Implementation of automation within a warehouse company

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to present the advantages and disadvantages of automation in warehouses. The goal is to introduce a way of approaching when implementing a new technology. The following research question are thus stated:     RQ1. What are the advantages with automation in warehouse companies?    RQ2. What are the disadvantages with automation in warehouse companies?    RQ3. How can automation be implemented within a warehouse company?    The research questions worked as a guideline to build the theoretical framework and result section. The analysis and conclusion section were then formulated, and the research questions were answered. To answer the research questions, the approach of the systematic literature review has been used. Which means the information gathered was done in a systematic way.     It can be said that there are both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to automation in warehouses. The automated systems that were introduced in this thesis was AGVs and palletizing robots. Both these systems require more investigation and do not fully fulfil the customer demand. Yet, it can be said that automation in warehouses can have many positive effects on for example productivity, effectivity, and employees phycological and physical aspect.     For implementation of automation a guiding principle of three head phases was introduced with several steps. The head phases are the pre-project phase, implementation phase and post-project phase. The pre-project phase is about analysing the current company state and deciding if the implementation is possible with the resources available. The implementation phase is about the importance of structuring the planning and reducing the uncertainty during the project. Lastly, post-project phase is about adjusting after the automation and reflecting about the implementation. Reflecting the processes that occurred during the project is valuable experience, therefore it is important to think over the whole process and how to keep improving processes within the organization.    There are both advantages and disadvantages with the use of automation within warehouse companies. It is believed that implementation of automation in a warehouse is strongly dependent on the individuals involved. In this study the key individuals that were discussed were managers and employees. A framework for implementation of new technology was introduced as a guiding principle for managers. The framework is aimed to work for warehouse companies and presents the risks of not following the recommended procedure.     In future studies, the programming field within palletizing and AGVs can be further researched, which can reduce the disadvantages with the usage of automation within warehouse companies.