Europe Intralogistics Automation Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

Europe Intralogistics Automation Market Trends and Insights

E-commerce Boom and Omnichannel Fulfillment Pressure

Explosive online sales growth is rewriting fulfillment blueprints across Europe. Otto Group invested EUR 260 million in a high-throughput facility in Iłowa that processes 18,000 items per hour and targets next-day delivery for 60% of orders.^{[1]Otto Group, “Logistics Next Level: This Distribution Center Has It All,” ottogroup.com} Retailers and 3PLs are specifying modular cube and shuttle systems that can flex between bulk replenishment and single-item picking without halting operations. Urban real-estate constraints are accelerating adoption of goods-to-person micro-fulfillment centers, while cube-based storage allows operators to triple SKU density in legacy buildings. The resulting productivity gains are shortening the payback period on automation investments even for mid-tier merchants. These dynamics are expected to keep capital flowing toward scalable, software-defined solutions that future-proof fulfillment against shifting order profiles.

Labor Shortages and Wage Inflation Across EU27

An aging workforce, post-Brexit migration patterns, and stringent working-time regulations have pushed vacancy rates in logistics above 12% in many EU regions. Robot installations climbed 28% in Central and Eastern Europe as companies offset staff gaps with collaborative automation, and Germany’s mechanical-engineering sector is exporting turnkey systems eastward to capture that demand.^{[2]KION Group, “A New Era of Flexibility in Intralogistics,” kiongroup.com} Wage inflation averaging 6-8% annually is further tilting the cost-benefit equation toward capital investment. The shift is also qualitative: facilities seek technicians who can manage fleet software rather than manual pickers, spurring partnerships between OEMs and vocational institutes to upskill workers. Collectively, labor scarcity is transforming automation from optional to essential across the Europe intralogistics automation market.

Rapid Advances in AI-Powered Mobile Robotics and IoT

Visual-SLAM navigation, edge-based sensor fusion, and continuous-learning algorithms are enabling autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to move safely among people and forklifts without predefined paths. ABB deepened its capability with the acquisition of Sevensense, bringing real-time 3D vision that cuts system commissioning time by 30%.^{[3]ABB, “ABB Acquires Sevensense, Expanding Leadership in Next-Generation AI-Enabled Mobile Robotics,” abb.com} Combining AMRs with IoT telemetry allows predictive battery and wheel-wear analytics that raise fleet availability to 97%. Manufacturers are embedding digital twin models into warehouse management platforms so planners can stress-test order peaks before execution. These AI-native approaches favor OPEX-based licensing, creating recurring revenue streams for solution providers while giving users faster feature updates. The pace of algorithm improvement suggests that AMRs will overtake fixed AGV deployments within five years in the Europe intralogistics automation market.

5G/Private-LTE Roll-outs Enabling Real-Time Orchestration

European facilities are carving out local spectrum to run sub-10 millisecond, deterministic wireless networks that unify voice, data, and machine control. CJ Logistics achieved a 20% throughput lift after replacing Wi-Fi with a private 5G network that lets AGVs, AMRs, and handhelds coexist without interference.^{[4]Ericsson, “CJ Logistics Sees Productivity Surge with Private 5G,” ericsson.com} KION Group’s KAnIS testbed shows forklifts sharing video perception data to prevent blind-spot collisions, illustrating a step toward swarm behaviors. Network slicing ensures cybersecurity and allows bandwidth to flex with demand surges, critical for peak-season fulfillment. As the EU’s Machinery Regulation adds mandatory connectivity safeguards from 2027, private-cellular infrastructure is likely to become a core design element of new automated sites.

High CAPEX and Long ROI Horizons

Comprehensive intralogistics automation often requires EUR 5–10 million upfront, a hurdle for SMEs that dominate regional logistics. Survey work shows 82% of warehouse leaders remain uneasy about investment volumes despite proven productivity gains; rising interest rates add to financing strain. A growing Robotics-as-a-Service model spreads costs over multi-year contracts, yet most banks still prefer asset-backed lending. Projects demonstrating sub-four-year payback—such as Heemskerk Fresh & Easy’s produce facility—are easing concerns, but many operators still delay scope expansion until macro-economic clarity improves. CAPEX sensitivity therefore constrains penetration of the Europe intralogistics automation market in lower-margin verticals.

Legacy IT/OT Integration Complexity

Many European warehouses run decade-old WMS or ERP platforms that lack open APIs, turning automation retrofits into bespoke software projects. The customization required during Xenos Netherlands’ rollout of a Swisslog system raised deployment cost and schedule risk even though it ultimately doubled pick performance. Cyber-security is another barrier; plant managers have historically prioritized uptime over patch management, leaving gaps that the new EU Machinery Regulation will penalize. Vendors are responding with standard middleware adhering to the VDA 5050 interface, yet few brownfield sites can adopt it without WMS upgrades. Integration friction will therefore continue to slow adoption among operators with large legacy footprints.

