European intralogistics facing the Middle Kingdom: threat or opportunity?

The concept of the “dark warehouse” — fully automated facilities capable of operating without lighting or human presence — is still often perceived in Europe as an extreme vision. Faced with labor shortages and pressure on lead times and costs, however, the dark warehouse is in reality a pragmatic and sensible solution for the European market, far removed from the fantasies that sometimes surround it.

In China, the massive deployment of “dark factories,” “dark warehouses,” and “ghost ports” marks a change in scale. The country has made a clear choice: full automation and full robotization.

The Chinese vehicle manufacturer Zeekr, for example, is already using this model to produce fully customized products with perfectly controlled assembly costs and lead times.

The advantages are known and measurable: control of energy consumption, drastic space optimization, error reduction, continuous operation. But it would be dishonest to conceal the challenges: high investments, demanding maintenance, increased dependence on IT systems, vulnerability to cyberattacks, and societal issues.

In Europe, we are moving forward differently. We have considerable strengths: recognized industrial expertise, a network of innovative integrators, and strong engineering capabilities. However, we suffer from fragmented initiatives and a certain slowness in decision-making.

Automation remains gradual, modular, and “à la carte.” It seeks to keep people at the heart of the transition, and this caution is legitimate. It reflects our values, our social model, and our relationship with work. But I wonder: is this caution becoming an obstacle? But I wonder: isn’t this caution becoming an obstacle?

02. The urgency of a European strategic response

Meanwhile, Chinese players continue refining their models, systematically lowering their structural costs, and constantly improving their competitiveness. China follows a government-imposed five-year plan that companies must comply with. The domestic market cannot absorb its production surplus. Its industrial system has become so efficient that the only way to sell this surplus is to lower prices. Europe is just one more market to conquer, and China will deploy every means necessary to achieve this.

Ultimately, it is our sovereignty that is gradually eroding. It is highly likely that we will buy our next electric cars in shopping malls surrounded by robotic and humanoid systems that we do not control at all. In the end, we may become perfect consumers, far removed from the technological actors we still were half a century ago.

The challenge is no longer simply to modernize, mechanize, or automate, but to understand that intralogistics solutions are already powerful levers for ensuring our own logistical and economic sovereignty – just as Europe seeks control over its data, energy, and access to raw materials.

03. Not just any way, and not at any cost

It is difficult to compete with Chinese actors in terms of industrial speed. We don’t move at the same pace, we don’t have the same societal mentality, we are not subsidized by a centralized government, and we don’t have a clear five-year plan.

We must act not in haste, but with clarity.

There will always be a market for European players. The future belongs to those who can combine technological boldness with the demands for quality and sustainability that characterize the European model. This transformation requires a systemic approach. It is not enough to buy robots: processes must be redesigned, teams must be trained, IT systems must be adapted, and performance indicators must be redefined.

Physical automation is nothing without superior software intelligence. What is truly impressive is the system orchestrating the swarm of robots — particularly its ability to anticipate rather than react.

It is therefore through control intelligence that we must compete, especially with new generations of software, as we are doing at Transitic with OpenWCS, which natively integrates these new capabilities: dynamic resource allocation, intelligent task prioritization, and operations simulation.

Als globaler Integrator und strategischer Partner unserer Kunden liegt es in unserer Verantwortung, bereits heute logistische Modelle zu antizipieren, zu strukturieren und aufzubauen, die den Herausforderungen der Zukunft gerecht werden und gleichzeitig kommerziell nutzbar sowie langfristig anpassbar sind. Dies erfordert, von Anfang an ein höheres Automatisierungsniveau zu akzeptieren und die Flüsse tiefgreifend neu zu gestalten, anstatt sie nachträglich anzupassen.

Our greatest strength lies in our ability to support our clients closely, on the ground and in line with their operational realities. Trust, meanwhile, will never become obsolete.

The future is already here; yours is being shaped now. And it’s high time that we take this step together.