Gone are the days when self-driving vehicles were confined to science fiction and bold predictions of the future. Autonomous technologies have blossomed into well-developed, ready-to-deploy solutions.

One of the most competitive arenas for this development is the automotive market, with ride-sharing companies and auto manufacturers alike pouring funding into development and establishing pilot programs for autonomous cars. And just as technology like LiDAR enables self-driving cars to ‘see’ the road, so too can it allow vehicles to ‘see’ inventory aisles, conveyor lines and other warehouse infrastructure.

Manufacturing and distribution centers have a history with driverless vehicles, using traditional automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in select applications for decades. With technology advancing and adoption in the materials handling industry growing, this white paper examines the evolution of robotic technology and the financial and operational forces driving greater adoption.