The CEO of OTTO Motors, a provider of autonomous mobile vehicles (AMRs), has some provacative ideas about what is occurring in the AMR market. Mr. Rendall also pointed out that the automated guided vehicle market in the U.S. has grown to less than $200 million in thirty years. Bolted to ground warehouse automation has its limitations. “There is a pressing need for flexibility.”
Historically, companies looking at a technology solution would put together a detailed business plan, and then only implement the technology if the forecasted financial returns exceeded their return on investment (ROI) target. But more companies are experimenting with next generation robots and other digital technologies, regardless of whether the ROI is there or not. HIROTEC AMERICA, part of the HIROTEC Group, is one such company.
For robots in eCommerce fulfillment, last year was the year of pilots. This year customers are willing to publicly speak about the benefits they got from eCommerce robots at eft’s 3PL & Supply Chain Summit in Atlanta.
The traditional assembly line moves products from station to station on conveyor lines or overhead cranes.Automatic Guided Vehicles are being used to create a fully flexible factory line. AGVs can be used as a “flexible fabrication platform.”
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are seen as smart, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) as stupid. That is way too simple. AMRs are actually just one form an intelligent AGV can take. And both AGVs and AMRs exhibit a broader range of intelligence than is commonly understood.
ARC Advisory Group’s supply chain team believes that autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) in the warehouse is a high-growth and potentially transformative logistics technology. Therefore, we are devoting substantial effort into tracking the progress of the solutions within this rapidly developing market. On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting 6 River Systems’ facility and receiving […]
Historically, we talked about warehouses as being manual or highly automated. Manual warehouses are more flexible. Highly automated warehouses have much higher throughput, but their lack of flexibility adds risk. Parts Town has an automation solution called AutoStore that increased throughput but will also flex up to support Parts Town’s strong growth.