A new report on robotics and innovation shows that the UK has slipped from 2nd to 5th place in the Global Innovation Index. Britain now has just 112 industrial robots per 10,000 workers which is barely half the EU average and ranks only 24th in the global Robotics Density Index, setting the UK behind.
For a country seeking to boost productivity and global competitiveness, this is a wake-up call. Other governments have successfully closed similar innovation gaps by combining targeted SME funding with investment in digital and technical skills, accelerating automation adoption while creating new opportunities for workers.
Denis Niezgoda (pictured, below), Chief Commercial Officer, International at Locus Robotics told us what he thinks this report means for the UK’s industrial competitiveness:
“Until earlier this year, the UK had no national robotics strategy, which puts the country behind global peers like Germany, the USA, Japan and South Korea. Those countries have paired clear digital transformation roadmaps with SME funding, worker training, and tax incentives, and the results speak for themselves – faster automation adoption and higher productivity.
“SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, yet between 20,000 and 27,000 SMEs still operate with virtually zero automation in their manufacturing environments. That should be a wake-up call.
“The challenge isn’t only financial; it’s cultural. Many SMEs lack exposure to the breadth of automation possibilities and the change management support needed to embrace them. Historically, automation meant huge upfront capital investment that only larger firms could justify. But with Robotics-as-a-Service models pioneered by companies like Locus Robotics, the barrier to entry is lower than ever. Businesses can treat automation like a mobile phone contract, scaling it up or down as their needs change, without being locked into rigid systems.
If the UK is serious about boosting productivity, it needs a dual approach: targeted government support for SMEs, and a strong focus on training and digital skills so employees can confidently work alongside robotics. That’s how the UK can make automation a driver of growth and put the UK industry back on the front foot globally.”
When an employee at Columbia Records saw the potential offered by mailroom automation, a true success story was born. Fifty years on, OPEX Corporation has bold new ambitions for Europe.
You give your age away if you remember the days of excitedly sending off coins in envelopes to buy items that would arrive at your front door not less than a month later. Those were the days of mailrooms with multiple staff, individually processing and ‘fulfilling’ – as we have nowadays been trained to call it – each customer order.
In that context, imagine how busy the 1970s mailroom at Columbia Records in Indiana must have been. When employee Al Stevens was tasked with finding ways to automate the manual mail processing system as a way of speeding up operations, he discovered an innovative New Jersey-based company called OPEX, which was pioneering equipment to open mail automatically and feed it via conveyor belt to seated workers.
Early Adopter to Owner
A visionary early adopter of the technology, Al Stevens eventually became sales manager at OPEX. Fast forward a few years and he and his wife took a leap of faith on buying the company outright when the opportunity arose.
The rest is history. This year the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, remaining a family-owned and run enterprise and still manufacturing its own equipment within the United States.
With some important additions: OPEX Corporation is now a great deal more than a specialist in document and mail automation, having grown over the last 15 years into a major international provider of warehouse automation systems.
Further growth in the UK and Europe is now a key objective for OPEX Corporation, having appointed Manchester-based Mike Morgan as Business Development Manager EMEA in September last year to cover a broad territory including the UK, Western Europe, the Nordics and Middle East. A Mechanical Engineering graduate with a hinterland in logistics to bring to the table, Mike is excited about the road ahead.
“I like to say OPEX is the biggest brand you’ve never heard of,” he enthuses. The numbers back up his assertion about the company’s reach. It boasts over 1600 employees, and counts more than half of the Fortune 100 companies among its customers, with 345 issued patents to endorse its credentials as a bonafide innovator.
Need-for-speed synergies between document mail automation and warehouse operational needs made the development of technology in the latter a logical move for OPEX, he says.
Speed, Versatility and Flexibility
“All of our technology ultimately derives from the document mail sortation side, and that’s where our understanding of speed comes from,” he explains. “If you look at the throughputs we have achieved for mail opening, the capability numbers are almost scarily high, and that ethos has carried over into our warehouse technology. The original innovations have been adapted to be able to move parcels and bigger items, for ecommerce and similar scenarios. Speed is rooted in the technology.”
A strong example of OPEX postroom automation capability is provided by the Mail Matrix, which can sort a wide variety of envelopes intermixed as well as small parcels to over a thousand sort destinations. There is no need to presort by size, thickness, or any other criteria; items may be dropped on the feed conveyor or via the automated feeder. Highly efficient iBOTs – intelligent wireless robots – facilitate fast and efficient mail sorting, recharging as they go. Each acts independently of the others to ensure the system remains up even if one of the iBOTs needs to be removed for repair.
It is this flexibility and versatility which informs the warehouse automation portfolio, targeting the key areas of storage, retrieval, sorting and fulfilment and with products to optimise operations in all areas.
