Engineering-led guides to warehouse automation, written for operations directors and finance directors who want real numbers, not marketing. How sorter technologies actually compare, what systems actually cost, where the payback actually comes from — with the assumptions shown and the trade-offs stated honestly, including where automation isn't the answer.
Everything is on the page. No gated PDFs, no forms to fill in, no sales theatre.
UK English · UK numbers · updated as the market moves
Smaller conveyor packages typically take 6–10 weeks to site; full sortation runs 12–25 weeks order-to-live with under 4 weeks on site. Every phase from FDS to handover, what stretches or compresses a programme, and the order-by dates for peak.
Roller for cartons, totes and pressure-free accumulation; belt for bags, smalls and inclines. How each family works, ZLP accumulation explained, an honest side-by-side comparison — and why most real systems mix both.
The three parcel sortation technologies compared honestly — how each works, throughput ranges, footprint, parcel tolerance, cost profile and maintenance. Then four questions on destination count, parcel mix, building and budget that settle the choice.
UK warehouse automation typically starts from around £4,000 per month financed. What drives the price, a worked £320.9k sorter example with a four-month payback, the hidden costs buyers forget, and install timelines.
How print & apply systems work — print engine, tamp/blow/wipe applicators, verification scanning — and what separates a good installation from a bad one. When to automate, plus a buyer's checklist, proven on ten Amazon SLAM lines.
A 12-position manual sort line on two shifts costs over £1.3m a year at £16.30/hr all-in — before agency premiums, overtime and rework. The wage-bill maths step by step, the invisible costs, and what the same money buys in automation.
The ROI calculator models labour savings and payback with your volumes and shift pattern. Or send us your throughput, destinations and parcel profile and we'll tell you what fits — including when it isn't ours.
Finance options available subject to specification and approval. All figures in these guides are indicative, not quotations.