Logistics cost can represent between 8% and 15% of a company's sales, and in manual warehouse operations that number only grows. The pressure to reduce storage costs is constant, but many companies attack the wrong symptoms. Before cutting, it helps to understand where the money really goes in a warehouse: labor, errors, inefficient use of space, energy and immobilized stock. In this guide we analyze the five major logistics cost drivers and how automation tackles each one to lower the cost per order structurally, not with temporary cuts.
Driver 1: Labor, the fastest-growing cost
In a traditional warehouse, labor represents 50% to 65% of the operating cost. Manual picking —operators walking through the warehouse looking for products— is the most expensive activity: up to 60% of the time is lost in travel, not in preparing orders. Every year, wages rise and finding qualified staff is harder. Automation with goods-to-person systems, where the product comes to the operator, eliminates travel and lets the same person prepare 3 to 4 times more orders per hour. It is not about replacing people, but about making each operator much more productive.
Driver 2: Picking errors and their hidden costs
A picking error does not only cost the correction: it costs the return, the reshipment, customer service and, above all, trust. In a manual warehouse the error rate is around 1% to 3%, which seems small until multiplied by volume. Automation with automatic confirmation, pick-to-light and WMS control brings accuracy to 99.9%, almost completely eliminating this invisible cost that rarely appears in reports but erodes the margin.
Driver 3: Poorly used space
Paying rent or depreciation for square meters that are not well used is a silent cost. A traditional warehouse wastes more than half its volume by storing on the surface instead of the height. High-density automation allows storing 3 to 5 times more in the same space, which often avoids a relocation or expansion —an investment that can cost millions. Making better use of existing space is one of the most direct ways to reduce logistics cost per stored unit.
Driver 4: Energy and 24/7 operation
An automated warehouse consumes energy more efficiently: modern systems recover energy from stacker crane braking and operate in the dark (dark warehouse) without lighting the whole building. Moreover, by running 24/7 without expensive night shifts, the cost per operating hour drops structurally. In cold storage, where energy is critical, automation also reduces losses from door openings and staff presence.
Driver 5: Immobilized stock and working capital
Immobilized inventory is money that does not rotate. A WMS with real-time data improves rotation, reduces overstock and allows working with less safety stock thanks to system predictability. In Argentina, tax benefits such as RIMI allow accelerated depreciation and early VAT refund, improving the automation project's cash flow and reducing the real financial cost of the investment.
Reducing costs without cutting capacity
Lowering logistics cost sustainably is not a matter of temporary cuts, but of attacking the structural drivers: unproductive labor, errors, wasted space, energy and immobilized stock. Automation tackles all five at once and reduces the cost per order permanently. With the tax benefits in force in Argentina, the return on investment accelerates even more. At STOKA we calculate the specific savings of your operation and the project payback.
Frequently asked questions
How much can be saved in logistics costs with automation?
It depends on the operation, but the combination of higher picking productivity, lower error rate, better space use and 24/7 operation usually reduces the cost per order by 30% to 60% compared to a manual warehouse.
Does automation replace operators?
Not necessarily. The goal is to make each operator much more productive —preparing 3 to 4 times more orders per hour with goods-to-person systems— and reassign staff to higher-value tasks, in a context where finding labor is increasingly difficult.
How do tax benefits improve the cost of the investment?
In Argentina, RIMI allows 100% accelerated depreciation in the first year and early VAT refund, and Decreto 513/2025 reduces tariffs based on NCM classification. This improves cash flow and lowers the real cost of automating.