Cimcorp reports growing customer demand for cybersecurity in distribution center automation

Cimcorp, a pioneer in robotic handling solutions, reports that companies are placing greater emphasis on cybersecurity when selecting warehouse automation suppliers and solutions. As distribution centers become increasingly software-driven, customers are expanding their evaluation criteria to include cyber resilience, disaster recovery, and business continuity capabilities alongside traditional measures of system performance. This shift is evident in industries such as food and grocery distribution, where automation plays a critical role in maintaining supply chain reliability.

Historically, cybersecurity discussions in industrial environments focused on compliance and basic system protection. Today, customers want to understand how automation suppliers can support business continuity and recovery planning. Customers are also emphasizing areas such as disaster recovery, system monitoring, backup strategies, and lifecycle management when evaluating automation investments.

According to Cimcorp, this shift is particularly visible in food and grocery distribution, where automated distribution centers have become a crucial part of daily operations. Many large grocery companies are also part of the critical national supply chain, so their need for resilience is high.

“Today, companies are looking beyond traditional system performance and availability. They want to understand how operations can continue and recover if a cyber incident occurs,” said Antti Olenius, Team Lead, System Management at Cimcorp. “The consequences of a cyber incident can extend far beyond the distribution center itself. In the food industry, delays can affect product availability, create waste, and disrupt the supply chain. That is why business continuity planning has become such an important topic.”

Software has become business-critical infrastructure

The changing role of cybersecurity is closely linked to the growing importance of software in warehouse operations. Modern Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) coordinate material flows, inventory movements and automation equipment across the distribution center. As a result, software has become a critical operational layer connecting physical automation with business processes.

As automation environments become increasingly connected, data-driven, and integrated with broader business systems, software resilience is becoming a prerequisite for operational resilience.

“The WCS has effectively become the operational backbone of the distribution center. When software orchestrates the entire material flow, resilience becomes just as important as performance. If critical systems become unavailable, operations can quickly slow down or stop,” said Juho Nässi, Product Manager, Services at Cimcorp.

Resilience as a competitive advantage

According to Cimcorp, organizations are now recognizing that cyber resilience must be built into automation environments from the beginning rather than added later. Secure architectures, network segmentation, continuous monitoring, lifecycle management and tested recovery procedures all contribute to maintaining operational continuity.

“Cyber resilience is strongest when security is designed into the solution from day one. Organizations that invest in proactive monitoring, maintenance and recovery capabilities are better prepared to minimize disruptions and maintain performance when unexpected situations occur,” said Nässi.

Looking ahead, Cimcorp expects cybersecurity requirements to continue growing as automation platforms become more connected and cloud enabled.

“In the future, distribution centers will not only compete on throughput and efficiency. They will also compete on resilience and their ability to keep goods moving when disruptions occur,” said Olenius.