This year, Mike Morgan is particularly excited by the potential of Sure Sort with Xtract, which builds on the sortation capability of the company’s popular (over 1400 installed worldwide) Sure Sort and Sure Sort X products to compile a package enabling the sorting, retrieval and removal of completed orders.
OPEX Xtract is an optional feature for Sure Sort X that automates the order takeaway process. The Xtract iBOTs retrieve totes of up to 30lb (13.6kg) containing sorted orders before dispensing them into the proper container, including shipping boxes, for downstream processing.
“We’re very excited about this for two reasons,” he explains. “First, no technology out there can do what it can do, so we are the first to market with this kind of technology. We can sort, retrieve and pack orders automatically, taking out multiple steps and operations from the traditional process. Second, it can also be tacked onto any existing system. So if, for instance, you already have a goods to person system, or you deploy manual picking, or you don’t have the space capability or you simply aren’t ready, for whatever reason, to make the investment, Sure Shot with Xtract is a great option for you. In terms of versatility and bang for your buck, this piece of tech is very, very exciting.”
A further differential highlighted by Mike Morgan is that the company is vertically integrated within the US. “All of our manufacturing and shipping is done in-house, from ordering parts to installing on-site with our own OPEX truck,” he says. As part of the international expansion initiative, he does not rule out exploration of a similar supply base within Europe, perhaps allied to working with selected partners in certain territories to help grow the footprint.
His objectives are clear enough. “To have a site in every territory or to get a foothold within a territory. Existing deployment within a territory matters to new customers, it gives them that element of comfort, the confidence that we’re here to stay. We understand that – after all, they are making a massive investment in many cases.”
Values of Care and Integrity
He believes the true ‘magic sauce’ of OPEX is its integrity to its customers, suppliers and staff, which springs from the Christian values of the Stevens family.
“The values of care and integrity really do soak through,” he confirms. “It’s very refreshing to be a part of that.” How do these values manifest themselves for customers?
“In our support of sites, we give everything that we possibly can to help you as a customer be successful. Put it this way: we’d much rather over-support than under-support. We don’t walk away from projects, we’ve never end-of-lifed a machine, and if we want to stop supporting a product for whatever reason, we will be there to help guide you.”
He compares the process to buying a car, another object that you are buying to use every single day. “Yes, you can buy a very cheap car without extensive aftersales support, but it’s much more likely to be regularly out of use to you because it’s in the garage being repaired. The model with the strong aftersales backup will be a much smarter choice in the long run. With our warehouse automation technology, it’s important to remember that you only buy it once, but you are then using it every day for the purpose intended.
“Our customers’ success is our success. I say to them: ‘you’re not just buying equipment, you’re buying us.’”
When your warehouse is in China but your customers are scattered across multiple continents, the margin for operational error should be close to zero, writes Mykhailo Lymar (pictured, below), CEO of Meest China.
In our case, managing fulfillment at that scale meant building systems that could be trusted to work accurately, at speed, and without constant intervention. That’s why we decided, from day one, to create our own Warehouse Management System (WMS) rather than adapt to someone else’s template.
The challenge: managing a global operation from one location
With our fulfilment centre sitting thousands of miles from most delivery destinations, every stage of the process – from receiving goods to dispatch – had to be visible and controllable in real time. Manual tracking and off-the-shelf software worked fine in the early days, but they quickly became too small for us as the company grew.
It’s a bit like being eight years old and trying to squeeze into last season’s sneakers – you love them, you’ve had your best days riding your bike and playing football in them, but they just don’t fit anymore. You’ve simply outgrown them.
That’s why, from the very beginning, we treated our WMS not as a one-time purchase, but as something that would grow alongside our business. Back in 2015, it handled simple tracking and inventory. Fast-forward a decade, and it’s an ERP-integrated, cloud-powered platform that oversees thousands of SKUs, complex order flows, and customer touchpoints every single day. (If only sneakers could upgrade like that!:)) The difference between then and now really is like moving from a desk calculator to AI: same purpose, vastly different capabilities.
Why we built our own WMS
As our business footprint expanded – more countries, more product categories, different fulfillment models – the logistics puzzle became increasingly complex. We found that most off-the-shelf WMS options were built for a single warehouse type or a narrow set of processes.
Our operation had to handle: • Transit-focused hubs for fast-moving goods • Long-term storage facilities for bulk orders • E-commerce fulfillment centers optimized for high-frequency, low-volume orders
Rather than bending our processes to fit a generic system, we designed a standalone, cloud-enabled WMS tailored specifically for our e-commerce core. This allowed us to integrate seamlessly with ERP systems used by our customers and partners – both in China and overseas – and to scale without being constrained by someone else’s software architecture.
