New was a word used a lot at LogiMAT 2025 and it wasn’t just referring to the products - with many industry participants talking about the new generation coming through with fresh thinking and priorities and how this is shaping the sector quickly and in surprising ways.

For younger generations which have grown up with ubiquitous technology, the continuing shift to automation and testing the limits of its capabilities, especially when paired with AI, will remain a focus for years to come. Automation as we now know it, has gone through its infancy and young childhood; is it about to become a precocious adolescent?

This new generation is also pushing for changes in the way we think about energy production and use, it understands the world is a global marketplace and it is already planning ways to address the labour shortage and safety issues.

Despite this, the issues and pain-points for many attending LogiMAT 2025 are the same across the board and have been consistent for a number of years, including the need for improved efficiency, productivity, safety, space and fleet optimisation, as well as integration while also finding ways of addressing the skilled labour shortage.

So how is automation being used to address some of these problems?

Automation

Event organisers Euroexpo Messe- und Kongress-GmbH explain a quarter of the 120 new product launches at LogiMAT 2025 were in the field of industrial and service robotics which included six new picking robots, 15 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and carrybots, and nine automated guided vehicles (AGVs). Forkliftaction News will run a more comprehensive story next week on some of the big LogiMAT product launches.

The Linde Material Handling booth presented the first physical AI-powered Omniverse solution, developed in collaboration with Nvidia and Accenture, demonstrating how AI-driven industrial trucks and digital twins can transform supply chain operations. The demonstration showcased a fully integrated goods-in solution in action, featuring an AI-powered AMR and manual truck.

Geekplus launched what it describes as three “next generation” automated solutions including SkyCube2, which integrates pallet storage picking operations, offering up to 35% higher storage density.

Agile Robots showcased its ConTrax Forklift AGV which has a load capacity of 1.5T and a lifting height of 3m.

Hubtex launched its automated 35T capacity aisle entry Phoenix series which enhances safety for operators while also promoting its new connectivity for next-level fleet management.

Hubtex general manager, Hans-Joachim Finger, tells Forkliftaction News “automation is a very big topic right now and is an area of such focus, you can see it just by looking around”.

Automation and labour shortages

EK Robotics has been working in the automation field since the early 1960s and at LogiMAT was promoting its AGV and AMR solutions including the Vario Move transport robot which has a load capacity of up to 1,600kg and transfer heights up to 5m. The Vario Move AGV is a modular system with individually configurable load handling devices and customised add-ons and is designed for 24/7 operation.

EK Robotics managing director Chris Price tells Forkliftaction News the shortage of skilled labour has become a big driver for development in the automation space and this will only grow more urgent.

“Companies are automating because they can’t get people,” Price says. “There will be more and more jobs we do in warehouses where we will struggle to find people to do those jobs. We don’t have the labour force we used to have.

“Automation has been around since 1963, it solves labour costs, improves safety, gives extra efficiencies and reduces the damage done by people.”

EK Robotics also had on display at LogiMAT its first piece of automated machinery - the EGZ3000 which was used in the pharmaceutical warehouse between 1965 and 1985, had a payload capacity of 1,200kg, and was used for automated pallet transport between five buildings.

Carlo Fallarini, global marketing director with Italian-headquartered forklift attachments and forks manufacturer Bolzoni Group agrees, saying automation is going some way towards addressing the labour shortage.

“There is such a problem with the labour shortage everywhere and automation does that,” Fallarini adds.

“We invest a lot of R&D in automation and have quite a large customer base in the AGV business who we support with dedicated attachments,” Fallarini continues. “It is a growing part of our business.”

Bolzoni was launching a number of products at LogiMAT including the electric rotating carton clamp AGV attachment with a load capacity of 700kg and the easy-Forks integral fork positioner with camera.

The future

Automation, AI and robotics will continue to help address issues facing the materials handling sector for years to come, but will also likely develop to a point where it can anticipate problems and solutions before human eyes and minds can make the same connections.

And with a new generation coming into the workforce and into management roles across the materials handling sector, we see those possibilities being embraced and harnessed in ways we could never have previously imagined. It’s an exciting time to be in the industry.

Next week we will run a more comprehensive story on some of the major product releases at this year's LogiMAT event. If your company launched a materials handling product, notably forklift-related, make sure we know about it by emailing us.

Our complete gallery from LogiMAT can be viewed here.