Route navigationAnother company that is heavily involved in the provision and application of AGVs is US company Seegrid, which has developed an infrastructure-free VGV – which does not require infrastructure such as wires, lasers, magnets, or tape – to help in improving safety, cutting labour costs and improving throughput productivity in manufacturing facilities. These pilots are aimed at exploiting the advantages of new technologies such as microprocessing, low-cost sensors and Big Data analytics in order to develop new robotics applications," says Tlatli. "DHL is also currently involved in various pilot projects together with its business partners. Although he believes their use usually brings "clear performance improvements" across the board, he claims they are especially good at performing in certain specific areas: the repetitive movement of materials over a distance the regular delivery of stable loads processes where tracking material is important and when on-time delivery is critical and late deliveries are causing inefficiency. They have very diverse forms and functions – with some manufacturers also producing automated guided carts (AGCs) or vision-guided vehicles (VGVs) – but they tend to converge in their ability to carry goods autonomously along pre-defined or dynamic routes.ĪGV systems help to limit heavy goods handling by operators and to ensure a safer environmentĪGV systems are increasingly used in facilities such as manufacturing operations and parts distribution centres where, among other things, they help to limit heavy goods handling by operators and to ensure a safer environment. One heavy user of AGV systems is DHL, which has AGVs in its vehicle assembly facilities to better manage line-feeding activities including the just-in-time (JIT) transportation of parts from plant inventory to assembly line.Īs Fathi Tlatli, international manager at DHL Customer Solutions and Innovation, explains, the chief purpose of AGVs in a manufacturing environment is to focus on JIT replenishment of the lineside. According to Tlatli, DHL has already worked with several automotive OEMs in implementing and developing AGV solutions. Line feedingAGVs are operator-less transport systems that are frequently used to move large loads and trailing loads with a low-to-medium throughput over short-to-medium distances. So, what types of automotive manufacturing applications can AGVs be used for? What are the main advantages and challenges of using them? And what are likely to be the key innovations and trends in the use of AGVs for automotive manufacturing applications over the next few years? Historically, the automotive industry has relied heavily on the use of robotic technologies for pure manufacturing operations like assembly, welding and stamping, but in recent years other applications such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have become more popular in production facilities.ĪGVs are typically forklift-sized wheeled carts that use software to help in navigating their movements around manufacturing plants and assembly facilities, often with the assistance of magnetic strips or lasers. AMS Automotive Evolution Summit On-DemandĪutomated guided vehicles are carrying assembly lines toward a more flexible future.
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