Putting the shopping cart in front of the robotic workhorse

摘要

Technibilt/Cari-All Ltd. (www.technibilt.com) produced about 150,000 metal shopping carts in 1990 with 350 production employees. Fourteen years later, the company produced 450,000 carts in 2004 and cut its employment level to about 195 workers. The company's increase in production accompanied by an increase in the quality of its carts and a reduction in its costs were the results of a plant expansion and redesign that included the addition of welding and material handling robots. Alan Deal, manager of Technibilt/Cari-All's Newton, N.C., plant said the company was looking to reduce costs and improve productivity when it decided to expand and to redesign its production process.