Just as an effective materials handling system cannot be shaped around one data point, interpreting the results of an industry survey is about more than just the bottom line. For instance, take a look at the average materials handling budget as reported by Peerless Research Group (PRG) in the 2013 State of Warehouse/DC Equipment and Technology Survey. At nearly 26% less than last year, the average anticipated spending among the survey’s 597 respondents is just $334,510. In fact, about half of those respondents plan to spend less than $50,000.
But if we look at activity levels, facility capacity numbers have jumped up by as much at 10% in one year—following six consecutive years of decline. According to John Hill, director at St. Onge, capacity figures between 60% and 70%, although a big improvement, are still below a certain threshold. When they rise above 70%, he says, it’s often necessary to spend on materials handling equipment just to keep up. In the meantime, most businesses will tend to sit tight.
In fact, respondents expressed a great deal of optimism that they could handle it. When asked about their anticipated activity levels over the next two years, almost 95% said that they expected activity to increase or stay the same. To be fair, more than 50% of respondents suggested their warehousing activity would stay the same.
According to George Prest, CEO of Material Handling Industry (MHI), growth is projected to improve into 2014. Following industry growth rates of 14% in 2011 and 10% in 2012, 2013 could hover around 6% before breaking double digits again in 2014.
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