The winners of Robotics & Automation Awards 2026 were announced on 18 March at the NEC Birmingham, with the ceremony taking place live on the show floor during day one of the co-located IntraLogisteX event platform.
Staged within the Robotics & Automation Theatre, the awards sat at the centre of a wider exhibition bringing together intralogistics, robotics, sustainability and fulfilment under one roof.
The 2026 format also marked an important change for the programme. Instead of being held as a separate evening event, the awards ran live during the exhibition, with eligibility limited to companies exhibiting across the co-located shows.
The shift was designed to tie the programme more directly to the realities of the market, placing recognition in front of buyers, operators and technology providers actively engaged in logistics and warehouse transformation.
John Thornton, editor-in-chief of Logistics Manager, said: “What stood out this year was that the strongest entries were not just innovative. They were clearly applied, commercially credible and backed by real operational outcomes. That tells you a lot about where this market now is.”
Five awards were presented. Interroll won Automation Product of the Year for MCP Play, its conveyor automation platform launched in 2025. Built as an extension of the company’s Modular Conveyor Platform, MCP Play is designed to simplify how conveyor systems are configured, installed and commissioned. For warehouse operators, that matters because it speaks directly to one of the sector’s biggest priorities: reducing complexity while still improving performance. Interroll said its ‘flowing merge’ function can increase throughput by up to 40% while also reducing energy use, noise and wear.
The Warehouse System of the Year award went to Logistex with Pharmacy2U. Delivered in partnership with Savoye, the project centred on a high-density X-PTS shuttle installation at Pharmacy2U’s Bardon fulfilment centre. Designed to automate the storage and picking of slow-moving and sensitive medications, the scheme combined system performance with traceability, compliance and future scalability. In a market where healthcare, e-commerce and regulated fulfilment continue to demand both speed and precision, it was a highly relevant winner.
In AMR-Orchestrated Intralogistics, Dexory with Ziegler UK took the award for a project focused on warehouse visibility and operational control. Ziegler UK deployed DexoryView, combining autonomous mobile robots with a real-time digital twin of the warehouse to reduce manual cycle counting, cut stock loss and improve site-wide visibility. For logistics operators, it was a reminder that some of the most valuable automation applications today are not always about moving goods faster, but about giving teams better data, faster issue resolution and greater confidence in inventory accuracy.
Kardex AS Solutions with Emil Frey Logistik won Automated Picking & Order Fulfilment Innovation for its Intuitive Picking Assistant. The solution uses projection technology and a 3D camera to present picking information directly on the work surface and track operator hand movements in real time. By removing the need for traditional hardware such as monitors, laser pointers and handheld scanners, the system is designed to improve concentration, reduce errors and enhance ergonomics. Kardex said it can deliver 20% faster order processing alongside significant error reduction and improved employee satisfaction.
The final award, Robotics & Automation Solution of the Year, was won by Ocado Intelligent Automation with Performance Health. The project involved the deployment of Chuck autonomous mobile robots at Performance Health’s North American distribution centre, where the business wanted to modernise a highly manual fulfilment operation handling nearly 17,000 SKUs. The project delivered a 104% increase in productivity, cut the labour required for order picking by 50% and reduced onboarding time by 99%, while helping 95% of orders ship within 24 hours.
Taken together, the winners pointed to several of the themes now shaping warehouse investment decisions: simpler automation architectures, systems that can scale in regulated and high-growth environments, autonomous visibility tools, human-centred picking technology and robotics deployments backed by measurable business outcomes.
Winners at a glance
Automation Product of the Year: Interroll
Warehouse System of the Year: Logistex with Pharmacy2U
AMR-Orchestrated Intralogistics: Dexory with Ziegler UK
Automated Picking & Order Fulfilment Innovation: Kardex AS Solutions with Emil Frey Logistik
Robotics & Automation Solution of the Year: Ocado Intelligent Automation with Performance Health
