Industrial expansion and the growth attained by the manufacturing landscape worldwide has propelled enterprises to boost the productivity of the industrial floor. In an attempt to boost the output of the manufacturing floor, industries and warehouses are opting for state-of-the-art equipment and machinery that quicken industrial processes. Cutting-edge material handling equipment and machines are amongst these. Solutions such as the automated guided vehicle are gaining major emphasis that not only optimizes operations but also automate the process, reducing both time and efforts, thereby boosting productivity on industrial floors. Moreover, automated guided vehicles are designed to address key requirements including cost reductions and operational downtime. Automated guided vehicle manufacturers are progressing a step forward by equipping their offerings with cutting-edge technology, thereby expanding their capabilities.
Novel Automated Guided Vehicles for Improved Logistics Unveiled
Elevated demand for automated guided vehicle has propelled manufacturers to bring effective solutions to the market. While a number of offerings are being introduced to the market, the automated guided vehicle market players are eying the innovation strategy to achieve market differentiation.
Bespoke automated guided vehicles are also being introduced to address specific industry demands. An integrated automated technology provider, Dematic recently announced the launch of a freezer-rated narrow aisle reach automated guided vehicle particularly engineered for autonomous operations in the freezer and chilled environments. An automated guided vehicle is preferred over manual operations in the freezer environment as they can operate 24 x7, unlike workers who need breaks from the cold.
Boxed, a consumer products e-retailer recently revealed its next-gen, cutting-edge automated guided vehicle system operational in the Dallas fulfillment center. These autonomously guided vehicles are designed to roam within the fulfillment centers of Boxed relieving the workers that picked and transported orders manually.
Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) introduced the autonomous mobile robot—MiR1000 enabling automatic pickup, transfer, and delivery of pallets and other heavy loads weighing up to 1000 kg. Similar to the previously released variant, MiR1000 is a safer, collaborative, and flexible alternative to expensive and dangerous forklifts used on factory floors.
Growing Automated Guided Vehicle Deployment Fanning Opportunities for Providers
Industries are increasingly investing in an automated guided vehicle to foster the need for improved logistics. These burgeoning investments are generating growth prospects for companies operating in the automated guided vehicle market.
Brose, a leading provider of seat structures and window regulators to the leading automotive brands has invested about £2 million in the last two years into automated guided vehicles for enhancing logistics in its Colliery Lane factory. These automated guided vehicles are likely to make over 650,000 distinct journeys annually in the production of seats.
PSA Singapore recently awarded an order for 80 automated guided vehicles to the VDL Groep which would be utilized in container logistics. With the first berth of PSA’s forthcoming terminals at Tuas Port being operational in 2021, the automated guided vehicles would transport containers 24×7, seven days a week.
E-commerce Giants Shift Focus towards Automated Warehouses
Achieving warehouse optimization remains crucial for e-commerce companies to align with the increasing demand for products driven by the popularity of digital sales channels among consumers. Leading e-commerce giants are taking efforts to boost their capabilities of meeting consumer demands.
A Chinese logistics firm majority-owned by Alibaba, Cainiao recently inaugurated a warehouse with more than 700 automated guided vehicles in an attempt to manage the demand from the huge annual shopping festival run by Alibaba, Singles Day. The automated guided vehicles are capable of picking parcels and transport them to other parts of the warehouse, saving time for the warehouse. Officials claim that this warehouse facility is China’s largest automated warehouse.
An Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart also introduced automated guided vehicles, the robot-based sortation technology in the sortation center in Bengaluru. The automated guided vehicles introduced at the Soukya sortation center would aid in addressing the customer demands by means of faster delivery ensured by these vehicles. The automated guided vehicle fleet would work in combination with the facility staff to recognize encoded data on packages and further facilitate sorting based on pin codes. The deployment of 100 automated guided vehicles would boost the efficiency of the facility by 60 percent, according to officials.
Efforts to Bring Down Cost of Automated Guided Vehicle Witnessed
While an automated guided vehicle is gaining recognition as an effective approach to optimize logistics, their high costs remain a burdening factor for the automated guided vehicle market. In an attempt to override this setback, efforts towards reducing the cost of automated guided vehicles are observed.
A start-up company, Tetrahedron Manufacturing Services (TMS) Pvt Ltd and IIT Roorkee signed an MOU for the development and designing of cost-effective automated guided vehicles with an apt profit margin. Cost of the conventional automated guided vehicle used for transportation of material within industrial premises, eliminating human intervention is about INR 15-20 lakh. The use of this autonomous system aids vehicles to make routing decisions on the basis of real-time feedback of environmental conditions and provides ease of navigational adjustments. The micro small medium enterprise (MSME) sector in India is expected to largely benefit from these efforts that would bring the price down to a lakh per vehicle.
The automated guided vehicle market has reflected abundant opportunities for emerging as well as established market players. To know more about the key developments and emerging industry-trends, download the sample of the study on the automated guided vehicle market.