AMHSA presents vision for growth

THE AUTOMATED Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA) has been quietly growing and I’m delighted to report that we now have over 70  members. The voice of the UK’s automated intralogistics sector, AMHSA is celebrating 35 years as an association this year and is stronger than ever.

AMHSA’s vision is to be recognised as the UK’s leading authority on logistics automation, fostering collaboration, networking and knowledge transfer across the supply chain. To realise this vision I, along with AMHSA’s steering group, want the association to step up a couple of gears.

We plan to achieve our vision by increasing activity across our core pillars: networking & promotion, quality & standards and training. As part of a greater focus on member participation, we have appointed pillar leaders from the membership to be responsible for each of our pillars.

Networking & promotion

This pillar – headed up by Martin Elliott (Logistex) and Damien Montagne (Loadhog) – is crucial for growing the association. Our aim is to increase awareness of AMHSA through digital platforms, forums and relevant exhibitions, as well as providing opportunities for networking.

We kicked off our renewed focus on growth with AMHSA’s largest event of the year so far, our Networking Reception after day one of IMHX. This attracted over 200 people and the feedback was very positive. After a welcome and overview of AMHSA from me, Rob Fisher (Chief Executive, UK Material Handling Association) spoke about the Archies Awards and Chris Morley (Group Director, IMHX) thanked exhibitors – 40 of whom were AMHSA members – for supporting the show. Then Rueben Scriven (Research Manager, Interact Analysis) presented the latest intelligence on the trends and outlook for the logistics automation market.

Quality & standards

AMHSA’s quality & standards pillar – led by Dave Berridge (AMHSA and Emkat Solutions) and Tom Wright (Dematic) – is central to the association’s authority. Authority is key not only to AMHSA’s ability to set standards for the industry and to represent its members to international associations and government departments, but also to its ability to instil confidence in buyers of the automated systems and ancillary equipment supplied by members.

To uphold the quality and standards for which AMHSA members are renowned, we are fine-tuning the criteria for membership, with the aim of raising the bar. Our objective is for AMHSA membership to be synonymous with quality, confidence and security in the logistics automation sector. The AMHSA pin badge proudly worn by members will become a symbol of quality.

Training

Our training pillar – spearheaded by Darren Cornwall (Elmleigh) and James Sharples (Swisslog) – feeds into the quality & standards pillar. In addition to providing a programme of training workshops to facilitate the sharing of best practice, AMHSA will continue to encourage members to invest in training. Many of them are nurturing young talent through either their own apprenticeship programmes or participation in AMHSA’s scheme, which is operated in association with Toyota. This four-year programme begins with two years of high-tech engineering skills at the Toyota Academy in Burnaston, followed by the apprentices acquiring industry-specific knowledge with the member company.

Market outlook

Rueben Scriven’s presentation at our Networking Reception at IMHX gave a fascinating overview of the current trends and future health of the logistics automation market. There is continuing macro-economic uncertainty – in fact, the Global Economic Uncertainty Index reached an all-time high in Q1 2025. Exacerbated by the imposition of multiple trade tariffs, this has caused a slowdown in warehouse construction orders. However, due to the usual lag in the construction sector, we are currently experiencing an uptick in warehouse automation investment. In reality, this is being driven by a relatively small number of very large-scale automation projects from companies including Tesco, M&S, Amazon, Home Bargains and DHL, in which some of our members are heavily involved.

While the Interact Analysis team have downgraded their short-term forecast for fixed automation, they have increased projections in the longer term. Mobile automation remains on a strong upward trajectory, despite forecasts for this sector being downgraded somewhat in both the short and long term. As you would expect, research shows a strong link between wages in the logistics industry and the demand for automation. Continued increases in labour costs are expected to drive investment in warehouse automation in the UK and Europe in the longer term, despite the short-term slowdown in warehouse construction.

M&A activity

Besides my position as AMHSA President, my role as UK Managing Director and New & Emerging Market Director for Interroll gives me some insight to add to Rueben Scriven’s shrewd analysis. Along with fellow members, we are seeing more interest in brownfield projects from customers. When uncertainty precludes large capital projects, it makes sense to upgrade systems in order to sweat existing assets. A plethora of competitors from the Asia-Pacific region are active in the European market today. Mostly offering mobile automation, they are driving down costs and forcing European and North American manufacturers to respond. We have witnessed a number of acquisitions this year: Packsize bought Sparck Technologies back in April, Interroll recently acquired Sortteq and Element Logic has just bought BS Handling Systems. There may be more mergers and acquisitions to come, as European and North American players regroup to counter this APAC competition.

Strength in numbers

When the going gets tough, the tough get going, as the saying goes. With the improvement in the intralogistics automation market not expected until 2027-28, suppliers may benefit from being part of the collaborative community that AMHSA membership provides. Members support one another in a professional and mutually beneficial way to help strengthen and grow the domestic market.

AMHSA continues to bang the drum about how automation can solve some of the most challenging issues in intralogistics today. These include tackling labour scarcity, dealing cost-effectively with omnichannel distribution and building resilience in the supply chain. With a lower reliance on labour, the capacity to handle peak volumes and a focus on avoiding single points of failure, automation will continue to prove an attractive option.

AIV Group

Mirroring the growth in AMRs and AGVs, AMHSA is at the forefront in developing a new European group – the Autonomous Intralogistics Vehicles or AIV Group – tasked with defining standards and market data for this sector.    

Events in 2026

As well as hosting our own events, AMHSA plans to be present at all of the key UK logistics exhibitions in 2026 – watch this space for more details.