How Forklift Mobile Robots Are Revolutionising Warehouse Automation
Forklift Mobile Robots, also known as Autonomous Forklifts, are among the most fundamental machines in warehouse robotics, made of AGVs (Autonomous Guided Vehicles), AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots), and robotic arms. The goal of implementing Autonomous Forklifts is to eliminate human labour from the warehouse at major junctures such as:
- Loading and unloading shipments from different vehicles
- Transportation of shipments across different warehouse workflows
- Palletising and depalletising
What Are the Benefits of Forklift Mobile Robots-Driven Automated Material Handling Systems?
To illustrate the benefits of warehouse autonomous robots, such as Forklift Mobile Robots, let’s consider this scenario where a warehouse has yet to embrace an automated materials handling system:
A massive and heavy shipment arrives in the warehouse through one of the vehicles in the transportation fleet. The weight of the shipment is not the only barrier against lifting it. Getting a firm grip on a large consignment can also be challenging. Hence, unloading the shipment would require several workers to lift it and manoeuvre it from the vehicle to an inclined plane. Then, the shipment must be loaded onto a manned forklift to carry it to the weighing and dimensioning station. Even if weighing and dimensioning are automated for billing accuracy, using a DWS System, the warehouse workflow continues to be slow-moving as the freight has to be unloaded from the manned forklift onto the static DWS station and then unloaded onto a sortation system or carried to the designated storage area and manually stored.
Before the items are stored efficiently, they are stacked together strategically. Palletising is also laborious and prone to collapsing, hence jeopardising worker safety when the pallet strength is misjudged. Similar accidents can occur during depalletising as well as shipment retrieval and storage. Needless to say, without robots, workers have to depend solely on WMS and mobile computers to track parcels, which is relatively less efficient.
Leveraging Warehouse Automation Robots for Optimal Productivity
By doing away with labour-intensive tasks, Forklift Mobile Robots can significantly improve warehouse productivity. The tasks automated by this hybrid robot are key to the desired throughput in the warehouse.
For example, the series of manual heavy lifting mentioned in the scenario above can progressively drain individual workers, making them less efficient as the workday advances. To compensate for the diminishing stamina of individuals, the business incurs hefty workforce expenditure to keep the workflow running. Despite higher headcounts, the throughput of a workflow exclusively dependent on workers is prone to error, requires multiple shifts, leading to downtime between shifts, and has no competitive advantage compared to peers with greater capital for a larger workforce.
On the other hand, autonomous material handling systems use various kinds of warehouse robots to load and unload shipments onto and off the Autonomous Forklifts. These robots don’t need to be manned while transporting parcels from one workstation to another.
Moreover, if the forklift robot is based on an AMR, then using cutting-edge navigation techniques such as Lidar, the robot can move through the warehouse without any worker constantly supervising obstructions in the robot’s path. However, AMRs are comparatively more expensive than AGVs, which operate on a predetermined path and thus require some manual intervention if something blocks the way. In other words, more can be done in a given time with fewer workers when an automated material handling system uses forklift robots.
The Role of Warehouse Autonomation Robots for Cost-Saving
Introducing forklift robots slashes workforce expenditure and improves the warehouse’s quality of service by increasing throughput. Higher throughput enables businesses to attract more orders from clients, thereby increasing the overall profitability of the 3PL company. Another important point to note is that Autonomous Forklifts reduce the opportunity cost of the warehouse based on the time saved by them.
The Role of High-Speed Image-Based Scanners in Billing Accuracy
Omnichannel sales connect buyers with products across geographies. Therefore, the shipment may pass through several hubs until it reaches the buyer’s doorstep through last-mile delivery, depending on the destination and where the shipment is stored. This sheer network of warehouses is a key reason to opt for the services of third-party logistics (3PL) companies.
Extensive travelling may cause wear and tear in the shipment labels, making it difficult for regular industrial AIDC products to read. At the same time, the conveyor speed, optimised for the desired throughput, may be too high for the label scanner.
Thanks to camera-based Machine Vision-enabled scanners used in DWS Systems, damaged labels can be read more often than with most industrial AIDC products. These scanners extract information encrypted in the label through the image captured, significantly reducing the instances of no-reads.
The client’s name is one of the key details covered in the labels. When the Warehouse Management System (WMS) decodes the scanner’s reading, invoices are generated according to the rates mentioned in the client’s contracts. Thus, scanners in DWS systems are also important for billing.
Enhanced Warehouse Safety with Autonomous Forklift Robots
Forklift Mobile Robots address a key priority of warehousing companies: worker safety. Prolonged heavy lifting during a workday not only exhausts workers but also makes them more prone to accidents. At the same time, unlike workers, many robots can leverage their Machine Vision to gauge pallet strength, the force required to carry, retrieve or store a given shipment while being mindful of the surroundings. In other words, autonomous materials handling systems are vital for avoiding accidents.
The Scalability Edge with Autonomous Forklift Robots
Unlike workers, robots are not bound by work hours and labour laws dictating work environment conditions. Hence, in a lights-off warehouse scenario or even a semi-automated warehouse robotics environment, robots can be crucial if round-the-clock working is necessary or if the shipment is not safe for humans.
Therefore, if the 3PL companies have the required capex and opex, they can consider expanding their order processing capacity as per market trends.
Key Considerations Before Embracing Autonomous Forklift Robots
Warehouses and 3PL companies must consider the following pointers when introducing Forklift Mobile Robots in their workflow:
- Robots are more than hardware. They are driven by AI and cloud-native systems, which must be compatible with the existing software infrastructure of the business to ensure quick and error-free data migration. If not, a strategic and expert-led migration plan must be deployed to save precious enterprise data, which is not just vital for compliance but also for training the upgraded warehouse management system, serving as historical data ( the data may be adjusted for errors by AI models).
- Implementation of warehouse autonomous robots is expensive, in terms of procurement, setup costs and maintenance.
- Considering that lights-off warehouses are still a far cry from wide adoption due to the existing business model, consumption patterns, and income levels of most countries, warehousing will continue to require human intervention until the near future. Hence, hiring and training talent to operate a robotics-driven autonomous materials handling system must be a priority.
Collaborating with Quinta for Autonomous Materials Handling Systems in Warehouses
Building a plan of action for implementing warehouse automation robots, with all due considerations, requires specialised skills. This is where Quinta can help emerging 3PL companies, helping them hit the ground running.
We have worked with several logistics players to establish automated workflows which extensively leverage warehouse robotics, including Autonomous Forklifts. Drawing from their wealth of experience, our experts can help you build a robust autonomous materials handling system, right from layout planning to procurement from leading OEMs—many of them are our partners—to deployment. We also help you make a smooth transition from a non-automated infrastructure to an automated one with in-depth demos, software-hardware integration and training, and quality customer support.
Curious to know more? Contact us today, and an expert will reach out to you shortly!
