The development of the e-commerce industry goes hand-in-hand with the growth of the automated storage industry. Inventory sold by e-commerce sellers is stored in warehouses, and to reduce the time for sorting and stocking these products, ASRS seems to be one of the best tools. The purchasing pattern of consumers is moving toward online shopping. This is contributing to the growing sales of the e-commerce industry, which fuels the rising demand for ASRS in the e-commerce industry. Further, customers expect faster delivery time, owing to which e-commerce players are adopting automation in their processes. The fluctuations in demand for stock-keeping units (SKUs) create complexities in picking operations, which in turn, slows down the fulfillment process. Along with managing SKU demand fluctuations, an ASRS also advances the fulfillment process, thus, allowing e-commerce as well as omnichannel retailers to adhere better to service level agreements by fulfilling order delivery commitments. Thus, the benefits of ASRS ease the automation process, which propels the demand for ASRS in the e-commerce industry.
The automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) market in the Middle East & Africa is further segmented into Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, and the Rest of the Middle East & Africa. The market in the Middle East is growing gradually with increasing implementations of these systems in the oil & gas, retail, pharmaceutical, and logistics industries. These industries seek modern solutions that can optimize their inventories and help them deliver products on time to consumers. This eventually helps them maintain a perfect balance between supply and demand and achieve cost savings and better operational efficiencies.
In the Middle East & Africa, large-scale retail outlet chains and e-commerce generate a high demand for ASRS. The rising number of high-income people and growing tourist visits are among the significant factors contributing to the expansion of the retail industry, which signifies the need for effective material-handling solutions. Companies in Africa are highly involved in providing ASRS to several industries to stay competitive in the market. For instance, Racking Africa offers ASRS to assist warehouse operators in increasing their productivity and managing the control of stocks through their highly reliable solutions. The company offers a broad range of automated storage systems, which include mini loads, pallet stacker cranes, carousels, shuttles, satellites, and synchronized and curved systems.
Many companies such as Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba are investing in the Middle East & Africa to expand their businesses. According to Arab News in November 2022, Amazon opened a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to boost its e-commerce and logistics operations across the country. This expansion would support the digital economy of the country in line with its Saudi Vision 2030. Thus, with the expansion of e-commerce giants in the Middle East & Africa, the market for ASRS is also expected to grow at a healthy rate in the future.
The Middle East & Africa Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) Market Segmentation
The Middle East & Africa Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) market is segmented into type, end use industry, and country. Based on type, the market is categorized into unit load ASRS, mini load ASRS, vertical lift module, vertical carousels, horizontal carousels, autoStore, and others. The vertical lift module segment registered the largest market share in 2022.
Based end use industry, the market is segmented into automotive, food & beverage, e-commerce, chemicals, aerospace, retail, pharmaceuticals, and others. The e-commerce held the largest market share in 2022
Based on country, the market is segmented into Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, and the Rest of Middle East & Africa. The UAE dominated the market share in 2022.
SSI Schafer; Swisslog Holding AG; System Logistics SpA; Bastian Solutions LLC; Kardex Holding AG; KNAPP AG; and Autocrib Inc are the leading companies operating in the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) market in the region.