Five Best Applications for Robotic Forklifts

"Robotic lift trucks" Refers to forklifts equipped with automation and intelligent technology that enables them to autonomously perform tasks such as moving, lifting and placing goods. Compared with traditional manually operated forklifts, robotic forklifts can work independently without human intervention.
These forklifts typically use sensors, computer vision, navigation systems, and other technologies to sense the environment, determine their location, and complete tasks safely. For example, they may use LiDAR or cameras to detect obstacles and use path planning algorithms to determine the best route to move.

The main benefits of robotic forklifts include:

(1) Efficiency: Able to work continuously without rest.
(2) Reduce human error: Since they work based on pre-set parameters and algorithms, it is possible to reduce errors caused by human error.
(3) Safety: Equipped with advanced sensors and safety functions, it can automatically stop or avoid obstacles when obstacles are detected.
(4) Save labor costs: In environments that run for a long time or are not suitable for human work, robotic forklifts can reduce dependence on labor.

However, despite the many benefits of robotic forklifts, implementation still needs to take into account issues such as cost, technical adaptability, and staff training.

Robot forklifts (robotic lift trucks) are becoming more and more popular for storage and manufacturing applications, and this is for good reason. Almost 50% of operations with warehouse turnover are turning to robots to reduce their dependence on instantaneous labor pools, reduce operating costs, and help improve efficiency in an effort to meet the growing demand for high throughput and rapid delivery.

While not every situation 1 suitable for robotics, the technology has advanced to accommodate a range of horizontal transport and vertical storage tasks in many environments. The RLT is particularly suited to handle repetitive tasks and long-running, providing an automation solution that is ideally suited for a variety of customer applications.

By moving certain applications to robotics, companies can focus their employees on more attractive, human-judgment-demanding assessment add-ons-shifting the nonstop, tedious, back-and-forth load to a robotic forklift. Automated transportation tasks can also play a role in limiting the chances of safety incidents, because it can avoid workflows that require employees to frequently cross crowded elevator trucks and pedestrian traffic areas.

For maximum benefit, the warehouse should evaluate which applications of its customers are best suited for automation.

(1) From production line to storage or transportation

Finished products need to be quickly transferred to the warehouse or shipping area. These operations are often repetitive and take longer to transport, which may take two minutes or more per load. When the product comes down from the pallet machine or stretch packaging system, the warehouse management system (WMS) can signal the robot balance stacker, receive the pallet, and move to the designated destination through the most efficient route. For heavier loads or areas that require tighter turning radii, a robot reaching the truck may be the best choice.

For loose products that are not on pallets, a robotic tractor with a trolley can be programmed to position itself at the end of the conveyor belt or sorting table to receive the product. Once the sensor or worker indicates that the trolley is full, the WMS system will guide the tractor to deliver the goods to the final destination on the storage area or transportation lane.

(2) From transshipment or temporary storage to shelving

The receiving dock of the large-capacity warehouse on the shelves must move the incoming goods quickly, make room for the next arrivals, and keep the customer's orders moving. Once the pallets are unloaded from the trailer, checked, labeled and scanned, the WMS will trigger the work to let the robot truck pick them up and move to the designated drop position on the shelf. The WMS provides accurate pick-up and drop-off points, allowing the robot to accurately place the load in the correct position. In fact, when the robot places the load in the correct rack slot every time, the robot is more accurate and reliable than a manual robot. Even in facilities without WMS, some robotic trucks have specialized functions to detect pallets in pre-programmed positions and create separate tasks to put goods into storage.

(3) From raw material storage to production line

When a production line is short of raw materials, rapid replenishment is essential to prevent idle time from jeopardizing production goals. In order to obtain a consistent supply, rlt can be programmed to automatically deliver, or buttons can be installed to allow workers to make manual requests when parts are low. A robotic model then picks up the necessary materials from bulk storage or shelves and drops them into the appropriate production line. This complementary application is a common automation target because it keeps workers online and in controlled areas. Fewer workers move widely around the facility, keeping employees on the job and helping to reduce the risk of injury associated with high traffic areas.

(4) Selection of tunnel supplies

In this workflow, employees focus on building pallet orders in the picking tunnel, while robotic forklifts are responsible for replenishment, ensuring that products can be picked without interruption or delay. When SKUs are insufficient, the WMS triggers a replenishment request, and the robotic forward truck retrieves inventory from storage and brings it to the picking tunnel to support uninterrupted order fulfillment. Different picking tunnels receive products in different ways, but some common automation applications include storing palletized loads onto process shelves from external aisles, into single-depth or double-depth shelves outside the tunnel, or bulk staging areas outside. In most cases, the robotic truck remains out of the picking aisle to avoid hindering manual or automatic operation. If the warehouse is located above the picking tunnel, when a replenishment request is triggered, the robotic forward-moving forklift can automatically pull the pallet off the high-density vertical and double-deep shelves. By automating storage and replenishment efforts, operations can improve labor efficiency, and employees can stay away from high-traffic areas and focus on the more challenging and attractive tasks of picking products and building pallets.

(5) Received temporary storage, temporary storage to outbound

A balanced stacker can be deployed to continuously move cargo from a dock area or staging area to a rack lane, staging area, or outbound location. These automated jobs are very simple for the warehouse because the forklift can detect pallets and do not require full WMS integration. Using robotics to do these tasks can help customers reduce costs by using their labor more efficiently-considering that labor is usually the largest expense in a warehouse, usually costing 40-60% of the warehouse operating budget, this is 1 particularly effective cost reduction method.

From Automated Planning to Automated Actions

After an awareness phase, robotic forklifts now play an important role in helping warehouses and manufacturers reduce operating costs, increase operational efficiency and avoid accidents. According to MHI, as wages continue to rise, the adoption rate of robotics will reach 79% in the next 5 years. In anticipation of future growth, many companies are planning ahead and choosing to invest in robotics-opting for earlier adoption rather than waiting until modernization becomes an urgent need to keep up with an increasingly competitive market.