Lift Truck Tips: AGVs in the heights

Human operators and their autonomous coworkers are increasingly comfortable in narrow and very narrow aisle applications.

A clear trend is emerging toward an increased role for automation in intralogistics and materials handling. Automated and semi-automated forklifts set out to tackle the third dimension in narrow and very narrow aisle (VNA) environments. Their arrival is timely, says Oskari Lindstedt, sales director for the Americas at Rocla AGV solutions for UniCarriers Americas Corp.

Customers are constantly trying to improve processes, and some common themes arise throughout the industry. Everyone wants to use existing space as well as possible, including height. Heating and cooling costs are not cheap, and storage density can help absorb SKU proliferation.

“We see a lot of new warehouses or expansions with VNA racking applications,” Lindstedt says. “If you look at how the warehouse in general has developed in recent years, they need to transport more and more different types of SKUs, so they need more pallet locations. VNA accommodates that so every location in a high area can be different.”

The main reason automatic guided vehicle (AGV) adoption in warehouses is significantly increasing, according to Lindstedt, is the development of standard solutions that can work precisely and accurately in high VNA racks to fully use facility height.

“The technology makes that possible, but then you also get the benefits of automation,” Lindstedt says. “This means increased safety for personnel operating nearby, as well as product safety and quality, because every time an automated vehicle touches a load it does so with the same precision.”

You also have to consider the ability of automation to work alongside human-operated equipment. Until recently, AGVs had a low tolerance for the kinds of uncertainty humans can introduce. A pallet placed just few degrees off square might have stumped older technology, but not modern solutions.

Similarly, an uneven floor can have a dramatic impact on the tip of an extended mast. Compensating for that movement can challenge even experienced operators. The better the condition of the floor and racking, the faster and smoother an AGV can operate, but less-than-perfect floors are not a deal-breaker. Lindstedt describes a standard pallet finder feature in VNA AGVs, which will home in on the general position where a pallet should be and then find the precise position even at 40 feet high.

“Technology can overcome many of those obstacles,” Lindstedt says, “and it’s normal in almost every operation for humans and AGVs to work in the same areas handling the same materials.”

The best and most efficient way to ensure optimal AGV performance is to fully integrate with the warehouse management system (WMS) or production enterprise resource planning system. In simpler systems with no WMS, there are other ways to design an AGV system, a process simplified by standard interfaces that are easier to integrate.

“AGV systems are very flexible and needs change constantly,” Lindstedt adds. “Can they do what you need to do today? Great. But when things are different in a few months you can adjust the system accordingly.”