First Thoughts
  By Dan Gilmore - Editor-in-Chief  
     
   
  April 25, 2008  
     
 

I, Robot – 2008 Material Handling Show Review

 
 

I just came back from a busy week, first at the North American Material Handling Show in Cleveland, and then another excellent time at the Supply Chain Executive Forum, Dr. John Langley’s program at Georgia Tech.

Gilmore Says:
Several companies are trying to breathe new life into Automated Guided Vehicles, which have just never really taken off here, especially in distribution applications (as opposed to manufacturing). But there is hope.

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Thousands of you have watched the video reviews SCDigest Materials Handling Editor Cliff Holste and I did the first two days of the material handling show. They can be found here if you would like to take a look, and include some short product videos: NAMH Day 1, NAMH Day 2.

Here, I will offer some additional commentary.

We titled one of our video reviews “The Robots are coming, the Robots are Coming,” and with good reason. Several companies are trying to breathe new life into Automated Guided Vehicles, which have just never really taken off here, especially in distribution applications (as opposed to manufacturing). But there is hope.

A new company called Seegrid announced a new line of what it calls “Industrial Mobile Robots,” which are really a new form of AGV that may find a real place in distribution. What makes the technology different is a new approach to movement control. The machines use vision technology to learn their routes, so no wires on the floor or laser guided system is needed. This makes them very flexible to changing requirements, and we are told the Seegrid robots can learn their routes in just hours or even faster. The machines sell for well less than standard AGVs, and implementation and/or piloting can be done on the cheap due to the ease of “training” on the routes. Definitely worth a look.

On a related note, for the past three years we have been following AGVs capable of auto loading of pallets onto trailers, first released by Jervis B Webb at the 2006 show. Last year, Egemin released similar machines.

The Webb AGVs were first deployed at Anheuser-Busch. Since the initial deployment there, A-B has expanded use of the AGVs into a number of other facilities beyond the initial pilot site, where 25 or so units are said to be operating. However, there have been no other takers as yet, But a Webb manager told me the company has brought a large number of interested companies in to see the Anheuser-Busch deployments, and that there are several potential customers they are confident will sign a deal sometime in 2008. Most potential applications are in manufacturing warehouses. We’ll continue to monitor for developments here.

We were also impressed by a company called Kiva Systems, which manufactures a truly unique and innovative new order picking solution. The company was founded by Mick Mountz, who as a young engineer worked for WebVan, the now defunct on-line grocer that made a big investment in distribution automation that didn’t work out.

But Mountz was convinced there was a better answer, and spent the next few years developing one. The Kiva System is like a combination of AGV and what I will describe as mobile carrousels. Small robots, about 2 feet high, pick up and deliver storage pods to pickers, eliminating travel time. Complex control software keeps the robots and pods continually on the move, so immediately after a set of picks from one pod is complete (using what is basically a pick-to-light system), that pod moves on to another picker or back to the storage area, and another moves into place. The picks go into another pod will multiple totes or cartons, which in turn is shuttled off to the packing when all the orders it holds are complete.

Going in, Holste and I were envisioning this being used for a subset of picks, with other technologies used for different SKUs. We were, therefore, surprised to see the photo of office products retailer Staples operating an e-fulfillment DC entirely using this system, with hundreds of robots and thousands of storage pods. Walgreens is also a customer. Very different and innovative – the promise is substantial improvements in productivity/order picks per hour.

Some other products that caught our eye:

  • A new pick-to-light system from a company called Wesley International. A few things make it different. The lights can be flexibly mounted on existing storage rack – which means you could outfit some locations with lights (e.g., fast moving SKUs), but use bar code or voice picking for others. Interestingly, the light displays are controlled from the operators’ handheld devices and pick carts through an infrared connection, not a separate computer tied directly to the lights. These wireless terminals can also be used for voice/bar code picking as needed for the non-lighted locations, and also provides some flexibility in how batching of picks and puts are used.
  • ExpressCube launched a dimensional measurement system along the lines of the market-leading Cubiscan product line, but which uses infrared sensors, rather than an ultrasonic approach. The company claims this allows them to manufacture the unit at lower cost.  Regardless, getting better dimensional data is a big opportunity for many distribution operations – few have now.
  •  The most impressive of the many “Green” solutions at the show was a new fork truck battery system from a company called Oorja Protronics. The “Oorja Pac” is analogous to hybrid automobile technology. A “fuel cell” uses methanol fuel to create electric power that is used to charge the battery when it reaches certain power depletion levels. This reduces the need to charge or change out batteries, and there are no greenhouse gas emissions from the pack, versus whatever levels are generated by connecting to “the grid” to charge batteries. A methanol tank will last approximately 12 hours of typical driving, and refueling the cell is easy. You can buy an integrated system, or retrofit an existing truck.
  • HighJump Software announced a new program that promises a Warehouse Management System implementation in 45 days.
  • Lightning Pick had a new version of its Order Picking Dashboard that looked great and illustrated the trend towards real-time analytics. Not how did we do yesterday – how are we doing right now.
  • News to us, a company called Allflat has a grinder that is capable of machining an existing standard DC floor down to the “superflat” surfaces required for Very Narrow Aisle vehicles. Can allow DCs to add or expand VNA systems to new areas of the building – which we didn’t know was possible after the initial concrete pour.

Those are the highlights. It was good to see some genuine and interesting innovation in a few of these new products that stood out in an industry that mostly has had very incremental progress of late.

Did you go to NAMH 2008? What products caught your eye? Any reaction to our show picks? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.

 
 
     
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