Wall-E is one of us

Hollywood has done it again! Another big box office blockbuster features materials handling in several key scenes. Actually, you could say the star is a materials handler himself. The movie is Wall-E and this time the spotlight falls on robotics and vertical carousels.

Wall-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is a kind of trash compactor robot that makes nice neat trash cubes out of – well, messy, strewn-about trash. He’s also a romantic scavenger at heart, and when he sees something he doesn’t think is trash, he stores it away in his own vertical carousel. This movie’s a great example of recycling and lean operations. In Wall-E’s world, everything has a place to be put.

I don’t want to give away much of the plot, but the robotic retrievers are cast as bad guys—or at least, henchmen. They eventually go after Wall-E.

So now, material handling technology is not only being featured in movies like The Incredible Hulk, it’s being given motivation. And you thought you had drama in your plant or DC! Wait until you start employing the next generation of materials handling technology. Don’t be surprised if your next AGV is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and he comes with a staff of writers, but in addition to writing its code, they’ll be tossing in a few jokes here and there. This is the world we live in now folks–the same one that gave us "America’s Got Talent." 

Let me know when you spot materials handling playing a feature role in the movies or on TV. Wall-E’s already a box office star. In the meantime, I’m gonna call his agent and see if Pixar has room in its stable for another star. If not, maybe I’ll try out for "Last Comic Standing." I’ll be the one with the undercharged pallet truck.