In today's fast-paced distribution centers (DCs), every inch of space, every minute of the day, and every dollar spent is under scrutiny. While investing in automation and technology seems like a straightforward path to efficiency, are you truly maximizing your return on investment (ROI)? 

It’s no surprise, Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are transforming operations by increasing throughput, enhancing flexibility, and streamlining workflows. However, the true ROI from AMR deployments isn’t just about the robots themselves, it’s tied to the systems and processes that support them. One of the most impactful, yet often overlooked, is the space utilization on the bot itself.

Cartonization, the process of identifying the optimal shipping carton for each order based on the size, weight, and handling requirements of its contents, can support DCs beyond the box. While traditionally used to reduce packaging waste and cut shipping costs, its value multiplies when combined with AMR workflows. Cartonization becomes a strategic lever for increasing pick density, boosting labor efficiency, reducing transport cycles, and improving overall throughput. 

Paccurate, the leader in packing intelligence, has expanded its capabilities to explicitly support AMRs so you can maximize your automation ROI.

[Read the White Paper] Be the first to know when we publish our latest white paper. Join the list and you'll receive an advanced copy.

Automating Manual Processes 

Traditionally, pickers were directed by a Warehouse Management System (WMS) or Warehouse Execution System (WES) to load an AMR with totes or cartons for picking orders. The size of these containers are usually determined by a variety of different factors, but primarily based on warehouse constraints (conveyance), item size (order cube), and transportation costs.

Many AMR deployments are focused on brownfield implementations. Therefore, the AMR shelves were designed to utilize the existing tote or carton sizes on hand. There isn’t much consideration for optimal sized cartons to maximize the AMR payload.

Paccurate’s simulation tool, PacSimulate, was built to identify the ideal set of cartons, boxes, bags or mailers for a shipping operation. However, this logic still applies to outfitting an AMR with the right-sized boxes to maximize the orders picked per trip. 

Supplied with data such as shelf size/configuration, order information, item dimensions, and DIM factors PacSimulate calculates the best configuration of cartons for a fulfillment center to maximize the capacity on an  AMR. Right-sizing the cartons on an AMR, keeps corrugate and transportation costs low, but it also increases the overall pick density and can increase pick rates by up to 10-15%. 

Cutting Travel Time and Increasing Throughput

At its core, the efficiency of an AMR is heavily influenced by how much it can carry per trip. Imagine every time it completed a pick mission throughout the DC it was only moving with half empty containers, or only six totes when it could manage one-two more per shelf. To complete the order picking for a given shift or day, each AMR is making more trips than necessary, which requires more labor too. Outdated, legacy cartonization leads to damaged goods in transit, returns, repacks, and wasted time in-aisle. 

Paccurate’s cartonization engine, PacAPI, selects the perfect-sized packaging for each order, eliminating the "air" or wasted space that often plagues traditionally packed boxes. When you pack more items into the same volume, or use a smaller volume to contain the same number of items, you're directly increasing the density of what's being transported. 

AMRs are designed with a finite amount of space on their shelves, in their totes, or on their platforms. When you have the right-sized cartons to maximize the space on an AMR, you’re increasing the number of cartons per trip. With proper carton sizes, you can fit more actual cartons per shelf and fulfill more complete orders onto that fixed space. More density on a bot also means less trips around the DC fulfilling orders, which reduces travel time and increases throughput. This also accelerates the transition from prepping to picking to packing. 

Increasing the capacity on an AMR means you can achieve a higher order fulfillment rate without expanding your footprint or adding headcount / more robots. This yields a faster ROI on your initial automation investment as well as an increase on the ROI of your AMR investment by up to 30%. 

Strategic Benefits That Scale With Your Operation

The operational benefits of cartonization compound as fulfillment networks grow. With more precise item data and consistent packing logic, facilities gain better visibility into inventory slotting, replenishment planning, and traffic flow optimization. These insights contribute to improved pick path planning and more consistent productivity across shifts.

With cartonization, pickers are provided with instructions to ensure order cartons are prepared for AMR transport in a way that maximizes volume, ensures stability, and maintains payload efficiency. For large or complex orders, PacAPI can also recommend splitting items into multiple containers, and fit them onto AMR shelves accordingly. This flexibility further enhances how AMRs utilize their payload capacity, maximizing value in the day-to-day but also scaling for peak demand.

Cartonization also enables more sophisticated order batching. By determining carton size and count, it allows WES/WMS to group orders that fit together efficiently on AMRs or that optimize orders with pick path in mind, to improve outbound sortation at consolidation zones, reduce potential load balancing issues, and optimize AMR routing throughout shifts.

Feeding Systems with Better Data

Beyond real-time efficiency, cartonization contributes to long-term strategic planning. The data it generates can be used in simulations (digital twins), such as with PacSimulate, to model packaging changes, forecast operational capacity, and guide decisions about expansion, layout changes, or additional automation investments.

As companies scale, this data-driven decision-making supports better ROI forecasts, continuous improvement initiatives, and more adaptive fulfillment strategies.

A Smarter, More Sustainable Approach to AMR Automation

The full value of AMRs can’t be realized in isolation. Facilities that fail to align picking, packing, and transport strategies will struggle to achieve the ROI they expect, or even that they’re promised. Cartonization acts as a force multiplier in AMR deployments—streamlining processes, improving labor efficiency, reducing waste, and increasing throughput.

It also sets the stage for sustainable, scalable automation. With the right software integrations and cross-functional commitment, Paccurate’s packing intelligence platform transforms AMRs from simple transport vehicles into powerful engines of business growth. 

By bringing cartonization into the fold from the start, fulfillment centers can create a smarter, more agile operation—one where AMRs don’t just move boxes, but move the business forward.

[Read the White Paper] Be the first to know when we publish our latest white paper. Join the list and you'll receive an advanced copy.