Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) capable of moving parts and material from shelves or around the factory are not new. In fact, they debuted more than 50 years ago in a Volvo factory in Sweden. However, the demand for AGVs and other material handling devices is growing amid labor shortages, an unrelenting desire to trim costs and new technologies that makes them easier to deploy.
The AGV market is expected to more than double from an estimated $4 billion in 2021 to nearly $8.7 billion by 2030, predicts researchandmarkets.com. And, according to the International Federation of Robotics, robot density per 10,000 workers in North America jumped 28% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. This is said to be the highest growth rate on record for the industry. omni wheel robot
Labor shortages have become one of the most pressing challenges for small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). With robots becoming easier to install, implement and operate, SMEs have greater access to automation.
“Never before has the competition for warehouse and fulfillment labor been so fierce, strongly driven by sustained growth in B2C channels,” a recent McKinsey and Company report states. “In the United States, for example, employment levels across distribution centers are at all-time highs and wages have risen to well above $18 an hour, yet attracting and retaining warehouse employees remains elusive.
“In the short term, strategies such as bonuses, accelerated pay raises and tuition reimbursement are helping,” McKinsey adds. “But the long-term implications of a high reliance on labor are clear: Automation in warehousing is no longer just nice to have but an imperative for sustainable growth.”
To that end, venture capital has flowed in recent years to new warehouse-automation innovations, supply-chain-as a-service models and technology that integrates multiple solutions to help retailers address some of these challenges, according to McKinsey.
AGVs provide “tremendous productivity gains and a quick return on investment,” notes Greg Conner, senior vice president at Indianapolis-based Bastian Solutions. The company, which is one the largest providers of the technology, provides an array of mobile robots, automated storage and retrieval systems, AGVs, goods-to-person technology, sortation and conveyor systems.
A key technology deployed in smart factories, AGVs are computer-controlled, wheel-based vehicles used mainly to complete simple, repetitive tasks such as loading and unloading goods—jobs that were previously done by people.
The devices are grouped into three broad categories:
AGVs are typically used where high volumes of materials are moved in repetitive paths where little or no human decision-making skill is required. They follow markers or wires in the floor, or use vision or lasers.
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), on the other hand, operate without any human control or intervention. “They typically move dynamically around any obstacles they encounter,” according to Bastian. “AMRs are often used in material handling and in fulfillment environments. They use an array of sophisticated on-board sensors, computers and maps, which allow AMRs to understand and interpret their environment in order to function as a form of asynchronous transportation.”
Vecna Robotics of Waltham, Mass., which was launched in 2018, specializes in automated material handling, hybrid fulfillment and workforce optimization. The company’s self-driving industrial vehicles have the payload capacity of AGVs with multi-sensor fusion and top safety systems for robots, according Jason Vaccuna, a company spokesperson.
Vecna’s AMRs offer more flexibility, scalability and performance compared with AGVs. AMRs actively locate and map their positions using advanced sensors, enabling real-time obstacle avoidance and adaptive navigation. Simply put, the company says, AMRs roam freely.
Both AGVs and AMRs increase efficiency, improve work conditions and easily scale to match a plant’s growth. They are capable of complex logistics and distribution functions, including transporting goods in assembly operations or in warehouses for sortation, order picking, and goods-to-person order fulfillment, Bastian adds. The adoption of AMRs, some of which are as small as a room-cleaning Roomba, built on AGV technology, can eliminate significant nonproductive walking time in warehouses.
AMR technology has already progressed from early stage pilots about four years ago to multiple at-scale deployments. That’s according to Locus Robotics, Wilmington, Mass., a self-described leader in enterprise-level, warehouse automation solutions that incorporate AI-driven AMRs that operate collaboratively with human workers to improve product movement and productivity. The company supports more than 120 brands and has deployed at more than 270 sites worldwide. Locus Robotics enables retailers, 3PLs and specialty warehouses to meet increasingly complex and demanding requirements, according to the company.
For example, DHL Group rolled out 1,000 Locus Robotics AMRs and will deploy up to 2,000 robots throughout its warehousing network. Meanwhile, German toy retailer Rofu Kinderland built a new warehouse that includes 57 robots that retrieve 3,500 different products from more than 28,000 bins, increasing efficiency and delivery speeds, according to Locus.
The supplier’s technology is also being adapted for the healthcare sector, where moving patients and materials can be addressed with the company’s flexible technology, Locus says. “We also understand the importance of having robots that work collaboratively with workers, not replace them. Robots that are able to work safely alongside the people instead of having to keep people out of the way.”
The adoption of new technology is opening the door for entrants such as MuL of Mequon, Wisc., which offers small, self-sufficient units that are easy to program and fit into smaller operations. As an example, Hans Dittmar, MuL marketing director, cites a mobile autonomous robotic cart (MARC) with the brains to map a customer’s facility, avoid obstacles and get things where they need to go without wi-fi or lasers.
“They are small and very easy to operate,” Dittmar explains. “We feel our solution is synergetic with many of the other larger robotics solutions out there. We also consider a huge number of facility/business types to be candidates, including manufacturing, logistics, retail, etc.—basically anywhere people are pushing carts instead of the task they were hired to do,” he says.
In September, Irish materials handling manufacturer Combilift launched its first autonomous vehicle, the Combi-AGT. The four-wheel electric stand-on model is touted to be the world’s first dual-operational autonomous sideloader for long loads, according to the company.
