The Link Between Warehouse Productivity and Business Productivity Improvement
When Chancellor, Rachel Reeves delivered her scene-setter speech this morning (04/11/25), ahead of this month’s Budget, one theme stood out: productivity. She highlighted that Britain is “putting in more and getting less out” – a sentiment many organisations managing stock, components or materials know all too well, particularly if working in traditional warehouses, without integration or modern storage tools.
Improving Warehouse Efficiency: Doing More with Less
The pressure to increase output per square metre and per hour worked has never been more pronounced. Rising energy and labour costs, combined with space constraints, have left organisations seeking new ways of improving warehouse efficiency without adding headcount or footprint.  That’s where automation delivers results. Industore’s vertical lift modules (VLMs) and automated carousels help businesses maximise cubic capacity and dramatically reduce retrieval times – eliminating wasted motion and manual search – to name a few benefits.
At Lee Spring, for example, a trio of Hänel Lean-Lifts improved throughput by 200% while allowing operations to continue with 20% fewer staff. At Amada, Hänel Lean-Lifts integrated with HänelSoft® inventory management software is now reporting 100% pick accuracy, as well as optimising floor-space and control, and all the usual benefits associated to an Industore warehouse transformation. These projects show how targeted investment in automation leads directly to measurable business productivity improvement – and these are just two recent examples. You can see scores of real-world success stories on our case-studies page.
Business Productivity Improvement: Warehouse Efficiency That Pays for Itself
Automation used to be exclusive to large corporations. Today, it’s an operational necessity for any organisation that wants to stay competitive, in an ever smaller, more competitive world. Modern VLMs, like our Lean-Lifts and Automated Storage Carousels like our Rotomats are faster to install, easier to integrate, and achieve a full return on investment – regularly in under two years – often sooner.
Clients report significant savings not only through reduced labour costs but also improved accuracy, safety, and scalability. These are the same principles driving national policy on productivity: smart investment, learning from best practice, and ultimately, driving sustainable growth.
Warehouse Productivity FAQs:
Improving warehouse productivity starts with visibility and control. Automating stock retrieval with systems like Hänel Lean-Lifts or Rotomats dramatically reduce search time – typically by up to 80%, while integrated inventory software such as HänelSoft® ensures every part, tool, or component is instantly traceable – knowing who took what, when and why – for example. Combined with optimised workflows and effective processes, these changes reduce downtime, improve accuracy, and boost throughput across all warehouse operations.
Automation delivers measurable business productivity improvement by maximising capacity and minimising wasted movement, as well as helping decision makers make empowered, data-driven decisions – thereby reducing and ultimately eliminating waste. Intelligent storage modules use vertical space rather than floor area – up not across – freeing ~80% of your floor space, allowing you to repurpose it into other, money-making activities. Enhanced pick accuracy (increasingly up to 100%) reduces costly errors, thereby saving money, and boosting customer/client satisfaction – and this is all while faster storage and retrieval increases general throughput and warehouse productivity. For most Industore clients, automation projects achieve full ROI in less than two years – regularly considerably less.
Absolutely. Industore’s automated storage and retrieval systems, combined with software integration, are suited to facilities of almost any size. Smaller warehouses and workshops gain the same benefits as major logistics hubs – improved organisation, reduced pick/replenishment time, and greater stock visibility and control. As energy and labour costs rise, even compact sites can see rapid gains in improving warehouse efficiency and achieving more sustainable operations.
Business Productivity Improvement
Productivity improvements need to matter beyond the balance sheet. It isn’t just about numbers – it’s about people. Hanel’s automated systems reduce physical strain, improve accuracy, and allow staff to focus on high-value, rather than repetitive, simple tasks. For hospitals and pharmaceutical environments, that means faster access to critical instruments; for aerospace engineers, secure storage of high-value components; and for logistics operators, uninterrupted performance even at peak times.
In every case, better technology and quality hardware enables better use of time, space, and resources – which is ultimately what boosts sustainable warehouse productivity.
The Future of Warehouse Productivity
“Rachel Reeves’s comments underscore the UK’s need for long-term investment in infrastructure, and innovation. while government sets the tone, it’s businesses that will need to deliver real progress. By re-imagining, and moderising warehousing and stock – companies can future-proof operations and strengthen both their companies, and our national productivity.”
