Modern Materials Handling published findings from its 2026 automation study on how warehouses and distribution centers are using and planning equipment. Full automation remains uneven: labeling, reporting, and packaging show higher fully automated shares than picking, storage, conveyance, and replenishment. Conveyor and sortation, goods-to-person systems, weighing and cubing, pocket sortation, automated packaging, mini-load and AS/RS, AGVs, and palletizing robots all appear as current or near-term investment categories.
Average planned spend is described as rising modestly versus the prior year, with a wide spread from small upgrades to multi-million-dollar programs. The study’s value is that it captures peer behavior rather than vendor claims: many sites still automate islands of process rather than entire buildings, and two-year intent is strongest where labor intensity and error cost are visible. For technology vendors, the data supports continued demand for both classic AGV/conveyor projects and more flexible AMR and goods-to-person deployments.
For practitioners, it is a reminder that “warehouse automation” is not one market; labeling and packaging can be highly automated while pick faces remain manual. Budget planning therefore has to separate infrastructure-heavy AS/RS from RaaS AMR fleets that can be added without tearing out racks. The snapshot also helps explain why WMS upgrades, dimensioning, and sortation remain as important as headline robot launches.