Beyond the Automation Choice: Why Warehouse Automation Selection Is an Organizational Decision
Authors/Creators
Description
Warehouse automation selection is commonly approached through technology fit, throughput capability, vendor evaluation and financial return. This research-informed industry paper argues that these criteria are necessary but insufficient.
Drawing on a sequential explanatory mixed-method MBA dissertation examining ASRS-type warehouse automation selection in the Netherlands, the paper reframes automation selection as an organizational decision-quality problem. It introduces a 4+1 decision architecture comprising operational reality, digital readiness, governance discipline and integration complexity, with value-realization pressure acting across these four selection conditions.
The paper develops the concepts of decision robustness and assumption debt to explain how unresolved uncertainties can become implementation exposure, cost, delay, rework and value erosion. The evidence base comprises 178 ASRS-involved survey responses, 165 complete regression cases and eight transcribed practitioner interviews used for thematic analysis.
The paper concludes with a practical Boardroom Test for pre-commitment appraisal and connects the decision architecture to simulation-based decision learning.