Owning the development process meant we could tweak, upgrade, and stress-test the system under heavy data loads without waiting on external vendors. What about the results? Once advanced modules were in place, the operational gains were concrete:
• 9% lower labour costs through better workflow automation • 1.5× faster processing speeds after introducing Cubiscan technology for automated dimensioning • Better cost control by tracking packaging, labour, and time per order – improving both pricing accuracy and resource allocation
Beyond the numbers, the WMS gave us the agility to handle seasonal spikes without the chaos that often comes with rapid scaling.
Key takeaways
If you’re choosing or building a WMS, start with clarity about what your warehouse actually does. Is it about rapid turnover, bulk holding, or last-mile preparation? Map out your operational flow – like drafting an architectural plan – before looking at software. Identify bottlenecks, understand why they happen, and prioritize fixing the 70% of processes that carry most of your workload. Resist the urge to overbuild from the start. The most effective systems grow in layers – adding complexity only when the core processes are already running smoothly. Keep development continuous, not one-and-done, so your operations can adapt to changes in volume, market conditions, or customer expectations.
Bio of the speaker: Mykhailo Lymar has served as CEO of Meest China since its founding in 2014, leading the company’s mission to make Asian logistics as accessible and seamless as possible for businesses and individuals worldwide. Over more than 10 years at the helm, he has built and guided a diverse global team, establishing operational hubs across Europe and Asia. To truly understand the nuances of Asian logistics, Mykhailo relocated to China for five years, immersing himself in the region’s culture and business practices. With over 20 years of experience in logistics and an Executive MBA, he combines strategic vision with hands-on expertise in cross-border logistics, supply chain optimization, and market expansion.
Staffordshire-based specialist shipping company Robert Wynn and Sons Ltd. has successfully completed a rotor swap for the Paluel Nuclear Power Station transporting a rotor, and its replacement, between France and the Netherlands.
The unique heavy lift ro/ro barge Terra Marique loaded a 236-tonne rotor — carried on a 72-tonne trailer — at Fécamp for onward transport to Rotterdam. Once alongside in Rotterdam, the rotor was lifted off using a shoreside crane and transferred direct to river barge ‘Meander’ for onward delivery.
A second river barge ‘Expecto’, carrying the replacement 220-tonne rotor then arrived and was offloaded by crane onto the quay, before being lifted onto the Terra Marique, where Robert Wynns’ crew lashed and secured the cargo ahead of the return voyage to Fécamp.
The project was not without its challenges. On arrival in Fécamp with the new rotor, a temporary breakdown of the port’s swing bridge prevented the planned transit. To keep the project on schedule, the Terra Marique undertook a nighttime manoeuvre, through the Bassin de Mi-Marée with centimetres of clearance into the Bassin Freycinet.
Carrying out the precise operation in darkness introduced additional navigational and operational challenges, but the vessel and crew completed it successfully before performing the offload the following morning. Once repositioned end-on to the quay, the vessel’s hydraulic roadway and ballast system were configured for a seamless ro/ro discharge of the replacement rotor, ready for onward transport to Paluel Power Station.
Working for Ziegler Group, Robert Wynn & Sons’ engineers and crew coordinated the loading, lifting, and ro/ro elements of the project alongside partners in Rotterdam and Fécamp.
Robert Wynn & Sons General Manager, Andy Manners, commented: “This project showcased not only the versatility of the Terra Marique but the skill and adaptability of all involved. While we have loaded and discharged cargo at Fécamp on many occasions, this was the first time we have navigated the 17.5m wide entrance into Bassin Freycinet in darkness. Navigating under our own power with such tight clearances was a challenge, but one our team met head-on. Our thanks go to our client Ziegler and all our partners for their commitment in ensuring both rotors were delivered safely and on schedule.”
Every good fulfilment strategy now requires automated, right-sized packaging for every product. David Priestman attended a customer innovation day in Umbria, Italy, to see how things should be done.
“There should be no excuses in designing packaging machinery – go beyond limits,” enthused Francesco Ponti (pictured below), the exuberant CEO of CMC Packaging Automation at the company’s annual CID event in delightful Citta di Castello, near Perugia. His company are advocates of utilising fully-automated packaging technology and claim to be the number one in packaging ecommerce machine supplies globally.
CMC is a family company, having been founded by Francesco’s father Giuseppe in 1980. Like the world’s biggest online retailer (who do not need the publicity of being named here!) CMC grew from garage to global in a generation. “We’re in a very good position,” says the open and good-natured Ponti. “We learn from our customers what the market needs and try to make them happy. We are one of the best in R&D and the time-to-market of new product launches. Fit the box around the product and don’t ship air!”
