Warehouse shuttle systems and their applications in retail and e-commerce

Warehouse automation continues to evolve with more advanced technologies, greater choices, and smarter software.

In Australia, the warehouse automation market is expected to grow from approximately $18.5 billion this year to $41.3 billion in 2029.

With this growth, warehouse operators face an increasingly complex decision when selecting the right automation for their warehouse and application. For retail applications, shuttle systems are often an ideal solution due to their combination of high storage density, high throughput, and efficient operation.

Swisslog senior sales consultant – consumer retail and e-commerce, Steve Dimitrovski, answers some questions on warehouse shuttle systems…

What are warehouse shuttle systems?

Shuttles are a type of automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that uses mobile robots or “shuttles” to travel horizontally down rows of products. These shuttles are equipped with arms that allow them to retrieve products based on instructions from the automation control system and deliver the selected products to vertical lifts that transport the products to a conveyor or other system. 

The technology has also been adapted for pallet handling. Pallet shuttles use the same approach as carton and tote shuttles but are designed with the power and lift capacity to store and retrieve full pallets.

How are warehouse shuttle systems used?

Warehouse shuttle systems are particularly well suited to support the following applications:

• E-commerce fulfilment: When equipped with goods-to-person pick stations, shuttle systems serve as a powerful engine to enable fast fulfilment in high-volume, dynamic e-commerce environments.
• Store replenishment: In omnichannel or dedicated retail replenishment warehouses, shuttles are ideal for supporting mixed-case palletising.
• Buffering and consolidations: Shuttles are ideal for receiving applications where buffering is required and for order consolidation in e-grocery fulfilment. 
• Cold storage: Swisslog’s shuttle systems can operate in cold storage environments to improve productivity and minimise the time warehouse workers are exposed to harsh environments. 

What are the benefits of warehouse shuttle systems?

The biggest benefit of shuttle systems is the high performance they deliver to item picking, carton handling, and pallet handling applications. Shuttles offer the highest peak throughput of any AS/RS, making them ideal for dynamic, high-volume applications. They also offer excellent storage density, particularly in high-bay warehouses where the system can be configured to utilise the full building height.

Shuttles are ideal where:

• The height of the warehouse enables more vertical storage.
• Products in storage need to be immediately available without digging.
• Peak throughput is a high priority.
• The system is required to handle cases, cartons, or products outside of bins or totes.

What are the alternatives to shuttles?

Warehouse shuttle systems are just one type of AS/RS. Similar functionality is provided by cranes and cube-based storage systems. The specific requirements of the application will dictate which system is the best fit. 

In smaller environments, where the height of the automation is limited, such as micro-fulfilment centres (MFCs), a cube-based system such as AutoStore can provide better density than a shuttle system. As the building size increases, shuttles offer better performance.

Mini-load cranes, such as the Swisslog Tornado, can provide a cost-effective automation solution where throughput and density are not a priority.

What other warehouse technologies do shuttle systems work with?

Shuttle systems’ modular design makes them ideal for configuring with other warehouse automation systems. The two most common examples are using shuttles for order consolidation in e-grocery fulfilment and for creating mixed-case pallets for store replenishment. 

• Shuttles and AutoStore: In larger MFCs as well as regional or central fulfillment centres, shuttles can work with the AutoStore system to streamline order consolidation. 
• Shuttles and ACPaQ: Warehouse operators can implement shuttle systems to improve manual palletising and then later add a robotic palletising system, such as Swisslog’s ACPaQ mixed case palletiser, to fully automate the process.  

One of the benefits of working with Swisslog is that our global automation control software, SynQ, integrates control of multiple automation systems into a single platform.

What are the key features to look for in a shuttle system

The speed at which a shuttle travels down the row is often seen as crucial. However, what’s more important is how the system is configured and its ability to effectively handle products with minimal intervention.

In applications where high throughput is required, the ability to configure the system with multiple lifts down an aisle can eliminate bottlenecks at the lifts and enable system throughput to be maximised.

Between the lifts and the shuttles, shuttle systems have a lot of moving parts, and the ability to monitor these components continuously can maximise system availability. 

• To find out more about warehouse automation shuttle systems, visit the Swisslog website.

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