-
- Examine how to test automation against actual product ranges, order profiles and peak operating conditions
- Understand how to assess exception handling, performance under reduced capacity and recovery after faults
- What evidence should engineering teams require before accepting a system for live operation?
-
- Explore how drive systems, regenerative braking, intelligent controls and equipment scheduling can reduce energy consumption.
- Understand how to measure energy use alongside throughput, utilisation and system availability.
- How can engineers identify efficiency improvements without creating new constraints or reducing operational performance?
-
- Examine how real-time location systems track totes, pallets and returnable containers across warehouses and production areas
- Understand how location accuracy, coverage, power requirements and system integration affect deployment
- How can location data reduce asset searches, misplaced containers and interruptions to material flow?
-
- Explore how driverless forklifts and autonomous pallet movers navigate warehouse aisles and transfer loads between processes.
- Understand the requirements for vehicle navigation, load handling, traffic management and interaction with pedestrians.
- How can autonomous pallet movement connect with existing forklifts, conveyors and warehouse control systems?
-
- Examine how automated warehouse systems handle fresh produce, chilled goods and other temperature-sensitive products with varying shapes, packaging and shelf lives.
- Understand the challenges of maintaining product quality, managing stock rotation and coordinating high-throughput picking across temperature-controlled environments.
- What lessons from fresh-food automation projects can help operators improve throughput, reduce waste and maintain reliable store replenishment?
-
- Explore how operators respond to equipment failures, software outages and loss of connectivity
- Compare fallback procedures, recovery priorities and the responsibilities of operators, integrators and maintenance teams
- How can businesses test recovery plans and restart automated operations safely while protecting service levels?
-
-
- Discover how sensor data, condition monitoring and analytics can identify emerging faults in motors, conveyors, robots and automated storage systems.
- Understand how maintenance teams can connect alerts to work orders, spare parts and planned maintenance windows.
- What data and performance measures are needed to distinguish useful early warnings from unnecessary alerts?
-
- Examine the cybersecurity risks affecting operational technology, connected equipment and industrial control networks.
- Explore practical approaches to network segmentation, access management, monitoring, patching and incident recovery.
- How can warehouse teams improve cyber resilience without compromising equipment availability or operational safety?
-
- Understand the distinct roles of warehouse management, execution and control systems within an automated operation.
- Examine how task prioritisation, equipment commands and real-time status updates should flow between systems.
- How can operators prevent control conflicts and ensure software and equipment respond consistently to changing conditions?
-
-
- Discover how barcode scanning, RFID, machine vision and dimensioning technologies capture accurate item and shipment data.
- Explore the technical challenges of reading damaged labels, variable packaging and fast-moving goods.
- How can reliable identification improve traceability while reducing errors and manual intervention?
-
- Compare shuttle-based systems, stacker cranes and other automated storage technologies for different warehouse requirements.
- Examine how storage density, retrieval rates, system availability and building constraints influence design.
- Which engineering trade-offs matter most when specifying an automated storage system?
-
- Explore how conveyors, sorters, lifts and goods-to-person systems can be configured to support different order profiles.
- Understand how layout, accumulation, buffering and control logic influence throughput and system reliability.
- How can operators identify the right balance between conventional materials handling and advanced automation?
-
- Examine how safety scanners, guarding, access controls and emergency-stop systems protect people in automated environments.
- Understand the engineering challenges of managing shared workspaces, changing layouts and interactions between equipment.
- How can safety be designed into an automation system without unnecessarily restricting operational performance?
-
- Explore how simulation models can test warehouse layouts, material flows, equipment capacity and operational scenarios.
- Understand how accurate input data and realistic assumptions influence the reliability of simulation results.
- How can teams identify bottlenecks and validate design decisions before committing to installation?
-
- Examine how 3D vision, gripping systems and AI models enable robots to pick products with different shapes, sizes and packaging.
- Understand the technical limits created by deformable items, reflective surfaces, occlusion and unpredictable product presentation.
- What needs to be tested to achieve reliable picking performance in real warehouse conditions?
-
-
- Explore how packaging, print-and-apply labelling, barcode scanning, dimensioning and sortation technologies work together.
- Understand how product variability, line balancing and exception handling influence throughput and accuracy.
- Where can better integration eliminate manual handling and prevent bottlenecks at despatch?
-
- Explore how AI agents could coordinate tasks, respond to disruptions and recommend or initiate operational actions.
- Understand the integration, permissions, monitoring and human-oversight requirements for deploying agentic systems.
- How can operators test autonomous decision-making while maintaining control, traceability and reliability?
-
- Examine how automated transport, kitting and replenishment systems connect warehouses with production lines
- Understand how sequencing, buffers and interfaces with warehouse and production systems influence reliable line-side delivery
- How can engineering teams accommodate product changes, urgent replenishment and equipment failures without interrupting production?
-
- Examine how AI can support demand forecasting, inventory decisions, workload planning and exception management.
- Understand the data, system integration and validation required to deploy AI in live warehouse environments.
- Which technical safeguards help teams move from promising pilots to dependable operational tools?
-
- Examine who owns interfaces, data quality and overall system performance when several technology suppliers are involved
- Compare practical lessons from commissioning, operator training and handover into live operations
- How should operators and suppliers resolve problems when individual systems work but the overall operation does not?
-
-
- Examine the implications of the EU Machinery Regulation for integrated systems involving robots, conveyors and automated equipment.
- Understand how risk assessment, technical documentation, safety responsibilities and system integration fit into project delivery.
- What should engineering teams address early to avoid compliance problems during commissioning and deployment?
-
- Explore how new robots, conveyors and automated equipment can connect with existing WMS, WCS and ERP environments.
- Understand the role of interfaces, middleware, data quality and phased commissioning in reducing implementation risk.
- How can engineering teams modernise an operational warehouse without replacing every existing system?
-
- Understand how VDA 5050 supports communication between mobile robots and a central fleet control system.
- Examine the practical challenges of interoperability, implementation, testing and multi-vendor integration.
- What should operators verify before expecting robots from different manufacturers to work together?
-
-
- Discover how orchestration software coordinates robots, conveyors, warehouse systems and human workflows in real time.
- Explore how task allocation, traffic management and dynamic routing affect overall system performance.
- What does it take to coordinate multiple technologies without creating disconnected automation islands?
-
- Examine how autonomous mobile robots and automated guided vehicles navigate, move goods and interact with existing operations.
- Understand the technical considerations behind fleet management, traffic control, charging and safety.
- How can mobile robotics be integrated into a busy warehouse without creating new bottlenecks?
-
- Explore how goods-to-person systems combine storage, retrieval and picking technologies to increase warehouse productivity.
- Understand how order profiles, throughput targets and available space influence system design.
- What should operators evaluate when choosing a solution that can scale with future demand?