Autonomous lift trucks are all the rage in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, says David Griffin, chief sales officer with Seegrid. But bringing them on requires extensive preparation. 

The benefits of autonomous lift trucks in manufacturing and distribution facilities are so compelling that one might be surprised to learn that they aren’t being deployed in every appropriate environment. Griffin says it’s a question of the development of the technology. “There are a lot of challenges to why the adoption curve hasn’t taken off yet,” he adds. “Only in the last several years has the technology matured so that it can be deployed in a real-world environment.” 

For decades, facilities were designed to maximize safety for manually operated forklifts. Aisle widths, cell designs and inventory buffers were all created with that primary goal in mind. In many cases, however, those designs work against modern-day automation, Griffin says. Facilities looking to automate have to completely rethink their layouts to support automation.

Many companies want robots to do exactly what their human drivers have been doing. “That’s not an appropriate expectation,” Griffin says. “Automation will never do that.” The technology requires major revisions in cells, drop points and the way that inventory is organized. Changes have to occur in material flows, spacing requirements, light and even paint colors, to accommodate automated vision-navigation systems. A successful deployment of automation, he says, “is 10% about technology and 90% about adoption and accountability.”

That said, autonomous lift trucks offer tremendous opportunities for improving efficiency in manufacturing and distribution facilities. Because goods movement is more predictable, they can reduce inventory levels. And the absence of human drivers means both fewer accidents and a more reliable operation overall.

The key to a successful automation initiative is to “make sure expectations are in line, and you’re not trying to duplicate [the work of] human drivers,” Griffin says. “Then start small, and scale from there.”