No Fillings
The company has offices in the UK, Germany and Netherlands, as well as 3 further sites in Italy and facilities in the USA in Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. The Cleveland factory makes cardboard, which helps CMC to control the price of consumable materials supplied to customers and give confidence in the total cost of ownership estimates.
The North American market is huge for CMC, accounting for 58% of revenue, thanks in no small part, I understand, to that other company that started in a garage. It has 600 employees, 600 customers and partners, over 600 patents and more than 3000 systems have been installed so far. Turnover has trebled in the last seven years to €157m. Investment from KKR has enabled this growth, facilitating a succession of new machine launches, roughly one per year.
Optimize Outbound
The newest machines in the range include ‘Genesys’ (with Combo and Compact variants) for dynamic packing of multiple items regardless of shape and size into tote boxes without pre-consolidation; ‘Cartonwrap’ (plus XL and duo versions) for ecommerce 3D packing into unique, optimised cardboard boxes without void fillers; ‘Paper-Pro’ for bagging into perfect-size paper bags; ’Nexus’ for 3PL or retail use alongside AMRs and carousel technology.
‘Box first’ or ‘box last’ is often the choice in packaging and ecommerce operations. ‘Box first’ is for on-demand packing, created for each specific order, used in conjunction with an ASRS or pick-to-light system. ‘Box last’ is a ‘zero touch’ fully-automated operation fed by conveyors from inbound. DHL Brazil’s Luiz Proenca is managing warehouse operations for customers including Adidas. Migrating from plastic to paper packaging is part of a switch to a ‘circular economy’ approach. Speaking at CID he said, “the challenge for us is in handling wide variations in ecommerce packaging sizes in the same distribution centre, combined with the need for speed and under 24-hour deliveries. Customer experience is important.”
CMC’s Paper-Pro machine has replaced twenty-four manual packing stations in his warehouse. It meets the sustainability targets due to the 100% recyclability of packaging materials. “The machine is fast, with no downtime,” Proenca says. “It’s also easy to operate with a low learning curve. ‘Plug and play’ installation enabled us to connect it to our conveyors in a compact layout. We’ve standardised our parcels, can guarantee the quality of input packaging materials, creating package consistency and reducing void space. Scope, plan, implement, maintain was our mantra.”
Buffer Your Tote
Materials handling system providers like Element Logic are integrating CMC GeneSys machines with ASRS like the AutoStore, plus adding the middleware and software. Ane Furu, VP of Product Management discussed a project for the German lab equipment firm Avantor, in which small parts are stored in the ASRS, then delivered to the pick station. Vary-Totes are used to pack items which are fed into the GeneSys by conveyor.
“It’s a pick and pack process with zero-touch,” she says. “We have halved manually packed box numbers, saving 30,000kg of carbon weight per annum.” The GeneSys is 70% faster than manual operations. “It’s not a question of whether to automate,” Furu adds, “but how. Framing the problem is often more important than solving it. Orchestration is the key.”
Leveraging right-sized packaging is the challenge and Francesco Ponti unveiled new product launches at CID. “Covid caused a boom in ecommerce automation, with big investment,” he told me. “But growth has slowed, there is less greenfield development at the moment, but more brownfield projects to automate DCs. Growth in the sector is 8%, which is still super good!
Entry-Level Solutions
“The problem with brownfield DCs is they’re normally at 80% capacity and can’t stop operations during a transition to new systems. So we adapt to find new solutions for integrators: compact, plug & play and standalone.” Ponti estimates there are 1300 new fulfilment centres built globally per year. These suit advanced packaging automation systems. There are an estimated 15000 brownfield warehouse sites. CMC estimates that 5% of them will be automated in the next 5 years.
CMC has therefore launched new short and compact machines, including the ‘CartonWrap Duo’ (43 sq.m), ‘GeneSys Compact’ (36 sq.m) and ‘GeneSys Prima’ (under 30 sq.m). These create boxes on demand based on customer data and use cardboard flaps to close the lid without a separate lid-fitting process. There is no trimming of waste cardboard needed as it is used as a filler. The flaps act like a spring to close and make the box strong to protect items.
The ‘Super Vertical’ (pictured above) drew special attention. Just 3m x 3m x 3m it is a bagging machine that uses flexible or semi-rigid, padded bags. It will be able to use rigid boxes too shortly. The bag or box size is determined by scanning the item. The machine can fill 500 bags per hour, single or multi-item, label, print and apply to the envelope. This clever product needs just one day to install, can be placed up against a wall or on a mezzanine and is ideal for 3PLs. Two manual packing stations represent the same space as one Super Vertical machine.
“Carton paper, corrugated paper, bubble or pressure-resistant paper are all cheaper than boxes,” Ponti concludes, “so envelopes are the future because couriers are overtaking postal operators and winning the postal market.” Limitless customer opportunities lay ahead.
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