About the speaker

Dr. Ebba Eriksson Ahre is a postdoctoral researcher at Lund University, where she studies the intersection of retail logistics, automation, and organizational design.

Her PhD explored how grocery retailers transform their operations in an omnichannel context, with a particular focus on material handling and automation. Today, her research looks at what happens inside highly automated warehouses – not just in terms of performance, but how people experience and operate within them.

Ebba brings a rare combination of academic depth and real-world insight, based on extensive interviews with warehouse operators, managers, and automation suppliers across the Nordic retail sector.

Designing automated warehouses that actually work for people

Automation promises efficiency, scalability, and control. But what actually happens to the people working inside these environments?

Based on interviews and field studies from highly automated retail warehouses, this session explores how automation impacts the day-to-day work experience – from operators on the floor to warehouse managers responsible for performance.

Ebba shares insights into:
• how work changes in automated environments
• where friction and stress typically arise
• what separates well-functioning operations from those that struggle

The session offers a different lens on automation – not just as a technology decision, but as an organizational design challenge.

For anyone planning or operating an automated warehouse, this is a perspective that is often overlooked – but critical to getting the full value from your investment.