic output.
• The country has a high trading profile and a highly active e-commerce sector, which increases the demand for warehouse space.
• Moreover, the North American airport industry is one of the largest airport industries in the world. It provides services to about 1,011.5 million domestic and international passengers every year. It is also home to some of the world’s biggest airports and is expected to bolster the adoption of automation to ensure no disruptions in the business model.
• For instance, Crisplant, a foremost global supplier of automated baggage handling systems, designed, manufactured, and installed fully automated baggage handling systems, integrated with the security screening equipment deployed by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), in Canada’s Halifax International Airport.

Competitive Landscape

The North America automated material handling market is moderately fragmented and highly competitive in nature. Product launches, high expense on research and development, partnerships and acquisitions, etc., are the prime growth strategies adopted by the companies in the country to sustain the intense competition.

• January 2021 - MHS Holdings, Inc., a leading global provider of advanced material handling automation solutions, engineering, equipment, and software, acquired TGW Systems, Inc.’s U.S. conveyor business unit.
• July 2021 - Zebra Technologies, a provider of enterprise data capture, mobile computing, and visibility solutions, announced to acquire Fetch Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support