Pilot-Project vs. Enterprise-Wide Automation: Which Path is Right for Your Company?

A common question we get as automation consultants is whether facilities and organizations should start small with a pilot project or go all-in across the enterprise.

The common answer we give? “That depends.”

Specifically, automation strategy depends on your company’s goals, risk tolerance, appetite for innovation and many other factors.

Our Director of Automated Solutions, Jeff Jacobs, breaks it down here.

Whether you pursue a pilot project or scale enterprise-wide, the key is to make informed, intentional choices. Each approach has pros and cons that should factor into your decision.

Pros & Cons of Automation Pilot Projects

Your main takeaway: Pilot projects are often the smarter path for companies that chase innovation or competitive differentiation.

Pros

• Cutting-edge advantage: Testing sets you apart in perception and keeps you a step ahead of competitors.
• Customization: Small-scale automation is more easily tailored to unique business needs.
• Risk containment: Lowkey, fast failures are limited in impact and cost.
• Learning opportunity: Valuable insights can be encountered in-house before scaling up.

Cons

• Slower ROI: Benefits are isolated in one business area until implemented more broadly.
• Resource capacity: Pilots require time, focus and budget without immediate payoff.
• Risk of stalled deployment: Organizations sometimes get stuck in endless pilot cycles while chasing perfection.
• Scalability gap: Success in a pilot won’t always translate easily across multiple facilities.

Pros & Cons of Enterprise-Wide Early Adoption

Your main takeaway: All-in implementation can be successful if the technology you’re looking at has been established in comparable use cases — and if your internal teams are aligned.

Pros

• Economies of scale: Any immediate positive impact will be experienced throughout the organization.
• Consistent standards: Operations are simplified with uniform processes across facilities.
• Competitive efficiency: If the tech is already proven, you’ll see ROI faster.
• Simplified change management: Everyone transitions together, reducing silos.

Cons

• High upfront risk: Any immediate underperformance will be experienced throughout the organization.
• Limited flexibility: Customization is harder once deployed broadly.
• Disruption risk: Large-scale rollouts can strain your operations during the transition.
• Stakeholder resistance: Change at scale could trigger pushback if teams aren’t aligned or prepared.

Action Items for Organizational Leaders

Of course, there’s no simple formula for making the “right” decision. Begin the process with steps every company should consider:

1. Assess technology maturity – Determine whether the automation solutions you’re considering are proven.
2. Evaluate risk appetite – Align your approach with company culture and know what your acceptable ROI is.
3. Set trial periods – Commit to at least 3–6 months of live production testing before scaling.
4. Involve stakeholders – Make sure suppliers, end users and partners validate the solution before you move forward.
5. Align with strategy – Choose the adoption path that best supports your broader organizational goals.

Final Thoughts

Where does your company stand?

If there’s no easy answer, loading dock automation experts like Jeff can help evaluate your current situation and ask specific questions most relevant to you. If you’re clearly either start-small or go-big, we can help plan your unique path to successful deployment.

Your automation solution decision depends on several factors. And a lot depends on your automation solution decision. Partner with someone with expertise you can depend on.

Learn more: Register for on-demand automation webinar series Contact an automation loading dock expert

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

8:03

And then direct with this question with one more question around, I think so that our companies debate quite a bit between 1 pilot program or going companywide with their automation.

8:14

Can you help with some of the pros and cons used between those two?

8:19

Yeah, that's, that's a really interesting question, Nikki.

8:22

So I think it has to do with the maturity and the adoption rate of the technology you're looking at.

8:29

If your company is a little more on the risk averse end of the spectrum, is only going to be interested in quite tried and true technology.

8:39

There are definitely economies of scale that can be leveraged right out of the gate by an enterprise wide deployment of a very standard and well developed piece of automation for those types of offerings.

8:52

If the risk is quantified to be low and for your specific use case, there are like customers in similar industries that have successfully deployed, the risk of mass mass adoption is fairly low.

9:07

However, if you're a type of company that is looking to get a competitive edge, wants to look at more of the cutting edge technology prior to mass adoption, maybe even have the ability to customize and to take that particular piece of automation and steer it in a direction that is highly beneficial and specific to your company.

9:30

In those cases, it's really important, I would articulate to go through a pilot type process because as you invest more in that investment, it will become very specific to your desires.

9:44

But at the end of the day, you have to have a measurable time period where you know that that asset is performing as needed.

9:51

And before I would deploy any type of automation to multiple facilities, I would want to guarantee of at least three to six months in a live production operation that all parties involved, the supplier, the end user and any of those critical parties that we've described earlier in this discussion.

10:13

They should all buy in and give a thorough thumbs up on any of those investments that have some moderate to high level of risk or just haven't been deployed in the way that you are deploying in your warehouse or supply chain.