“We have deliberately not rushed into incorporating autonomous products into our portfolio,” Combilift CEO Martin McVicar said in a statement, noting that the company carried out extensive field tests and worked with a number of customers in the metal service industry during product development. “The Combi-AGT signals a new milestone in product development with further expansion of our autonomous range in the pipeline.”
With a lift capacity of 5,000 kg and various lift heights, the new model is designed for steel service centers and the metal industries that typically handle long loads.
Laser-based sensors, fitted at various positions on the chassis, serve as an anti-collision safety system required by the American National Standards Institute. If an obstacle or pedestrian is sensed in its path, the machine automatically slows down, stopping if necessary, then will continue to drive automatically when the obstacle has cleared the safety sensor area. An adaptive safety feature enables the size of the obstacle detection fields to increase or decrease in relation to the steer angle and speed of the truck, according to Combilift.
The natural navigation system is superior to traditional methods of truck navigation based on wire guidance or artificial landmarks such as reflectors, the company adds. Combi-AGT uses naturally occurring features in a warehouse—walls, racking and columns for example—eliminating the need to add to or change a facility’s design or infrastructure.
Its newly developed load-dimension detection system (patent pending) operates by performing a laser scan of the load to check that its length matches the task sent to the machine. Similarly, when unloading, it checks that the rack in front has sufficient free space to accept the load.
Jervis Webb was one of the pioneers in the development of moving factories away from old-fashioned muscle to mechanization. Its successor company, Daifuku Webb America of Novi, Mich., offers AGV systems that are equipped with advanced navigation, safety and control systems that enable them to operate autonomously and safely in complex environments.
Daifuku Webb also supplies integrated material-handling systems, including baggage handling, conveyors and automated storage and retrieval systems. The company offers a complete line of Jervis B. Webb material handling products from overhead trolley conveyor systems, to power and free conveyor systems—overhead and inverted—to Unibilt overhead tubular track chain conveyors to its line of SmartCart AGVs.
Waiting in the wings to guide AGVs is AI, according to Sebastian Witkarsson, information security officer at Kollmorgen Automation of Radford, Va., which provides AGV control solutions and automation platforms to manufacturers.
“The integration of prompt AI could bring a new level of intelligence, communication and decision-making to the AGV market,” Witkarsson says. “AGVs equipped with prompt AI could offer increased productivity, streamlined workflows and improved collaboration within industrial settings.
As industries evolve faster than ever in an unpredictable and highly competitive global landscape, businesses are in the hunt for innovative technologies to optimize their operations and boost efficiency, Witkarsson adds in an article posted to the Kollmorgen web site. As an example for AGVs, he notes that ChatGPT, which was launched at the end of 2022, is “already making waves” in a variety of global commerce and communications applications.
“As we move towards a more auto-mated future, the partnership between AGVs and prompt AI holds tremendous potential for transforming the AGV market, revolutionizing the way goods are transported and enhancing overall operational efficiency. But we must also be cautious—responsibility and care are required to ensure that data security is maintained and monitored,” Witkarsson adds.
He went on to say that the increasing demand of AGVs is driven by a rise in the demand for material handling through automated solutions across industries to meet efficiency requirements while reducing the risk of human error.
While AMRs and AGVs are revolutionizing material handling in lateral spaces, Michael Renken, vice president of sales and marketing at Advance Lifts Inc. says one method of moving heavy loads vertically in shops remains undefeated: hydraulic lifts.
“Though there are some technologies that will always be changing that will allow us to do more precise things or control them in different ways, the main driver here is going to be hydraulics. … There are a billion ways to lift 200 pounds, but we’re talking about moving real weight,” Renken adds.
St. Charles, Illinois-based Advance Lifts has been a leading dock lift manufacturer in the United States since its formation in 1974. The company produces a wide range of lifts, tables, turntables, dumpers and upenders at its 120,000-sq-ft (11,150-sq-m) facility.
While Advance Lifts works in a mature field, Renken says the mission is to deliver the best technology. “We’ve got the highest-quality, longest-lasting product in the industry, and the best warranties,” Renken declares. “There are less expensive options out there that’ll work just fine. You come to us when you need to lift more often, (as well as for) high speed and high accuracy.”
The key is to help customers find the best lift for their application. For scissor lifts, implant, work positioning or docklifts, the conversation starts with a choice of either a top-of-ground or pit-mounted recessed lift, followed by platform size, lifting capacity (adding up the maximum weight of the goods being transferred, the transportation equipment and the weight of the operator), axle rating, rollover capacity. Other variables include power units and controls, bridges, special platform surfaces, wheel chocks, hydraulic fluids and gates.
Compared with tailgate-style units, Advanced Lifts says dock lifts provide four advantages. These include lower annual maintenance costs, as much as 3,000 lbs greater truck capacities, vendor-to-vendor flexibility (tailgate-equipped trucks are vendor specific) and improved safety via handrails.
Advance Lifts offer a wide selection of scissor lift tables in various styles: hydraulic, air lift, pneumatic, mobile and portable. The company says its scissor lifts can be modified to meet specifications and are suitable for a wide range of applications, increasing productivity, safety and efficiency.
automated retrieval Renken also says lift tables can be great for positioning and work access platforms, and are commonly used as such by large equipment manufacturers. “Say something might be six feet off the ground, well that’s not ergonomic for the workers. So they’ll actually use a lift table to raise their workers up two, three, four feet to give them better access.”