Warehouse Automation and Operational Performance of Freight Forwarding Firms in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study examined warehouse automation and operational performance of freight forwarding firms in Rivers State. The study adopted the correlational research design and the quantitative research approach. The population of the study consisted of 96 registered freight forwarding firms in Rivers State. Thirty-four (34) freight forwarding firms were selected for the study using purposive sampling technique. The sampling unit consisted of operational managers, warehouse managers, warehouse supervisors and store keepers of the 34 selected freight forwarding firms in Rivers State. A sample size of 136 staff was drawn from the 34 selected freight forwarding firms in Rivers State. Data were collected from the respondents using a structured questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed statistically while the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient (rho) and the SPSS version 24 were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that automated picking system has significant relationship with operational efficiency of freight forwarding firms. Automated picking system was also found to have significant relationship with operational excellence of freight forwarding firms. The study also found a significant relationship between automated inventory management system and operational efficiency of freight forwarding firms. The study equally revealed that automated inventory management system is significantly related to operational excellence of freight forwarding firms. From the findings, it was concluded that warehouse automation such as automated picking system and automated inventory management system significantly improve operational performance of freight forwarding firms in Rivers State. Therefore, it was recommended that freight forwarding firms in Nigeria should adopt warehouse automation as it would improve their operational performance.