Material handling drives automation demand

Robot demand is building back after a record year in 2022, and subsequent drop in 2023, and industry experts say warehousing and logistics is at the heart of the trend.

North American robot orders reached their highest level since the 2022 boom last year and have continued that trend in 2026, driven by successful implementations and an ever-expanding list of industries that are investing in robotics and automated equipment across their facilities. Strong orders for robots in the semiconductor and electronics, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries offset declining orders among longtime robot-buyers in the automotive industry in the first half of 2026, for example, according to data from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).

“The numbers keep getting stronger,” Aaron Prather, A3’s director of market intelligence, says about the uptick in robot demand. “Automotive is down, but even with that, the industry is doing great—and it’s really because of the diversification. So many different industries are adding automation and robotics.”

And they are applying them to material handling processes. Prather says nearly 70% of robot orders in the second quarter of this year were for material handling applications, reflecting strong demand in warehousing and logistics. (See Exhibit 1 below.)

This story was originally published by DC Velocity. Read the full story at DC Velocity →