Segment Analysis

By Product Type: Mobile Robots Drive Next-Generation Flexibility

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) accounted for a comparatively modest slice of 2024 revenue but are forecast to grow at 11.56% CAGR, the fastest within the Europe intralogistics automation market. The segment’s momentum rests on minimal fixed infrastructure requirements: a fleet can be added or relocated in weeks rather than months. In contrast, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) retained the largest 27.65% share of Europe intralogistics automation market size in 2024 thanks to proven cube and shuttle platforms widely adopted in grocery and fashion fulfillment. 

AMR adoption is spreading from e-commerce to spare-parts distribution as vision-SLAM navigation lowers commissioning costs. KION Group’s modular robots illustrate this pivot by offering plug-and-play deployment for mid-cap firms. AS/RS suppliers are countering with hybrid designs that embed robot shuttles inside dense cubes, protecting their installed base. Automated sorting, palletizing, and conveyor subsystems remain critical complements that tie goods-to-person workstations into outbound docks. Convergence across these categories is prompting buyers to favor platform providers able to harmonize control software across mixed fleets, reinforcing the Europe intralogistics automation market’s move toward integrated ecosystems.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By End-user Industry: Automotive Leadership Faces Healthcare Disruption

Automotive plants locked in 32.56% of Europe intralogistics automation market share in 2024 as decades of lean-manufacturing expertise made them early adopters of automated tugger trains, torque-tracking pick systems, and real-time quality analytics. Yet the pharmaceuticals and healthcare vertical is accelerating at 11.78% CAGR, reflecting stricter serialization rules and cold-chain demands. Pharmacy chain Dr. Max commissioned an automated distribution hub that supports 55% e-commerce growth and illustrates how traceability requirements convert directly into automation budgets.

Post and parcel operators are embedding high-speed sorters to keep pace with B2C parcel surges, while food and beverage processors automate case picking to protect freshness under 24-hour delivery windows. Airports and general manufacturers round out demand with baggage-handling overhauls and just-in-sequence kitting respectively. The result is a broadening customer base that shields the Europe intralogistics automation market from sector-specific downturns and underscores the need for adaptable, regulation-aware solutions.

By Component: Software Acceleration Transforms Hardware Dominance

Hardware continued to dominate spending at 57.67% in 2024, reflecting the capital intensity of cranes, shuttles, and AMRs. However, software captured investor attention by logging a 12.45% CAGR, the highest among all components. Digital-twin engines optimize routing, simulate peak demand, and feed data into machine-health dashboards. Rohlik Group’s proprietary ARCOS platform lifted productivity 5% after replacing OEM control software across 12 sites, demonstrating untapped value locked in code layered atop existing assets .

Services, including systems integration, preventive maintenance, and regulatory compliance audits—act as glue between hardware and software, with vendors bundling them into outcome-based contracts. As the EU’s new cybersecurity rules take effect, service offerings covering threat monitoring and patch management should expand. Together, these trends mark a shift toward software-defined operations in the Europe intralogistics automation industry.

By Function: Storage Foundation Enables Picking Innovation

Storage systems held 34.56% share in 2024 because dense vertical cubes and shuttle aisles maximize cubic-meter utilization in Europe’s high-cost real-estate markets. Goods-to-person designs cut travel distance by up to 60% and lay the groundwork for high-speed picking cells that now deliver the fastest function-level growth at 11.34% CAGR. 

Sophisticated sortation and consolidation logic stitches multiple order streams—retail, e-commerce, and returns—into single outbound waves. Automated packaging lines leverage AI vision to right-size cartons, trimming dunnage and freight costs. Conveyance remains ever-present, with zero-pressure accumulation conveyors linking storage modules to dock doors. This functional interplay underscores that gains in one area often depend on complementary upgrades elsewhere, reinforcing holistic investment decisions across the Europe intralogistics automation market.

Geography Analysis

Germany’s entrenched machine-building heritage, coupled with retail giants such as REWE commissioning EUR 250 million fully automated hubs, cements its position as the continental powerhouse. The country’s regulators foster interoperability through frameworks like VDA 5050, allowing multi-brand robot fleets to share traffic data and thus cutting integration time for new deployments. Simultaneously, publicly funded AI programs at TU Dortmund are nurturing the next generation of perception and motion-planning algorithms destined for commercial roll-out.

Across the Channel, the United Kingdom is tailoring automation to demographic realities. Logistics providers report vacancy levels that climbed markedly after freedom-of-movement restrictions took effect, nudging them toward modular AMR deployments that can scale with order peaks. A looser post-Brexit regulatory environment lets firms trial novel technologies-including fully driverless yard tractors, faster than some EU peers, reinforcing the appeal of the Europe intralogistics automation market for British early adopters.

Southern and Eastern Europe represent the frontier of expansion. Spain’s food exporters and Italy’s pharmaceutical groups are deploying shuttle and pallet-monorail systems that protect cold-chain integrity while compressing dock-to-dock cycles. Poland and Slovakia host VC-funded robotics startups attracting European Investment Bank loans that localize advanced capability at lower cost, thereby extending automation access to regional 3PLs. As the EU’s 2027 Machinery Regulation harmonizes safety and cybersecurity, convergence in technology expectations should flatten adoption curves across all member states.