Warehouse automation spending is still climbing

Modern Materials Handling published its 2026 automation study on 4 October 2026. The Peerless Research Group survey behind it says respondents plan to spend $1.6 million on average in 2026, up from $1.5 million the year before. Twenty-nine percent expect to invest less than $100,000. Seventeen percent fall between $1 million and $2.49 million.

On equipment already in the building, 49 percent report conveyor and sortation systems, and 51 percent plan to implement or update them within two years. Goods-to-person is close behind, at 48 percent in use and 51 percent preparing a change. Full automation of conveyance itself is still the minority: the study puts that share at 10 percent.

The equipment is arriving faster than the people who already know how to diagnose it.

That gap is the maintenance problem Faultline is built for. The study is about capital equipment. It is not a claim that a diagnostic guide replaces a conveyor, a sorter, or a warehouse execution system.