Centrally Controlled Vehicle Systems Break The Rules Of Using Agvs With Manned Forklift Trucks

摘要

There's an old rule of thumb in warehousing that says you should never mix the workload of manually operated fork-lift trucks and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), says Monty Taylor, program director for Sky-Trax, a provider of location tracking technology.rn"There really hasn't been a good way to mix forklift traffic and automated vehicle traffic," Taylor says. "There is often a physical barrier between the two systems, with very rigid rules and hand-offs between the two."rnThere are plenty of reasons to implement AGVs in a DC, especially when you consider that approximately 75 to 90 percent of the cost of operating a forklift truck is labor. AGVs take away the need to have a lift truckrndriver, and can often improve productivity and speed.rnBut AGVs can also be expensive, and are limited in a number of ways. For one thing, like other automated systems such as conveyors, AGVs are not flexible. They must follow pre-determined routes, and when they pick up pallets, the pallets must be perfectly aligned to allow them to do so.rnAnd the rule of thumb not to mix manual and automated vehicles means companies must either do away with forklifts in an area of the DC and install AGVs, or forgo AGVs altogether.rnAccording to Taylor, that is a trade-off DCs may no longer have to make.